Our Position in Christ–The Church as the Household of God

Eph. 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead (darkened, a walking corpse) in trespasses and sins,

2:1 Picture where God found us, we were in a death trap of an inferior lifestyle, constantly living below the blueprint measure of our lives. (sin, hamartia, ha + meros, without our allotted portion) Mirror

DEATH- Different kinds of death:

Seven types of death are mentioned in the Bible.

1.Spiritual Death/Darkness Eph. 2:1, Rom. 5:12, Rom. 6:23, 1 Cor. 15:22. I do not teach this, rather spiritual darkness. The spirit is eternal, cannot die. Gen 1:1, 2 Cor.4:6.

2 Corinthians 4:6For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has    shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

2.  Physical Death. The separation of the spirit from the body. Matt. 8:22, 2 Cor. 5:10, Rom. 8:38,39, Phil. 1:21. Many refer to this as passed away instead of death especially for the believer.

3.  The Second Death. The perpetuation of spiritual death into eternity; occurs at the beginning of eternity future. This is the final judgment of the non-Christian. Heb. 9:27, Rev. 20:12-15 . There are many questions arise as to what will happen here. I do not have the answers. Some say hell others say, they do not believe in a God that will kill billions at the end of the age.

4. Operational Death. The failure of the believer to produce divine good. Producing wood, hay, and stubble instead of gold, silver, and precious stones. James 2:26

5.  Positional Death. Part of retroactive Positional Truth. Rom. 6, Col. 2:12,20; 3:3. I would relegate  this to not knowing who you are.

6.  Temporal Death. This is the believer in a state of carnality, out of fellowship.
Rom. 8:6, 13, Eph. 5:14, 1 Tim. 5:6, James 1:15, Rev. 3:1, Luke 15:24,32

7.  Sexual Death. The inability to procreate. Rom. 4:16-21, Heb. 11:11,12

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—

Romans 5:18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.                

Gen.3:22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

 Some do not teach spiritual death but spiritual darkness.

Adam and Eve became spiritually darkened, in the state of the natural, or unregenerate man.  The unbeliever is spiritually darkened until he acknowledgesChrist. Then God says, “Let there be light, “and the spirit is recreated, renewed.

(Gen 1:3)  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

(2 Cor 4:4) whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

(2Co 4:6)  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

(2 Pet. 1:19)And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;

(Rev. 21: 23)The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.

2^nd Death

Rev. 20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. The second death has no authority over these, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him a thousand years.

We have eternal life now in Christ Jesus.

1 John 5:13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you maycontinueto believe in the name of the Son of God.

We were much like the parable of the prodigal son.

The Prodigal Son, an Allegory (A View of the World)

A CALL BACK TO SONSHIP

Referring to Father God as Papa

The prodigal son imagines a selfhood apart from papa’s house. Now the Father/Abba/Papa is the ONE Creator and Sustainer of all that is. And the son, though prodigal, is made in Papa’s image, powerfully creative. And so, when the son imagines leaving home, he has no place to go for only the ABODE of the ONE PAPA exists. And so, the son can only imagine this madness.

The prodigal son is creative, made in the image of Papa, and next thing you know, the son has imagined a far country and wow! A finite counterfeit universe appears in his vain imagination–a virtual universe wherein the son and his fellow prodigals walk around on seeming hard ground, thinking they are wearing earth suits and calling themselves “persons.” They have forgotten who they were.

Soon the dream becomes SO real that ” Prodigal” is hypnotized by it, lost in it, a land of finitude, of death, of opposing powers, of hard edges, of discord, and disease, the “valley of the shadow of death.”

What appears in this land always rots, decays, dies. The prodigal’s dream becomes restless, uneasy. He becomes parched, starving for the infinite abundance and love of Papa’s house. Of course, Papa knows the son has gone dreaming (has left home) and is patiently waiting for him to wake up, allowing him to play out his fantasy, not interfering, allowing his son to choose Life once more when he is ready, yet knowing that what descends in consciousness will sooner or later return home to God-Consciousness. (There is, after all is said and done, only the ONE and Its will to LOVE–perfection).

Not wanting to rouse the son prematurely, before he has learned that he cannot have a selfhood outside of the ONEness with God, Papa utilizes his loving GRACE to gently nudge prodigal and then remind him of his loving home, knowing he will sooner or later return. Papa knows, and when “Prodigal” returns to God/ Father/ Abba/Papa, his name will again be “I AM.”, as He is; so am I.

JESUS, THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST IS THE TITLE DEED

(Eph 1:14) who is the earnest of our inheritance, to the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

1:14 He is our tangible link (title deed) to the inheritance that was ransomed and preserved for us. His glorious plan with man is the theme of our celebration. Mirror

Expanded translations says: Eph. 1:14 Who [the Holy Spirit] is the deposit [pledge] of our inheritance, with reference to the release [redemption] of spiritual assets [invisible tools], for the praise of His glory. 

Earnest of our Inheritance:

Holy Spirit’s seal or guarantee is the upfront payment, surety, earnest. As mentioned before, this means that every believer has the Spirit of God as a sign that he belongs to God and that he will be kept safe by God until the time he receives his glorified body. Just as in legal matters a seal indicates ownership and security, so it does in divine affairs. The indwelling Spirit brands us as God’s property (1 Cor. 6:19-20)

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ²⁰ For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body ^[a]and in your spirit, which are God’ and guarantees our preservation until the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30).

Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Our seal is called the “Holy Spirit of promise.” First, He is the “Holy” Spirit, Spirit of Christ; this is what He is in Himself. Then, He is the Spirit of “promise.” He was promised by the Father (Joel 2:28; Acts 1:4).

Joel 2:28 “And it shall come to pass afterward,That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.

Notice I will pour out of my Spirit. Holy Spirit is already in you, coming out of you, not pour externally.

and by the Lord Jesus (John 16:7).

John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

In addition, He is the guarantee that all God’s promises to the believer will be fulfilled.

2 Corinthians 1:20 – For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

To the Redemption of the Purchased Possession 

In verse 14 Paul changes his pronouns. He merges the “we” of verse 11 and 12 with the “you” of verse 13 to form the “our” in this verse. Using this skillful literary device, he hints of what he will more fully explain in chapters 2 and 3—the mystery of the union between both Jews and Gentiles into one spiritual body, Body of Christ, the new organism called the Church.

SEALED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

(Eph. 1:13) in whom also you, having heard (the verb here is continuous and progressive) the Word of Truth, the gospel of our salvation, in whom also having believed (verb continuous and progressive), you were sealed

(verb past tense) with the Holy Spirit of promise,

1:13 Now you (Gentiles) also have discovered yourselves to be equally included in Him having witnessed the unveiled logic of God. (The Word of truth, alethea, from a + lanthano, not hidden) What exciting news! Your salvation is publicly announced. Consistent with the promise of God, the Holy Spirit gives authentic guarantee to the fact of your faith, like the stamp of a signet ring that certifies a document. You are in Him! Mirror

Notice the verbs having heard and having believed:

These are Past Progressive (Continuous) Verbs, meaning they happened in the past and continue. When in the past? When did you hear?

I teach you heard from the beginning and then later in this physical life accepted that, acknowledged Christ. Gen. 1:26, 2Tim.1:9, 1 John 2:24, Is. 46:10, Eph 1:4,1 John 2:11-12, 1 John 2:13-14

Paul now turns his attention from the Jews (“we”) to the Gentiles (“you”). Those who have turned from paganism also have a share in the mystery of God’s plan for mankind. Paul outlines the steps by which the Ephesians and other Gentiles had been brought into union with Christ.

The steps follow:
1. They heard the gospel.
2. They trusted in Jesus Christ.
3. They were sealed with Holy Spirit.

This process never changes. There is only one plan of salvation for man. First a person must hear the Gospel—the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The word “hear” implies understanding, which is accomplished by the Holy Spirit’s convicting and convincing action upon the mind and heart of the individual (John 16:7-15). The word convict means convince.

Once a person understands what Christ has accomplished for him—the fact that Christ paid the penalty-price for his/her sin/sins—he /she then may either reject or receive, acknowledge God’s gift by faith alone in Christ alone. Of course, the faith of God is already in you. Gal 2:20. More on the faith (All About Faith) at http:// equippingthesaintsministries.blogspot.com/search?q=Faith

These are the steps which are taught for salvation:

A person makes a genuine, willful decision to trust only in Christ, and not in anything else (self-efforts, good works, any institution or process), the Holy Spirit:(1) baptizes (immerses) him into the Body of Christ and (2) seals his spirit for all eternity.

Eph. 1:13c you were sealed (verb past tense) with the Holy Spirit of promise,

“Sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise.” This means that every person who acknowledges Jesus/Yeshua in his heart. (Rom. 10:8-10), then the Spirit of God confirms and promises that he/she belongs to God and that he will be kept safe by God until the time he receives his glorified body. 

Of course, you belonged to God from the beginning. However, now you acknowledge that in your heart. We are reconciled to God. Reconciliation means agree with Father God about you. Jesus came to reveal the Father. Gen 1:26; 2 Tim. 1:9 1 John 1:1;1 John 2:24 Ephesians 1:4 1 John 2:7

Then the mark of ownership is confirmed as well as the source of power for living. We’re not under Law, but rather Grace, we’re under no demands to keep the commandments. Jesus/ Yeshua fulfilled the law. He came to reveal all the Father has for us from the beginning. The lamb was slain from the foundation of the world.Rev. 13:8

Revelation 13:8 "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."

Christ being slain from the foundation of the world illustrates not only that He was foreordained to be slain, but also that the efficacy, or the beneficial effects of that death, is the same as if that sacrifice had been made before the creation of the world. Thus, Old Testament saints are washed clean in Christ's blood the same as we are today. It was something which was as good as 'done' from the time that God ordained it. Jesus revealed all of that.

We are now under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

When I say that, I get people saying; “oh that is hyper grace “Well what are you, just sort of set loose, and set free?” No, here’s the difference. We now recognize we have Holy Spirit, Spirit of Christ and He becomes our rudder, guide. He convinces me of righteous and sin. It doesn’t give us freedom to steal and covet, and all these other things that the Ten Commandants dealt with, because the Holy Spirit Himself takes care of that. He convinces me of righteous and sin.

John 16:8 (Holy Spirit) having come, He will convict (convince) the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment; YLT

Gk.1651 elegchó:convict, convince, reprove, confute, admonish.

Realizing salvation is a desire to BE changed. He convinces us of our righteousness and we want to live out of that righteousness, Our whole design on life is changed, and this is what the world around us cannot understand.

Just as in legal matters a seal indicates ownership and security, so it does in divine affairs. The indwelling Spirit brands us as God’s property (1 Cor. 6:19, 20), and guarantees our preservation until the day of redemption

(Eph. 4:30).

Our seal is called the “Holy Spirit of promise.” First, He is the “Holy” Spirit, Spirit of Christ; this is what He is in Himself. Then, He is the Spirit of “promise.” He was promised by the Father (Joel 2:28; Acts 1:4), and by the Lord Jesus (John 16:7). In addition, He is the guarantee that all God’s promises to the believer will be fulfilled.