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"The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places," Ephesians 1:18-20 |
The Promise:
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The Promise
Serious Questions, Serious Issues The Real Promise, The Real Keeper 1. Introduction PK The promises of God, the promises which believers make, and how both are kept, and the relationship between them are all serious questions and issues. They should be a matter for serious reflection. The answers we give shape home, family, marriage, and child rearing. Sound answers build the home. False answers destroy it. What the word of God teaches sustains our faith. The inventions of men subvert it. Promise Keepers, in this connection comes with some bold statements, and use Ephesians 1:18-19 as a theme text. We want therefore to ask some serious questions from the scriptures about home and family, about marriage and the relation of husband and wife. But we want also to look at God's promises, for they are the foundation of faith. Corrupting the scriptures is a serious matter. This can be done in many ways: by twisting the word or by omitting half of what the word says, for a half-truth is a falsehood. There are serious questions which must have answers. How, for example, is the grace of God given us? Who is it that controls and directs the power of God, God or man? Is the Holy Spirit simply a force, which men channel and unleash? Is there a difference between the power of the Spirit of almighty God in the exalted Lord Jesus Christ and the power of heathen and new age channeling of spirits and powers under the direction of men. We are to "try the spirits whether they are of God," I John 4:1 What is being promoted by Promise Keepers. This trying of the spirits includes also such organizations as Promise Keepers. We are not to be led by catchy phrases such as "unleashed, releasing the raw the power of your heart." We are not to simply accept such phrases as "it's in you." Christians do not believe in "IT" They believe in HIM, "Christ in you, the hope of glory," Colossians 1:27. We believe that it is, "God which worketh in you both to will and do of his good pleasure," Philippians 2:13. God, not it, a sovereign God Who works both the willing and doing according to "his good pleasure," is the One by whom we work out our salvation in Christian living and home and family (Philippians 2:12). We are taught that we are led by the Spirit of God, "For as many as are lead by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God," Romans 8:14. That work of the Holy Spirit is the work of a person, not a force; it is a work that leads and is first. To be sure, God gives us gifts and talents, both natural talents and spiritual gifts of his Spirit, to be used by the power of His grace in His service. But He works the willing and doing through Christ in us and leads us by His Spirit. Truly, apart from Christ, we can do nothing, Jesus said, "I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." John 15:5. Can a Christian even say the following, as Promise Keepers does?
God's power is so given that it is man who rules it? Man unleashing it out of his own heart, effectively channels it? It simply sits there waiting for man to "LET IT OUT?" It depends on man to make it work? It depends on man to come near to the One Creator? It depends on man to become everything the One Creator created you to be? Does Christ have anything to do with this? If so, where is He? Does the cross of Christ have anything to do with this? If so, where is it mentioned? Could not such a statement be made by one who believes in the life force? It could be said by a believer in Judaism or Islam who denies Christ come in the flesh ( I John 4;1,2). Take the word God and Creator out of it, and it could be said by any humanist, atheist, or agnostic. The statement is repackaged non-Christian humanist "power of positive thinking" propaganda. Promise Keepers 2006 tells us:
Consider what is being said by Promise Keepers in this: -- God designed us, now it's up to man. Courage, passion, fire, a warrior, an untamed spirit is man's to unleash. You do it. You unleash "the power of God in you." You have God's power, you have it like a dog on a leash. You, not God, set it free and take the leash off. You have, like a lightning bolt, this potential. You unleash it the way the heathen thought Baal or Thor did. -- Is that not what is being said? What does Ephesians 1:18-19 actually teach? But does not Promise Keepers base what they are saying on Ephesians 1:18-19? Is not the text being unfairly ignored? Let us look at the text, since they quote it from the NIV, we will do so, But let us quote the whole text and the verse 20 which follows, for part of verse 19 is omitted:
The apostle in the text is speaking of his prayer for the Ephesians that they might know and understand in heart, by the illuminating power of God's grace, the blessings God's grace gives unto us, namely "the hope to which he has called you," and the "riches of his glorious inheritance in his people. " He has in view our hope, which is ultimately in eternal glory, and our eternal inheritance. He is speaking about God's promises, promises of salvation and eternal life. "The glorious inheritance of his people ( literally "in his saints - holy ones" the NIV being a paraphrase, not a translation). He is not speaking about a power in our heart which man unleashes, but about God's power unleashed by God. He is speaking of God's power giving us all that He has promised. He is speaking of a work of God by which we might have hope and know it and understand the riches which He has promised in the inheritance which is in Christ. Into that hope God also "called you," God called us. By his "incomparably great power for us who believe, He called us and gave us hope and an inheritance in Christ. That power is not "for us" in the sense that it is provided and we use it. The words "for us" are in the original "unto us" or "toward us" that is, God by His incomparable power wrought upon us, and in us, and is continuing to do so that He Who brought us to faith might give us what He has promised: the hope and inheritance. The apostle is talking about the working of God's power, a power that calls effectually, and we are given by that power to believe. What he means is further explained by what has been omitted by PK, namely that this power is the power that raised Christ from the dead. Again the text does not say "like the working of his mighty strength, but "according to the working of his mighty power "[KJV]. God by the working of His almighty power raised Christ from the dead and glorified Him. God, by the same power raised you, a dead sinner as to your soul, by the resurrection power of God in Christ. He called you, and you were given of God to believe. It is all the working of His mighty power. Believing, the activity of saving faith, is the fruit of that incomparably great and mighty power of God and His working. We who were dead in trespasses and sins ( Ephesians 2;1) have been "quickened together with Christ,' [KJV] ..." Ephesians 2:5, or to use the NIV, God "made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgression - it is by grace you have been saved." The power the apostle has in view in Ephesians, is a mighty power of God that saves His people, continues to work their salvation in hope of eternal life, giving them all that He has promised. It is all God's work: God's promises, the working of His almighty power, the power of the risen Christ. By that power Christ, the head, rules the body, the church and living members thereof. For this is Christ's glory:
The relationship of the head and its rule and power to the body and its members is the same as in John 15:5 above, where Jesus speaks of the vine and the branches. This is the text in its context. It says nothing of man's power. It is all of God. How utterly different is this true picture of the text from the man- focused promotional material we have cited. The text contradicts such a man- focused idea. Now there is more that could be said about this passage in Ephesians, for the apostle also speaks of our being chosen in Christ and predestinated unto that salvation by sovereign election, Ephesians 1:3-14. But even this brief consideration makes one thing clear. The text is speaking of God's power, the working of God's power, the realization of God's purpose by God's power, God's promises and therefore our sure hope of eternal inheritance in Christ our risen Lord our head, and resurrection life in Him in our souls. God in Christ raises the dead soul as well as the body, John 5:25. The apostle is speaking of the incomparably great power that God has unleashed, so to speak, and continues to work. The text is not in any sense of the word speaking of a power of man's heart which man unleashes. It is not the "raw power of your heart," of which the text is speaking but the power and working of God, who raised Christ from the dead and saves dead sinners. It is not a power "YOU LET OUT." You may not corrupt the scriptures this way. The tragedy of this is too, that such a man-focus is not the way for a man to find grace to keep the promises a man makes, For one struggling with being a husband and father, with ruling his home and family, as one who is still a sinner, this way of man's power is the way of dispair. Seeking in man, in himself, the answer, the power, even of God, and the strength to unleash it, is the way of spiritual folly. It is the way of vanity and sinful pride in his own strength. Labeling that human power, God's power unleashed by man, is twisting the text in Ephesians 1:18-19. The notion that God's power is given us, so that we control and unleash it is profane It is only in the faithful power of God to His people, of a God Who works by His power and keeps His promises to us in Christ, that we, by His grace, begin also to walk in the way of faithfulness. The answer to the struggles of marriage and home, are not found in us but in God, for He is the real and only faithful promise keeper, in Jesus Christ, the faithful Savior. In Him we also begin by His grace to walk in faithfulness in the promises we make in this life. Turning from man, we turn to God in Christ and the Promise of God. for that alone is where faith and hope must rest. |
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For Further Study
The issues raised in this series of articles are spiritually serious ones. The foundation of faith and true confidence in God in Christ are at issue. We may rightly ask ourselves, am I being taught the truth of God, the God of the Bible in its entirety? Do I rightly know Him? Likewise we may ask, am I being taught that which is taught by the Jesus of the Bible? What did Jesus Himself say about God"s work of grace and our salvation, Christian living, and about our homes, marriages and families also? The work of grace found in Scripture, is one which stands in stark contrast to much that is promoted as Christian but which is in serious error. The way of salvation is by grace and grace alone. This is more than a slogan which is to be uttered but then compromised and violated. Do you know this work of grace?
See also:
We are called likewise to try the spirits whether they are of God. Not everything that calls itself Christian is truly Christian. There are false gospels, false Christs. There are errors in which men stray, even when they may appear well intentioned.
We are also called to take the truth of sin seriously. Fail to do so, put a false confidence in man, and not only will it lead to pride in ourselves or to failure and discouragement rooted in a false confidence, but you will also be destroying the truth of grace and the gospel. For grace and the gospel are the true answer to sin. And sin lies at the root of the problems of man's life, also the troubles of his marriage and family. For more discussion of Promise Keepers, go to the following external link: |
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