Subject – In whom ye also trusted!
Ephesians 1:13a “In whom ye also trusted, after that
ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation…”
This verse in its context is referring to the end of verse
12 “…who first trusted in Christ.” Until Jesus Christ is first trusted by
us, we can do nothing for God. We are just lost sinners awaiting our final place
in eternity in the fires of Hell. We do not recognize, or we see any benefits
of God until we first trust in Jesus Christ, because lost people live in the
state of darkness. We may have heard the gospel message a thousand times in
church, read about salvation in the scriptures, books, and articles, but in
reality you have never heard the gospel message until the Holy Spirit brings
it’s power to us. When God speaks of people being dead, ("And you
hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;" Ephesians
2:1) God is speaking of our spirit or our inner person being dead. Our
spirit is the only way for us to communicate with God, and if our spirit is
dead, we have no ears to hear and no eyes to see and therefore we will never
hear the gospel message and trust Christ as our Saviour. Lost people can hear
and see with their physical eyes and ears, they may even trust Christ with
their mind, but that is not salvation, and that is not faith. God said, “But
blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.”
Matthew 13:16 We are blessed because God has given us spiritual eyes to see and
spiritual ears to hear the gospel message and believe in Jesus Christ is by the
power of the Holy Spirit. God goes on to say, “He hath blinded their eyes,
and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor
understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.”
John 12:40 While people want to argue about the “He” and who it is, that fact
is that lost people cannot hear nor see that Jesus Christ is Saviour. Only
those blessed of God through the working power of the Holy Spirit can see and
hear the true gospel and come to Jesus Christ for salvation. Those who believe
in their mind do not really believe and others deny that salvation is in Jesus
Christ, the very thought is foolishness to them. This is why Preachers talk
about salvation not taking, but the truth is none of them take if that
salvation is of man and not of the Holy Spirit, but 100% of the salvation
that is accomplished by the Holy Spirit take, because He is perfect and cannot
fail. “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the
Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are
led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Romans
8:13 - 14
To us who are saved by the power of the Holy Spirit we first
trusted in Jesus Christ for the first time we spiritually saw and heard the
gospel about Jesus Christ and believed on Him as our Saviour. Not by our own
repentance, not with our own eyes and ears, not with our dead heart, and not
with our fleshly mind. But because the Holy Spirt came into us, quickened our
dead spirits, giving us true saving faith, and drew us to Christ. “No man
can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I
will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:44 If you do not believe that
you are no different than the lost Jews that Jesus was speaking to as they
showed Him disagreement. “Murmur not among yourselves.” V. 63 Because
Jesus had just explained that God is Sovereign and that God elects all who will
believe, and that you cannot be saved on your own. Read very slow and
carefully, "And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that
of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up
again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every
one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life:
and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:39 – 40 That is why
they were murmuring at Jesus, because they could not hear what Jesus was saying
and refused to believe. Blessed are you that believe.
