The Privilege of Membership
Dearly beloved, by the exceeding greatness of God’s power which He wrought in Christ when He raised him from the dead and seated him at His right hand in the heavenlies, He made us members of His body and filled each member with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ.
When we were dead in trespasses and sins, the Lord Jesus offered himself up as a sacrifice to cleanse us from them. He stood in as our substitute as the lamb did under the law of Moses. He took our sin on him even though he was without sin. He paid the penalty of which we were guilty.
By the grace of God, God determined that we would be identified with Christ in his death, resurrection and making alive, ascension, seating, and future glorification.
When he died, we died to the sin with him. When God raised him from the dead, he raised us to new life; spirit life with him. When he ascended and sat down at the right hand of God, God seated us there in him. Our Father also determined that we will be glorified together with him at his return.
He determined that we would freely receive all things with Christ. We stand in the accomplishments of the Lord Jesus Christ as joint-heirs, as members of his body.
In the book of Romans, we learn that we are righteousness of God in Christ, and there is therefore now no more condemnation to us from God. We further learn that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We are more than conquerors through him that loved us and gave himself for us.
Romans teaches us that Jesus made new life, spirit life, available to those who confess him as Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead; they are saved.
The book of Ephesians opens the eyes of our understanding even further. It teaches us that God made us alive together with Christ (by grace we are saved), and He raised us up together, and caused us to sit down together in the heavenly realm in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages He might display the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
God did all of this by His Divine Favor. By grace, we have certainly been saved through believing in Christ and his resurrection from the dead. We had nothing to contribute in the accomplishment of this salvation: it was between God and His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. God provided the offering, and Jesus offered himself up to God in our stead to accomplish it.
This salvation is absolutely not of any works we have done; we have nothing of which to boast, for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus on the basis of his good works that God previously prepared, so that we may walk in what they accomplished. Our Father blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm in Christ!
By Christ’s work we are holy and without blame before the Father, redeemed by the sacrifice he made in our stead on our behalf, forgiven by the riches of the Father’s grace.
God made both Judeans and Gentiles that confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead, are one new man making peace between them and God. Now we have access to the Father by one spirit, we are fellow citizens and members of the household of God, and we are being built together for God’s dwelling place by the spirit.
The books of I and II Thessalonians reveal the future glory of our hope in Christ. God called us to receive the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, beloved!
When the Lord Christ Jesus returns, the members of his body, the church, will be glorified together with him as joint-heirs!
Hold our hope in Christ in your heart and keep it ever before your eyes, beloved. Let it be the anchor of your soul. He is coming and all will be as He has promised. God’s Word is true and faithful! Rejoice!!