GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH

"YOUR SALVATION"
Ephesians 1:12-14

"That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." –Ephesians 1:12-14

That great, glorious, eternal, everlasting, common salvation which God has wrought in us is distinctly ours. If you are saved, if you are a believer, if you are a child of God, God's salvation wrought in you is "Your Salvation!" There are five things clearly taught in these three verses about your salvation and mine.

Child of God, that salvation, which God has given you and wrought in you by his omnipotent grace, is a salvation designed for divine praise. – "That we should be to the praise of his glory." That salvation revealed in Holy Scripture always honors the Lord God. It is a salvation becoming the character of God. If a person's salvation does not honor God alone, his salvation is but a delusion.

The great, ultimate purpose of God in all things is the glory of his own great name. That is why he has saved us (Ps. 106:8). This is the end of predestination, election, adoption, redemption, and calling – "That we should be to the praise of his glory." God has saved us that his glory might be revealed in us (1 Cor. 4:6), – that his glory might be revealed and displayed in us (Eph. 2:7), – that we should ascribe all praise, honor, and glory to him alone for all our salvation (Ps. 115:1), – that we should give thanks to God alone for all the benefits and blessings of grace (Eph. 1:3-6), – that we should so order our lives by the gospel that we glorify the triune God in all things (1 Cor. 10:31), – that we should do all things with a view to the glory of God (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

The salvation of God's elect is a salvation based upon a divine trust. – "That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ." The Holy Spirit here informs us that God the Father trusted his Son as our Mediator and covenant Surety long before we came to trust him (John 6:37-39). He trusted his elect sons into the hands of his Son to save them. He trusted his chosen sheep into the hands of his Son as the good Shepherd to bring them all safely into his heavenly fold.

All who are born of God obtain and enjoy salvation by a divine gift. – "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation." The Object of all true saving faith is a "whom", not a what! – "In whom ye also trusted." How is it that we came to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ?

We heard the Word of truth. The gospel of the grace of God is called the Word of truth, more correctly, the Word of the truth, for many reasons. It came from the God of Truth. It speaks of Christ who is the Truth. It is revealed by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, who leads us into all truth. It is this Word of the truth by which the Spirit of God sets sinners free. This is that incorruptible seed by which all heaven born children are born of God. This is that Word which by the gospel was preached unto us, by which we were granted life and faith in Christ by the Spirit of God (1 Pet. 1:23-25; Rom. 10:17).

The Word of the truth, which we heard, not by word only but by the power of God the Holy Spirit, is called "the gospel of your salvation." Here we are told that the Holy Spirit, when he regenerates and calls sinners from death to life and gives them faith in Christ, does so by declaring to them, declaring in their hearts what Christ has done for them. We came to know the Lord when God the Holy Spirit brought the light of the gospel into our souls, when God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shined in our hearts and granted us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Tim. 1:9-10; 2 Cor. 4:6).

Our salvation in Christ is a salvation secured by a divine seal. – "In whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." Do not be confused by those who would use this text to teach some sort of mystical second work of grace. The sealing work of the Spirit is mentioned after the experience of faith, because our salvation is attested to and revealed only after we believe. This is not a privilege reserved for a few special, very saintly saints. Rather, this blessing of grace is here declared to be the possession of all who believe. Actually, we have a threefold seal from God.

1. The Seal of The Father's Foreknowledge (2 Tim. 2:19).
2. The Seal of The Son's Love (Song. 8:6; 4:12; Rev. 7:3).
3. The Seal of The Spirit's Work of Grace (Eph. 4:30).

The salvation here described, that salvation which belongs to all who are the objects of God's everlasting love, chosen, redeemed, and called in Christ, all who are born of God is a salvation assured by a divine pledge. – "Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." The seal of the Spirit is that which gives us the assurance of salvation. The Spirit of God is the earnest, quite literally the down payment or earnest money, of our inheritance, assuring us of it until the resurrection, here called the redemption of the purchased possession. All who have been redeemed by the ransom price of Christ's sin-atoning blood are, at God's appointed time of love, redeemed by the saving power of God's outstretched arm in effectual, irresistible regenerating grace, and shall in the last day be redeemed (delivered) from all the evil consequences of sin in resurrection glory, being perfectly conformed to Christ. With this great salvation, we have this great promise: – "Ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end."