The problem with salvation from our human perspective is that we know our sins and weaknesses so well. We approach salvation with a default human condition. We are taught we get what we deserve and when we come to a holy, perfect God we know we can’t earn perfection. God’s grace, freely given to us, is the only solution to our problem but it goes against our pride and our ingrained attitude that we have to earn what we get. In sports, education and every competition in life we focus on earning what we get. Those who study get good grades. Those who practice and work out harder are better athletes. Those who work with more intensity get better jobs. That’s how we operate. It just doesn’t work that way with salvation.
Our problem is that we are sinners from the beginning of our lives and nothing we do can change that. That’s one reason why the message of Ephesians 1:3-14 is one of the most beautiful passages of Scripture in the Bible. In it Paul describes salvation. He summarizes the message of salvation with three thoughts. We are chosen by God, we are redeemed by the Son, Jesus and we are sealed by the Holy Spirit.
We are Chosen by God
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless
in his sight” (1:4).
God doesn’t play favorites. He doesn’t arbitrarily choose you and not someone else. He chose us in Him. God chooses the ones who are in His Son. If you are in Jesus you’re chosen. If you’re not in Jesus you’re not chosen.
We are Redeemed by the Son
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance
with the riches of God’s grace” (1:7).
This phrase recalls the Old Testament sacrificial system. When someone sinned he would come to the priest with a perfect lamb to be sacrificed in his place. The priest didn’t examine him. He was an admitted sinner. The priest carefully examined the sacrifice. It had to be perfect. Jesus is our perfect sacrifice who has redeemed us from sin and brought us God’s gift of forgiveness.
We are Sealed by the Holy Spirit
“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” (1:13).
The Holy Spirit seals us when we believe. Ephesus was a great center of the lumber industry in ancient times. A raft of logs would be brought from the Black Sea and notice went to different lumber firms that the raft was in the harbor. These firms would send out their men to look over the logs and make their selections. They would pay a down payment and cut a certain wedge into each log they had purchased. This mark was called a “seal.” The logs might not be taken from the water for many weeks, but each was sealed by the mark of the owner. Though we may still be floating where we are, as it were, we have already been marked by our owner. We belong to God and the Holy Spirit assures us of that. In this beautiful Scripture, Paul breaks out in praise. It’s a phrase that still rings in my heart. “To the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves” (Ephesians 1:6). Glorious grace! God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are working to get me to heaven when there was nothing I could do on my own to earn God’s approval. If someone were to ask me why I am so excited by the message of God’s grace there are a lot of answers I could give. But no answer would be more powerful for me than the summary of this Scripture. Salvation was out of my reach and out of yours. Our performance could never close the gap that sin caused between us and God. Grace means that God the Father has chosen us, God the Son has redeemed us, and God the Holy Spirit has sealed every believer. If the entire Godhead is fighting for our salvation how can we possibly lose if we believe in Jesus?
