Believer's Blessings

God has provided wonderful and glorious blessings to the one who has put his faith in Christ. He has given these marvelous blessings to us because he loves us. Paul says that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Paul proclaims many of these blessings in the opening verses of Ephesians, one of the most magnificent passages in the Scriptures. He emphasizes that these blessings to the believer in Christ are to the praise of the glory of God's grace. Below is the passage with specific blessings emboldened.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation -- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1.3-14).

Some of these blessings enumerated above, in addition to others, are explained below. These blessing are a "package". Once we put our trust in Christ, we have a new relationship with God. We are no longer his enemies but his sons and daughters. We stand in the unending stream of God's grace from which all blessings flow. These blessing, though real, must be appropriated by faith for the believer to experience them. Faith gives victory in the Christian life. These passages declare what God says are the present possessions for those who have put their trust in his Son. Believe them! Do you want to experience victory in the Christian life? Look at Hebrews 11 to see how believers in the past had victory in their lives. It was all by faith; they believed what God said!

The blessings discussed here are only for those who have put their trust in Christ. For those who refuse to trust Christ, only judgment and condemnation awaits. Jesus came to save mankind. His death and resurrection solved the problem of sin. But Jesus warns that judgment awaits those who refuse his offer of salvation. No one will be judged for sins since Jesus paid for all sins and took them away--as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103.12). This is the gospel--the good news! But judgment and condemnation awaits those who reject the Son of God and his free offer of salvation. Listen to the words of Jesus,

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3.16-18).

"For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him" (John 5.21-23).

For those willing to put their trust in Christ, God has provided incomprehensible blessings. We are rich beyond imagining. Some of the specific blessings are the following:

Justification
Redemption
Regeneration
Sonship
Joint-Heirs
Reconciliation
Forgiveness
Eternal Life
Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
Resurrection

Justification

The believer in Christ is declared by the Scriptures to be justified. What does that mean? Justification is a legal term in which the believer in Christ is declared to be righteous. More than a declaration of "Not guilty", the believer in Christ is declared "Righteous". God imputes his very own righteousness to the one who accepts the work of Jesus on his behalf. God justifies the believer in Christ on the basis of faith, not works. Paul says in Romans 3.21-24,

"But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus."

Justification is an act of grace by God. It is a gift. It cannot be earned; it cannot be worked for. It is free--courtesy of the Lord Jesus Christ. He picked up the tab for us.

Paul says in Romans 5.1,

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ".

The result of justification is peace with God. Peace with God is a blessing in which the believer can rest. Fear of God is removed. Fear of death or judgment is eliminated. In Col. 2.13-14, Paul says,

"And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."

Everything that God had against us was paid for by the death and resurrection of Christ. To the one who trusts in the work of Christ on his behalf for salvation, God says, "Righteous!" cf. Rom. 5.9 also.

See also Justification.

Redemption

To redeem means to buy back something that used to belong to the purchaser but for some reason has passed out of his possession. The Scriptures tell us that we were redeemed by Christ. In Colossians 1.13-14, Paul says,

"For He delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in who we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

And Peter says in 1 Peter 1.18-19,

"Knowing that your were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ."

The biblical picture of redemption is that of redeeming or ransoming us out of the slavery of sin and death. The agorawas the Greek word for the market. It was where business was transacted. In modern terms we might think of it's equivalent as being the mall, full of shops, banks, etc. One of the chief commodities in the ancient market was slaves. The word e0cagora/zwmeans to buy out from the market and the the biblical picture of is one of buying slaves out of the slave market of sin. Apart from Christ, we were helpless and hopeless in the slave market unless someone could buy us out. A slave cannot buy his way out of the slave market. He has no means. But Christ had the means. He was not in the slave market. He was able to redeem us. The price of the purchase was his own blood, his death.

Jesus taught the concept of being slaves to sin. In John 8.31-36, he spoke to the Jews saying,

"Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.' They answered Him, 'We are Abraham's offspring, and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, 'You shall become free''? Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. And the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.'"

Redemption is a gift. What a gift! It is an act of grace by God. It can neither be earned nor worked for. It can only be accepted. See also Redemption.

Regeneration

Regeneration means a new birth. Everyone is born once--physically. The Scriptures teach us that we need to experience a new birth in order to have a relationship with God.

Jesus in his conversation with Nicodemus said,

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again (or from above), he cannot see the kingdom of God" (Jn. 3.3).

Nicodemus did not understand what this new birth was. Jesus elaborated on his statement saying,

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit" Jn. 3.5-8.

Why is a new birth necessary? Because we are dead. We enter this world spiritually dead. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15.22,

"In Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive."

This concept is expounded by Paul in Romans 5.12-21. When Adam disobeyed God and sinned we all sinned. Sin spread seminally throughout the human race. We inherit the nature of our father Adam. God had warned Adam (Genesis 2.16-17) that on the day he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that "dying he would die". Adam died spiritually the instant he ate of the tree. His relationship with God was broken. He became afraid of Him. What had been a wonderful, free relationship was replaced by a relationship of fear and guilt. Spiritual death leads to physical death. Adam died physically 930 years later. It is the same for us. We enter the world spiritually dead and eventually die physically. When we believe in Christ, we are regenerated. We receive a new life--spiritual life. John tells us plainly that to have Christ is to have this life. Not to have Christ means we are dead.

"He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life" (1 Jn. 5.12).

Sonship

Closely allied with regeneration is the doctrine of sonship. Once regenerated we become God's children. John writes,

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (Jn. 1.11-12).

Paul says in Galatians 3.26,

"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."

And again in Galatians 4.4-7,

"But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God."

The relationship of children of God is one which God has predestined. Paul says in Ephesians 1.5,

"He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of his will,"

God elected us as his children. We exercise our wills, make a choice, and believe, but God in his sovereign, omniscient wisdom made a choice also. Such a choice gives the believer in Christ security. Once a son, always a son. Once established, that relationship cannot be broken. Jesus illustrates this fact in the parable of the sheep and the good shepherd,

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand" (John 10.27-28).

Joint-Heirs

Jesus is the unique Son of God. He is the God-Man--truly God and truly Man. When we believe in Christ we become God's adopted children. In that sense, we are brothers and sisters of Christ Himself! Furthermore, we are joint-heirs of Christ. One day, God the Father will sum up all things in Christ. He will give to His Son all that there is to give. Paul says that we are joint-heirs to this. This blessing is beyond comprehension. Paul says in Romans 8.15-17,

"For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him."

Peter says the same thing in 1 Peter 1.3-5:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

Reconciliation

The believer in Christ has been reconciled in his relationship with God. The spiritual relationship that man had with God and was broken with Adam's disobedience has been restored through the death of Christ. Paul explains this in Romans 5.10-11:

"For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation."

And again, Paul says,

"For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven" (Col. 1.19-20).

And finally, this word by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5.17-19,

"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation."

See also Reconciliation.

Forgiveness

God has forgiven the sins of the believer in Christ. Paul says in Ephesians 1.7,

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace,"

This statement is paralleled in Colossians 1.13-14:

"For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

Later in this same letter, Paul says,

"And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross" (Col. 2.13-4).

Forgiveness of sins for the believer in Christ is a present state. God has forgiven us our sins--past tense. We do not need to ask God to forgive us--He already has!

Eternal Life

Everyone dies. Death is the great enemy of the human race and most people do not wish to contemplate death. We all cling to life. This is natural since God created man to live in an eternal relationship with him. Sin destroyed life as God intended it to be for sin broke our relationship with God who is life. When we put our trust in Christ we are born again, born from above with God's very own life. This life is eternal. One of the great themes of the Apostle John is life. Characteristic to John is his setting forth of powerful, profound truths with very simple language. He records these words of our Savior in his gospel,

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3.14-16).

John affirms Jesus' statement in his epistle in 1 John 5.11-13 as he says,

"And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life."

Most people believe that eternal life is something that is given or will begin with physical death. But the Bible declares that eternal life begins the moment we believe. John says, "we have the life" not "will have the life". Eternal life begins the moment one puts his trust in Christ. How long does eternal life last? Forever!

Indwelling by the Holy Spirit

When we put our trust in Christ, we are baptized by the Holy Spirit. Paul says in 1 Cor. 12.13,

"For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit."

This baptism means we are identified with Christ, that we are "in Christ". We are part of his body, the Church. This blessing is unique to all believers beginning in the first century after the gospel began being proclaimed to Gentiles. Nothing in the Old Testament indicates that all believers in that time had such a relationship.

Paul also says,

"And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'" (Gal. 4.6).

And in Ephesians, Paul says,

"In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation -- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory" (Eph. 1.13-14).

The Holy Spirit is given to the believer in Christ as a "pledge" or "downpayment" of his inheritance. He is God's "earnest money" for our future blessing as joint-heirs of Christ.

Resurrection

The Scriptures declare that we have the hope, i.e. the expectation of resurrection of our bodies. The resurrrection is central to Christianity and to the Gospel (1 Cor. 15.1-4). Without the resurrection there is no Christianity. There is no hope. We look forward to the day of Christ's return and it is at that time that we will receive new, immortal bodies. These bodies will be fit for eternity. Our fleshly bodies only last a short time. They are corrupted by sin and eventually experience death. Above we saw the consequence of Adam's disobedience of God's command regarding eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We have all been infected with Adam's sin. Hence, we suffer the same consequences.

The resurrection is the "proof" of Christianity. The resurrection of Christ was the event that changed the disciples of Christ. At his crucifixion they fled. When he appeared to them raised from the dead, they became new men. They became bold as lions proclaiming that Jesus was the Savior, the long-awaited Messiah. The resurrected Christ also appeared to the apostle Paul. He had been a mortal enemy to the Way as it was known then--of those who believed in Christ. But when Christ appeared to him, alive, on the road to Damascus, Paul's life was forever changed. As violent an enemy of Christ as he had been, he became his devoted follower and obedient servant. Listen to Paul's powerful words regarding resurrection:

"Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, 'All things are put in subjection,' it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all" (1 Cor. 15.12-28).

Paul describes the nature and mechanics of resurrection in the following,

"But someone will say, 'How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?' You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, 'The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.' The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, 'DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Cor. 15.35-58).