Truth Magazine

By Mike Willis

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. . . (Eph. 1:3).

With these words, Paul began the heart of his letter to the church at Ephesus. I committed this verse to memory as a young lad and its truths become more important to me as I grow older. Please consider these lessons from this verse.

All Spiritual Blessings

Not all of God’s blessings are spiritual. God has bountifully blessed us with physical blessings as well. He is our Creator (Gen. 1:1) and Sustainer. He gives “us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with gladness” (Acts 14:17). “For in him we live, and move, and have our being. . .” (Acts 17:28). (See Psalm 65:9-13) for praise to God for His work in sustaining His creation.)

This verse teaches that “all spiritual blessings” are “in Christ.” Neither this verse nor any other verse teaches that all physical blessings are “in Christ.” The Scriptures teach that God’s physical blessings fall on the righteous and unrighteous just alike (Matt. 5:45). The prosperity of the wicked has been a problem for the righteous to understand (See Psa. 73); yet even these verses demonstrate that God’s physical blessings are not limited to those who are “in Christ.”

This is a lesson of which we need to be reminded. Those who are associated with the PTL, the 700 Club, and faith healing ministries teach that God’s physical blessings are especially directed toward the righteous. Who has not witnessed someone on one of these programs relate his testimony? He describes his abject and desperate condition before he became a Christian in words similar to these, “I was suffering from some disease, I had lost my job, my wife and I were having marital problems, our children were running with the wrong crowd, and my creditors were hounding me.” After he tells about giving his life to Jesus, he then relates his present condition in words like this, “Now I feel good and am healed of my disease, my wife and I are happier than we ever have been, my children ‘ are little darlings, and we have more money than ever before.” The implications of these testimonials is that God’s physical blessings are especially directed toward the righteous. No verse in the Bible teaches that. The life of Jesus and Job verify that this is not a true doctrine.

In Christ

Paul stated that God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings “in Christ. “

“In Christ” designates a relationship which the believer sustains to Jesus.(1) All of God’s spiritual blessings are made available to man through Jesus Christ. He is the “water of life” which so quenches man’s needs that he never thirsts again (Jn. 4:13). He is the “bread of life” which so fills a man that he never hungers again (Jn. 6:35). Every spiritual need that man has is completely satisfied in Christ.

The implications from this statement are obvious. We do not need to keep searching as if God had other spiritual blessings for man which are not available to those of us who are in Christ. Hinduism Islam, Buddhism, Shintoism, and any other so-called “world” religion do not have any spiritual blessings for man which are not available in Christ. I need not to fret that I have never read the Koran, Bhagavad Gita, Rig- Vedas, or other “holy” books. I do not need the writings of Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy, Ellen G. White, Reverend Moon, or any other prophet claiming to have received a latter day revelation. If all of God’s spiritual blessings are available to me in Christ, I can be perfectly content knowing that I have all that God has for man when I have the revelation of Jesus Christ in the Holy Bible.

The person who is not in Christ does not participate in or share any of these spiritual blessings. Regardless of how good, honest, and sincere a man might be, unless he is in Christ, he does not share the spiritual blessings of God. All of God’s spiritual blessings are in Christ; none of them are outside of Christ. Unless you are “in Christ,” none of these spiritual blessings are available to you.

The Blessings In Christ

Paul did not leave us in doubt as to what blessings God has made available to us in Christ. Consider some of them:

1. “He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him” (1:4). Some only read “he hath chosen us” and then declare the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. What this verse teaches is that God chose to make men holy (sanctified and set apart) and without blame (having no sin chargeable to one’s account) before Him. This was to be done through Jesus Christ. Hence, through Jesus Christ, I can enjoy the spiritual blessings of being holy and without blame. (See also Eph. 5:25-27.)

2. ”Adoption as children” (1:5). God also adopted us as His children by Jesus Christ. As a child of God, I can call on God as my Father (Matt. 7:7-11). God could have chosen a variety of relationships toward us. He could have been indifferent toward this world, as the Deists imagine; He could have been amused by this world, as some ancient people thought of the gods of the Pantheon; He could have been filled with animosity toward us. Instead, He chose to adopt us as His children. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. . .” (1 Jn. 3:1).

3. “He hath made us accepted in the beloved (1:6). Those of us who were alienated from God have been reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ.

4., We have “redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (1:7). In Jesus Christ, our sins have been forgiven through the purification which comes when His blood washes them away. Nothing but the blood of Jesus can wash away sins (cf. 1 Pet. 1:18-19). This is another spiritual blessing which God has given us in Jesus Christ the forgiveness of our sins.

5. He has “made known unto us the mystery of His will. ” The revelation of God’s will toward mankind was given through Jesus Christ. We do not have to grope in darkness, searching to find out God’s will. He has revealed it to us in the gospel. The work of the Holy Spirit in revealing God’s will to us was the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to the apostles (Jn. 14:26; 15:26; 16:13).

6. He gathered together in one all things in Christ (1:10). Men of every background are united in Christ. Male and female, bond and free, Jew and Gentile, black and white, rich and poor are reconciled to God in one body by the cross (cf. Eph. 2:16). The unity which we have in Christ Jesus is a spiritual blessing from God.

7. “We have obtained an inheritance” (1:11). In Christ, I have a hope for inheriting the blessings of heaven. I have “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven” (1 Pet. 1:4) for me. I look forward to receiving eternal life, living with God, and having all of the evils of this world removed (Rev. 21:4). This is the “one hope” of Ephesians 4.

The Fulness of God

The blessings which God has for us in Christ are available in the church. The church is the body of people for whom Jesus gave His life (Eph. 5:26), “that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (5:27). The spiritual blessings which God has for us in Christ are available to those who are in His church.

Consequently, the church is the “body of Christ, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (1:23). The fulness of God’s blessings to man is in the church. Many religions look for the fulness of God’s blessings at some future time when Jesus will return to this earth and rule on this earth for a thousand years. That is in conflict with what Paul revealed. He stated that Jesus is presently reigning over everything (1:20-21) and that the church is the fulness of God’s blessings to us.

We do not look forward to a future earthly kingdom. We look foward to the second coming of Christ, the judgment, and our eternal home in heaven.

How To Get “In Christ”

Inasmuch as being in Christ is important in order that one might inherit these spiritual blessings, we need to know how to get into Christ. The Lord told us how to get into Christ.

In order to get into Christ, a man must hear the gospel preached, believe it, repent of his sins, confess his faith in Jesus, and be baptized (immersed) in water. Paul wrote, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:26-27).

The man who does not believe in Jesus cannot share God’s spiritual blessings (Jn. 8:24). The man who has not repented

of his sins cannot share God’s spiritual blessings (Lk. 13:3). The man who will not confess Christ does not share in God’s spiritual blessings (Matt. 10:32-33). The man who will not be baptized cannot receive remission of his sins (Acts 2:38) or be saved (Mk. 16:15-16; 1 Pet. 3:21).

My friend, all spiritual blessings are in Christ. Are you in Him?

Endnotes

1. Those who hold a doctrine of the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit need to carefully examine this language. To be “in Christ” does not mean that I enter into the physical body of Jesus and dwell in Him. Rather, it means that I sustain a spiritual relationship to Him. The same is true when one reads that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. It does not mean that the Holy Spirit comes inside my body, which would be an incarnation of Deity and destroy the uniqueness of Jesus; rather, it means that I enter a spiritual relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII; 21, pp. 642, 662-663
November 1, 1984

By Daniel H. King

The title of this article sounds like an impossibility, rather similar to what one encounters in ideas like “square circles,” “straight curves,” “loud silences,” “light shades of black,” etc. And, of course, it is. But it is an impossibility which many Christians since the origin of the church have tried to make a reality.

One finds some scriptural support for the existence of the idea in Paul’s argument in the Roman letter: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein,” (6:1-2); in Galatians also Paul had to treat the problem: “But if, while we sought to be justified in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, is Christ a minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build up again those things which I destroyed, I prove myself a transgressor” (2:17-18).

By very definition, the child of God cannot persist in sin. Paul says that we have “died to sin” and so cannot continue to live as we once did. Becoming a Christian therefore demands, on the part of the one who is “converted” the determined decision to give up the practice of sin. If a person has not so decided, he should not make any pretense out of a confession of faith or of a baptism in water. To do this is to declare a clean break with sin. If one has not made such a decision then the profession of Christianity is, by definition, a farce and a facade. The practice of sin in the life is a constant admission that what one has professed is a lie; as Paul puts it: “I prove myself a transgressor.”

Something else needs noticing here also, however. It is almost natural for such hypocrisy to reflect upon the One who instituted Christianity, whether deserved or not. In other words, Christ gets a black eye out of every such situation. Every “sinning Christian,” i.e. every one who makes the profession but does not live the life, soils the reputation of Jesus Christ among the sons of men. “Is Christ a minister of sin?” wrote the Apostle. He is not and never has been -but it seems so to the unbelieving when they behold sin in the life of the Christian.

Some of the strongest language in the Bible is reserved for this problem. It is said, for instance, that the Son of God is “crucified afresh, and put to an open shame” (Heb. 6:6), t hat He has been “trodden under foot,” the blood of His covenant has been counted “an unholy thing” and the “Spirit of grace” has been insulted (Heb. 10:29).

So, Christian, before you begin to take up anew the practice of sin, remember that you solemnly promised to give up sin when you named the name of Christ. There is no such thing as a “Christian sinner.”

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 21, p. 643
November 1, 1984

By Shelby C. Smith

One is lost when he refuses to obey Christ and His word. “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him; the words that I have spoken, the same shall judge you in that day” (Jn. 12:48). Another reason that some are lost is that they will not believe. “For if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins” (Jn. 8:24).

Others refuse to repent. “I tell you, Nay, but, except ye repent, ye shall die in your sins” (Lk. 13:3). Others will not confess Christ. If one denies Him here, Christ will deny them before the Father in heaven (Matt. 10:33). There are those who will refuse to be baptized. Christ is the author of eternal salvation unto all who will obey Him (Heb. 5:8,9). In the great commission Jesus said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned” (Mk. 16:16).

But now let us look at some things that will cause one to be lost after having accepted and completed the requirements set down by Christ to become a Christian.

1. Works of the flesh. Paul gave a long list of these in Galatians 5:19-21 and then added, “they who do such thing shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” “For to be carnally minded is death” (Rom. 8:6).

2. Love worldliness. John said, “The whole world lieth in wickedness” (1 John 5:19). “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).

3. Not being faithful. “For if we willfully sin after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins” (Heb. 10:26). Again, “For if, after they have escaped the defilements, of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first” (2 Pet. 2:20). “And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Tim. 4:4).

If you are interested in losing your soul, the devil is always busy and eager to be of service, and provide a way. It is not necessary to do all these things to be eternally lost; any of them can cause one to be lost. “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all” (Jas. 2: 10). Peter said the devil is as a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8).

In the last day many will come, expecting to get into heaven; but our blessed Lord tells us: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21).

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 20, p. 632
October 18, 1984

By James E. Cooper

Man is a “praying animal.” Prayer, in the sense of a conscious effort to hold communion with deity, is universal. Even those who have denied the existence of God have been known to breathe a prayer in extreme circumstances. One of the most encouraging statements in the Bible is that “the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers” (1 Pet. 3:12). And one of the most solemn warnings to be found anywhere is contained in the same verse: “but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.”

Why Pray?

1. God is a Personal Being. Prayer involves personal communication with a Personal Being. It implies that there is a Being who hears, thinks, feels and wills; yet He is omniscient, holy and gracious. Those who suppose God is a figment of human imagination, slowly developed as man ascended the evolutionary scale, declare that it is useless to pray, for there is no God to hear their prayers. David pronounced the man with this attitude to be a fool (Psa. 14:1), for there is sufficient evidence in nature alone to convince the right-thinking person that God is (Psa. 19:1-4). Without faith that God is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him, one cannot please God (Heb. 11:6).

2. God is able to answer prayer. The omnipotent God who was able to bring heaven and earth into existence by the power of His utterance (Heb. 11:3; Psa. 33:6); to make men out of stones (Matt. 3:9; cf. Gen. 2:7); to deliver His servants from the fire (Dan. 3:17); to raise the dead (Heb. 11:19); and to destroy both body and soul in hell (Matt. 10:28), is certainly “able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20).

3. God is willing to answer prayer. God has a very sympathetic ear. In I Peter 3:12, we have God pictured with His ears literally “into (eis) the petitions of the righteous.” “What a picture of God bending down to their petitions, eager to answer them and come to the aid of those who pray. We have no far off deity to make propitious. We do not have to plead with God to make Him willing to answer our prayers. He is more desirous of answering them than we are to have them answered” (Kenneth S. Wuest, First Peter in the Greek New Testament, p. 87).

Does God Really Answer Prayer?

Peter encouraged Christians to be a united, loving and compassionate people – in short, to be a blessing to others: “knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing” (I Pet. 3:9). He then quoted Psalm 34:12-16. The person who would enjoy life to the fullest must avoid those things that could cause God to turn His face against him. Instead, he should “do good . . . seek peace, and pursue it” (Psa. 34: 10-11). Peter applies the Psalmist’s words in a most appropriate fashion. One of the blessings to be enjoyed is the assurance that God does hear and answer the prayers of the righteous (cf. Prov. 15:29; Psa. 145:18).

Open your Bible and read Psalm 34 in its entirety. David declared God had heard his prayers. In response to prayer, God had delivered him from his fears (v. 4), and had saved him out of his troubles (v. 6). God delivers the righteous out of all his afflictions (v. 19), and redeems his soul (v. 22). Urging all to “taste and see that the Lord is good,” David pronounces a blessing upon the man that trusts in Him (v. 8), and assures us that “there is no want in them that fear Him” (v. 9). “They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing” (v. 10).

Do you believe God really does that? Today? Does He really act in response to our prayers? The Bible says He does. James said, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (Jas. 1:5). There are conditions to be met, of course. “Let him ask in faith, nothing doubting. For he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man unstable in all his ways” (Jas. 1:6-8). In the latter part of James 5:16, we read that “the supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its workings.”

Jesus said, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matt. 7:7-8; Luke 11:9-10). In the contexts of these two passages, we find Jesus illustrating God’s willingness to answer persistent prayer. A man will grant his son’s request: “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matt. 7:11). He also illustrated prayer by the persistence of a man who at midnight asks his friend to lend him three loaves of bread so he could feed a house guest who had just arrived from a long journey (Luke 11:5-9). Jesus taught that God will respond to prayer.

Is God Any Different Today?

Is God different today from what He was in David’s day? Is He different from what He was when our Lord was upon earth? Is He no longer interested in His children? Does He no longer work on our behalf? One man argued with me that it is useless to ask God to do anything in response to prayer today. His contention was that God’s “last will and testament” has been revealed; therefore, God doesn’t have a will to be influenced by our prayers. But, my friend, God “is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb. 12:8). He has always had an immutable will (Heb. 6:17-18), but declares that His actions change in response to changes in men. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isa. 55:7).

Is God indifferent to His people today? No! Peter declared that His eyes are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers. God has not changed His attitude, nor His inclination to hear the prayers of the righteous. He has not abandoned His children. We are taught that He will continue to work on our behalf. “Be ye free from the love of money; content with such things as ye have: for Himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee. So that with good courage we say, The Lord is my helper; I will not fear: What shall man do unto me?” (Heb. 13:5-6).

Should We Expect A Miracle Today?

Is it necessary to believe God will work a miracle today in order to believe He really does answer prayer? Many seem to have the opinion that prayer is either answered miraculously or not at all. However, we need not expect to see a miracle today. God can work through His natural laws, as well as He can suspend and overpower them to work miracles.

Miracles were never performed merely to accommodate the desires and needs of man, but were signs to confirm the truth of God. The signs performed by Jesus were performed and recorded that men might “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (Jn. 20:30-31). What Jesus taught was further “confirmed to us by them that heard; God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will” (Heb. 2:3-4). Miracles served a temporary purpose, to bear witness to God’s revelation (cf. Mk. 16:17-20; Acts 2:33; Acts 10:47; 1 Cor. 14:22). Paul taught that knowing and prophesying were “in part,” but they would be “done away” when the complete revelation (“that which is perfect”) was come (1 Cor. 13:8-10). Miracles served their purpose and have ceased.

God does not have to suspend the laws of nature in order to answer prayer. He can answer by working through the natural forces and processes which operate in the natural world, but which are still under His control. When James affirmed that “the supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working,” he gave an illustration to help us understand it. “Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again: and the heavens gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit” (Jas. 5:17-18). Elijah is not pictured as a super-human, even though he was an outstanding prophet of God. He was “a man of like passions with us.” Insofar as God’s answering his prayer, he was an ordinary man. The efficacy of prayer does not require a specially endowed p son. It is a blessing available to ordinary men, like you and me.

From 1 Kings 18:41-46, we learn how God answered Elijah’s prayer. After he had prayed seven times, a cloud appeared out over the Mediterranean Sea “like a man’s hand,” and the rain came out of that cloud. If it had rained out of a clear sky, we could it a miracle. But since God brought up a cloud to produce the rain, we recognize this as an act of God’s Providence – His control of the natural forces operating in His created universe.

Conclusion

God always answers prayer. We know and sometimes ask for harmful things, but He knows what is best. Sometimes He grants our petitions, and somethimes He denies them. Paul prayed three times that his “thorn the flesh” might be removed (2 Cor. 12:8), but God had something better for him. May we be content to submit when God says “No” as well as when he says “Yes.”

“In nothing be anxious: but in everything by prayer supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be in known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth understanding, shall guard your hearts and your in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7).

God Answers Prayer

I asked God for strength,

That I might achieve —
I was made weak,
That I might learn to obey.

I asked for help,
That I might do greater things —
I was given infirmity,
That I might do better things.

I asked for riches,
That I might be happy —
I was given poverty,
That I might be wise.

I asked for all things,
That I might enjoy life.
I was given life,
That I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for,
But everything I had hoped for.
Despite myself,
My prayers were answered.
I am among all men
Most richly blessed.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 20, pp. 617-618
October 18, 1984