The Riches of Gods Grace Revisited
Roger Henderson · Aug 25, 2013
Specials, No. 13
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/49264031853

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Well, good morning. You probably noticed I'm not Vern. And actually, occasionally, probably a couple times a year, either Mike or I will fill in for Vern. Vern is back in California with his parents, and hopefully he's helping them manage. They're having some issues, and he's hopefully making it better for them, but it's going to be challenging. So keep your prayers, you know, for Vern there, that would be great.

So I have the privilege this morning to kind of go back and review something that, if you were here back in February or March, we covered something like what is called The Riches of God's Grace by Dr. Chaffer. And I wanted to kind of go back and look at that again, but this time I want to kind of zero in a couple of truths about that. And just one second, I'm going to move this before I trip over it, which wouldn't be good. So I'd like to go back and look at that, but I'd like to start out with just kind of some thoughts here. You know, these riches of God's grace, Dr. Chaffer compiled by looking at scripture and looking at the truths that we have in our Savior, Lord Jesus.

And these truths are just stupendous. There's actually on our Holly Hills website and actually I can get you a hard copy if you don't have that. There's a listing of these truths and actually these truths many of you know already because we teach them hopefully weekly here at Holly Hills. But Dr. Chaffer kind of refers to these in the fact that in Hebrews there's this part of Hebrews that says the things that accompany salvation may be interpreted and referred to as those mighty positions and possessions which are wrought instantaneously and simultaneous by God at the instant an individual exercises saving faith in Christ.

So these are truths that every believer has. These are truths that we don't have to work for. They are by God's great grace. We don't have to strive for these. And it talks about these positions and possessions. And just a small smattering of that would be that one of the positions that we have, we're seated with Christ in heavenly places, from Ephesians. Possessions. I'm a child of God. I don't try to become a child of God. I am a child of God by God's doing. I have eternal life by God's doing, by His Son's death on the cross.

So what we're going to look at here, and this is kind of a, as I said, revisiting, before we looked at the book of Ephesians, we went through the entire book of Ephesians, and we found maybe 20 or 30 of these truths kind of buried in the book of Ephesians.

Well, this time we're going to just look at two of these truths and kind of delve in more deeply. But I think it's kind of critical that we first look at this position versus condition. Now, this is one of Courtney's favorite topics, and mine as well. You know, this along with the Israel and the Church rightly dividing God's Word is so crucial.

If you don't rightly divide God's Word correctly, you're going to take some eternal truth about you, and you're going to think, I have to work for that truth. Like, how am I going to... Some people say, I'm going to work for eternal life. You can't do it. It's impossible. You cannot work for eternal life. Now, there are works you can do based upon that you have eternal life, but you can't work to gain eternal life. Only God is the giver of eternal life.

So, the position I like to picture as this, and this is from various sources that's come down over the years, but anyway, this is, we're in Christ and we have these eternal unchangeable positions in Christ. As contrasted with, we have our condition, our daily walk, By the Spirit of God, we walk based upon who we are in Christ, what we have. And that's the moment-by-moment truths that we have, that we look to for our daily life. And they're temporal and changeable. We may not count upon God's grace in any given moment of time. We may count upon ourselves. God would have us count upon His great grace, but we may not do that.

So that's kind of the temporal aspect of this. So what I'm going to present this morning is going to be totally the positional realm everything I'm going to talk about is our position and who we are in Christ and what we have and that's just not something you just Jot down. Oh, I have all these these great things and I'll get back to that at some point They're just they're just they're so integral to your Christian life and hopefully they'll come through as we go through this so So first of all Dr. Chafer had kind of given us some one-line statements about these truths.

First of all, they're not experience. We don't experience this truth. You don't experience the fact that I'm seated with Christ in the heavenlies. You don't experience the fact that you're a child of God. You just are. Secondly, they're not progressive. We're not progressively Progressively becoming a son of God. We are a son of God. We're not more like, I'm a son of my father. Ryan is my son. He doesn't become more a son tomorrow than he was yesterday. He's always my son. He always will be my son. Just as we'll always be sons of God, both men and women.

And thirdly, they are related in no way to human merit. We cannot humanly add anything to what God's already done. If we could, then it wouldn't be grace. It wouldn't be a gracious gift. We would be adding, and then God would owe us something. Well, Roger added a little bit to this, and he gets an extra brownie point. And Courtney added a little bit more, and he gets another brownie point. And so on. It can't be that way. It's impossible.

Fourthly, they're eternal in character. We know we have eternal life. All that we know about God, He has an eternal love that will never change. All the characteristics that we see here are eternal in their very nature. Fifth, they're known only through the Word of God. There's really no other source of these truths other than the Word of God. And sixth, they are not produced by man, but by God alone. God is the source of these wonderful riches, and they're secured only by knowing Him.

So now I'd like to kind of revisit, and Dr. Chaffer, if you look at the list that he created, he had 33 riches of God's grace. And that's probably the minimal number. If you look, and we'll look shortly here, that's probably, depending on how you count these, you can get many more. You can get 50, 60, I mean, you can get lots. But we're going to look at two from his list.

The first one is number four, and it says related to God through propitiation. That sounds like kind of a dry topic. You know, they say, oh, Roger's going to talk about propitiation. Well, I'm going to snooze off here. I mean, that's going to be kind of, but actually it is just, there's so much there and we'll see that shortly.

And then secondly, and kind of, kind of related to that is that we've been made near. This is not that I'm going to cozy up to God. It's the fact that we already are near to God by his doing and not by our doing. So those are the two areas we're going to delve into.

And hopefully the handouts I get past that will be helpful. I didn't produce every overhead, but I produced just the ones I thought would be helpful. Okay, so let's... So here's a partial list here, the first seven. And you'll see number four here, the one we're going to talk about, you know, kind of comes after. And here's my point.

If you look at number one, I could count number one, I could get five out of number one. He has the eternal plan of God, foreknowledge, predestination, election, chosen and called. I get five by counting. So his numbering, I'll quibble with his numbering system. But anyway, we're going to delve into number four here, propitiation. So first of all, let's start off with the definition. Definitions are always good. So I'm going to start with Wiest.

He's a Greek scholar, which we use a lot here at Holly Hills. And he talks about, in the pagan usage or outside of scripture is another way to think of it, the word propitiation is to appease, to conciliate to oneself, to make a god propitious. And he gives an example there. He quotes Herodias. He talks about this escaping the visitation of an army by giving him gifts. I won't try to pronounce all those names there, but anyway, let's go on. And then Marchbank, which we have a class and we study his definitions of a lot of biblical words.

He says that propitiation itself means that which propitiates and also means a place of propitiation. Our Lord Jesus is both that. Amazingly enough, He propitiates, He satisfies God's very nature, but He also is the very place of propitiation because of His death on the cross, because He shed His blood on our behalf. So we'll see that aspect as we go on. And so, and then the last bullet is, that which propitiates is Christ himself. So the last little section there, you could think of propitiation as this, the one who has paid the price. And certainly Christ has done that. He has paid the price for every single sin that's been committed. Or you could think of it in this way. He's made satisfaction. He's satisfied a holy God concerning our sins.

So those are two definitions there that are helpful, I think. Okay, so let's go on here. Okay, so we have so within propitiation I want to talk about three aspects and I've already kind of alluded to this the first one is that Christ the Propitiation for our sins and we're going to have verses a couple verses in first John that you're very and we one was read by Randy we're going to talk about the fact that Christ our propitiation and then we're talking about the fact that our He is the place of propitiation. We're going to talk about, we're going to go back to the Old Testament. We're going to look at the, what's called the Ark of the Covenant, this box, this gold box. Um, and it had a lid on this box and on that lid, uh, it's called the mercy seat and blood was sprinkled on this, on this mercy seat to, and payment for sins, but it was only temporary. And we're going to talk about that. And that's the place of propitiation. We're going to find out that our Savior is that very place.

That this mercy seat was a foreshadowing of what Christ would ultimately be. And then lastly, Christ is propitious in His very nature. That is His nature. He gave His life for the sins of the world. And we're going to look at that. So those are the three aspects of that. So let's start off with the first verse. and we didn't listen we did not read but first John 2 2 and he himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for those of the whole world so the first phrase and he himself is the propitiation so basically Christ is the propitiation just say you know just straightaway he's a propitiation and the structure air structure is such that propitiation in Christ or Propitiation is what's called a subject complement, and it's actually describing Christ. He's the propitiation.

That's just who he is. Let me go back here. And then, nextly, Christ is the singular one who propitiates. There's no one else who is able to propitiate for man's sins. There's not another being in this universe that can propitiate, and this was agreed to by God the Father and God the Son in what's called the Eternal Covenant in Eternity Past. So Christ is a singular propitiation.

And that's a present tense. He not only did that in time past, but he presently, just like God is love, God isn't just love in the past. God is love continually. So Christ is a propitiation continually. So there's a verse here I'd like to kind of talk about a little bit. It's in Hebrews 9, 12. I'd like to read a little bit more than what's on the overhead there. Starting in verse 11, Hebrews 9, 11, and 12.

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, he entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood he entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

So what we're going to see here is that in the Old Testament it took a physical animal to be slain, to be slaughtered, and their blood was sufficient for atoning for sins for that time period. But Christ's blood was shed once for all time. So we have this picture in the Old Testament of bulls and goats every year in, year out, constantly being slaughtered. But Christ has propitiated our sins once for all, and that's a key part of that.

And then the last part there, to bear the sins of many, and actually it says, so Christ also having been offered once, once again, to bear the sins of many will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin to those who eagerly await him. So once again, it's to bear the sins of many once for all. And then the next verse is in Hebrews 10, 12, and that's Let me go back to Hebrews 10 11 every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time So there's that time after time aspect the same sacrifice which can never take away sins It's interesting. It says it can never take away they can they can satisfy for that time period but they never could take away and But it says, but he, having offered one sacrifice for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.

So Christ's sacrifice was one for all time. So that's a marvelous thing. We have a Savior who is able to save to the uttermost and never to be repeated again. OK, so that's kind of the first phrase. And he himself is a propitiation for our sins. And now the second part, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. So, whose sins is Christ the propitiation for?

That's one of those questions that if you look at, quote, theological books, people just go on, and they can make a big deal about this. But I think it's just so obvious in this verse. And actually, since I'm an engineer, I like this verse. I'm going to show you a block diagram here of this verse. Courtney's going to go. OK. First part, first block.

He's a propitiation for our sins, or my sins, okay? He doesn't stop there. He says, and the negative of that, not for ours only. So He's a propitiation for our sins, my sins, but don't stop there, not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. So that's, you know, it's all-encompassing. He is the Savior.

So the question comes up, you say, well then, Now, what about, what about, does that mean people just, everyone's saved? Well, people have to, just like if you had a million dollars in the bank, if Courtney put a million dollars in your account, I'm using Courtney as my, as my go-to guy here, he puts a million dollars in your account. Well, if you never access that account, you never take advantage of that, you never have that wonderful truth. Every man, woman, and child on this planet, their sins have been propitiated for, have been satisfied. But man's job is to put his faith and trust in what God has done. So a child can do that, and many children have. And it's a wonderful thing. But many people say, no, I do not want that man over me.

So there's a couple of verses I'd like to read that talk about the vastness of the fact that he is a propitiation for the sins of the whole world. In John 4, 42, it says, And they were saying to the woman, It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard ourselves and know that this one, Christ, is indeed the Savior of part of the world. It's the Savior of the world. And number two, John 12, 32.

And if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw some men to myself. Did I read that right? No, all men to myself. So God's work is all-inclusive. Every single person on the planet, his sins have been propitiated for all time. And that's a marvelous truth. That's a truth that we hang our hats on. We count upon that. Because tomorrow you can say, boy, there's something I just did. Maybe that's not taken care of. And maybe it's a grievous sin. Boy, isn't it wonderful to know that Christ has paid for that? So, you know, this is not something you hide under the pillow. And Bob often says this is a... How do you say it, Bob? For a pillow for a... Soft pillow for a tired head. Thank you, Bob. Okay.

So now, let's go to 1 John 4.10. This is what Randy read for us here. And this is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Okay. So in this case, we're going to kind of go through and look at this. And this is love. This is what love is all about. This is the nature of love. This is God's kind of love, not man's kind. This is what love is all about. And once again, he gives a positive and then he gives a negative.

Not that we love God. So right off the bat, he's saying, don't think that you worked up to this. This is a positional truth, right? We can't work for this truth. We can't work for God's love. We can't work to love God. we are to exercise faith in what God has done. He says, not that we love God.

And first of all, that's a perfect tense. We couldn't love God in the past, and we continue not to be able to love God in the present. And that's for the unbeliever. Once we become a child of God, then we have the capacity to love God because he gives us his very spirit.

It takes that radical change. We are so short of God's standard, that it takes the life of Christ in us to love Him. So when someone says, well I gotta love just a little bit more and then I'll believe, you know, that's not scriptural. That doesn't fit. It takes a miraculous act of God to change a person totally to allow him to love God.

And that's, you know, it's just incredible. But that he loved us. So it says, and this is love. This is what love is all about. Not that we love God, but that he loved us. So God loved us first. It took that action to begin the process. So I like to read Ephesians 2, 4. And that says, but being rich in his mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we are dead in our transgressions and sins. It's his great love, it's his great grace, his great love with which he loved us that made the difference in our life.

Not that we try to become more loving and then eventually come to understand about God. It can't work that way. It takes an act of God to do that. Okay, so then the last part of the verse, and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. And you notice all these verses have my propitiation word in there. That's why I chose him, obviously. All right, so the first part of that, his love was demonstrated by sending his son. So that was the demonstration of his love. He didn't just say, world, I love you. Hold up a sign. God loves you. God loves you. No. He took action in that. And he sent his son. He sent his son on a mission to die for the sins of the world.

And then secondly, His son was sent to be the propitiation for our sins. And the construction here is such that propitiation and son are equals. So his son for our sins, which I thought was kind of cool. If you replace propitiation there in that statement, his son can replace his son for our sins.

And that's exactly what it took. The son of God for his sins. And then lastly here, for on behalf of the sins of the world. So it was on behalf of, in place of. He was our substitute. So that kind of is the first section, Christ, the propitiation for our sins.

So now we're going to move on to a section that's going to go back to the Old Testament and look at this, the Ark of the Covenant, look at the mercy seat as a place of propitiation. So here's a, and I got this from Vern. Vern is, you know, he's amazing. If you go on the web, you can eventually find all this stuff, but you've got to work. So I'm appreciative of Vern's work here. So here's a picture of the Ark of the Covenant with the mercy seat and the cherubim. So we're just going to work through this. So from Exodus 25, it talks about the mercy seat. First, it says it's the blueprints, if you will. Exodus 25, 10 through 12 is we give Phil and he gets some blueprints, right? He pulls the blueprints out and he's going to build an ark. Box and he's going to do it this way in that well first of all it's it's going to be constructed of acacia wood I don't know what acacia wood is you guys know that's good. It's probably a rare You know probably a beautiful wood.

I would assume and you shall make the mercy seat of pure gold and The cherubim shall have their wings spread and we should the picture show that with their wings spread and covering the mercy seat with their wings facing one another. So we have two cherubims facing one another, and their wings are kind of like that.

And then it says, you shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark. And the mercy seat is the lid, if you will, with those little pointy things. Somebody was talking about sitting on that lid. According to that picturization, it might be kind of painful to be sat in that lid.

Anyway, and what we're going to see is that was a very That was a very special place where God was going to meet with his people. And this is Israel in the Old Testament. So let's go on here. So now there's a passage in Leviticus here that's going to tell us more about the interaction, what transpired on this mercy seat. And this was the atonement. It was like a two-step process.

The priest, in this case it's going to be Aaron, he had to cleanse himself first before he would be He was able to pay the sins of the people of Israel. So first of all, he, it's Aaron, he, Aaron, shall put incense on the fire before the Lord. And the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the ark of the testimony.

Otherwise he will die. So the consequences of a misstep here were not easy. You know, you make a mistake, you're toast. Number 14, moreover, he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his fingers on the mercy seat. On the east side, also in front of the mercy seat, he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his fingers.

So we see, you know, and this is in the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies is not a pretty sight. It's covered with blood, the blood of animals. I mean, it's just, and you begin to think of the seriousness of sin. You know, we think, well, sin is bad. But before a holy God, it takes blood to atone for that. And this is a picture, this is the Old Testament picture of what Christ would ultimately do.

So, blood was sprinkled on top of the mercy, that gold lid there, and in front of the mercy seat. It said he did it seven times with his fingers. Then 15, he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, and bring the blood inside the veil, and do its blood, as he did with the blood of the bull. And sprinkled on the mercy seat, in front of the mercy seat and then here's what's interesting the next verse actually a verse a little bit later on here verse 22 in this passage talks about after they do all this then then God says to the nation of Israel I will meet with you from above the mercy seat so after this blood is shed then they can get interaction with God it's just a You know, think about that. It took the slaying of these animals by Aaron and for the people before they could even meet with God.

So I think that's astounding. It makes the death of our Savior even more special. So let's kind of continue on. So now we saw the picture in the Old Testament of the Ark of the Covenant. We're going to see a passage in the New Testament which kind of carries that on.

But first of all, let's look at the definition, another definition for you here. Actually, the definition of the Greek word for propitiation, it's a lid or cover of the Ark of the Covenant. It means propitiatory, expiratory, merciful, hilostron. I'm not sure that's pronounced exactly right.

OK, another verse. So there's a verse in the New Testament that actually talks about this mercy seat again. It says, Behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle, which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden altar of incense, the Ark of the Covenant, covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant. And above it were the cherubims of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, but of these we cannot speak." So once again, it describes this mercy seat, and mercy seat You know, it's actually the word, when you think of mercy seat and propitiation, they're equal again. I know this may get a little confusing here, but mercy seat is another, it's a translation of the basic word that's used for propitiation. So let's look at another verse.

In Romans 3.24, so there's probably about three or four verses in the New Testament that talk about propitiation or mercy seat. Romans 324, being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith, this was to demonstrate his righteousness and the forbearance of God he passed over the sins previously committed. So I want to kind of focus a little bit on God displayed publicly as a propitiation through faith. So basically displayed is the idea to set before your eyes.

And what's interesting is this is not just, I might do this, I might show, I might show Courtney, I keep picking on Courtney or Ryan or Megan. I might show them something, but this is a public, a public display. You know, Christ's death was a public display. occurrence, right? It wasn't done in private, right? Everyone saw Christ's death. So what this is talking about, the displaying of this satisfaction through his blood was a public occurrence.

So we have some examples of that. Actually, we have some examples of this being displayed, how the Savior was displayed. And it's interesting, this displaying is kind of tied with him being a man. In Philippians 2, 7 and 8 it says, being emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of man. And that word likeness is the idea of resemblance.

Christ resembled every other man. He wasn't special. He didn't have special whatever, he looked like any other man. So he had the likeness of a man, and being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. And his appearance, or his fashion, or his figure, they were also like a man. So Christ was displayed as a man for what he was truly man, but that really fits in well that it took a man like us to die in our place for our sins. And that's kind of the connection there.

And then in Hebrews 2.17, therefore, he had to be made like his brethren. So here's kind of the justification for that. Therefore, he had to be made like his brethren in all things, so that, or with a purpose that, he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the things pertaining to God. To make propitiation, or maybe a better translation might be, with a view to an offering of a sacrifice, that sacrifice, for the sins of the people. Okay, so now just to kind of summarize, hopefully your heads aren't spinning too much here. So let's just summarize propitiation and where we've been.

He himself is the propitiation for our sins. He's the satisfaction. He paid the price for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world. So it's not just, it's for the whole world, every single person. Thirdly, he loved us and sent his son to be the satisfaction, the payment for our sins. God displayed publicly Christ Jesus as a satisfaction in his blood to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

So that's kind of what we've covered in this section. So now we're going to kind of transition now and we're going to look at kind of a, based upon that, we can, based upon that work of Christ on the cross by him being propitious, Man can be made near to God. Once we put our faith and trust, we can be near to God. Not that we try to be near to God. So first of all, in our little list of riches of God's grace is number 12, made near to God. So let's look at the I have three verses here, Ephesians 2, 11.

Therefore, remember that formerly you the Gentiles in the flesh were called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision, which is performed in the flesh by human hands. Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, You, who formerly were far off, have been made near, or brought near, by the blood of Christ.

I'd like just a point here. Most of the newer translations have brought near, but the King James has made near, and I think actually made near really is more to the point, because this is God's doing. God accomplished it by the propitiation of Christ on the cross. We are made near, and I think that brings, it's more forceful there. So just looking at the last verse here, but now in Christ Jesus, you were formerly far off, but you have been made near by the blood of Christ.

So we're going to have this two contrasts, far off and made near. So you were formerly far off. Have a guy wandering around here. That's the best I could do. I found that one myself. Not too good, right? No, no great applause for that one. OK. OK, here's the next one. You were brought nearby. You've been made near.

So that demands a little bit better. So anyway, so here's the contrast far off in near. And this is totally God's accomplishment. Once again, this is a truth that we're to believe. We're not striving to become near. You know, there are verses, and in fact, actually, we just covered one today in our class in James, which say, draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.

Well, that can't, you know, that's not talking about this. It can't be this. That's a place where you already know the Savior, and you can come in fellowship next to Him. You can't draw near to Him because it took the death of His Son to make you near. So it's impossible.

This maiden here is different than the one in James there, I quoted. Okay, so formally you are far off. Far off is this idea of being alone. So this isn't just far off, it's far, far off. It's way out there. And think about that. Outside of Christ, you're really far off. I mean, you are, and it's going to talk about that condition of being far off. It's not a pretty place. And then let me just read briefly here in acts. It talks about the usage of that word far off.

Acts 2, 38 and 39, Peter said to them, repent, and each of you may be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children, for all who are far off, as many as the Lord your God will call to himself. For all those who are far off. And that's anyone outside of the Lord Jesus.

That's kind of the contrast here. So here's kind of the verse here that kind of describes that far-off condition. It says, Remember, you were at that time separated from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. We're going to break that down. So first, you're without Christ. That's a pretty biggie, right? If you're without Christ, You have been excluded from the Commonwealth of Israel. You know, in this context, when you read that part in Ephesians, you have to kind of have your head kind of straight here. This is talking about the condition.

Imagine you're a Gentile in a Jewish nation, the nation of Israel, in a time when Christ came as a baby. And when Christ came, the only salvation available to man was through the nation of Israel and through Jesus Christ. So that was the only way that God was revealing himself. So that commonwealth of Israel kind of refers to what God set up at that time period. Remember Christ said, I've come only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. That's one of the ones that kind of gets lost and Verne points out many times.

Another one, salvation is from the Jews. So that time period, salvation was through the Commonwealth of Israel. Strangers to the covenant of promise. Israel had all these covenants with God. The covenants of Moses and so on. They had no hope without God in the world. So that's a contrast, a far off condition.

Now the brought near condition is, We're near, close at hand, metaphorically meaning near, and that one about in Romans 8 there, in Romans 10.8, is the idea that the passage in Romans, the word is very near you, it's in your heart and in your mouth, it's a closeness. In Ginnomai, this is really, you've been brought near or made near, that's to come into a new state of being. If you think about it, outside of Jesus Christ, people say, yeah, I'm close to God, but are they really? Without Christ, you're not close to God. But in Christ, you have been changed in a totally new state. He's given you his life, his very spirit lives within you, and then you can be made near to God. And it's in the passive voice, which means The action is performed by God.

Once again, a wonderful truth that we have, not something we work for. So, when did this happen? Look at this a couple of different ways. You could say eternity passed. But, you know, when you believe in the Savior. And then secondly, what produced the relationship? It took the blood of Christ to produce that relationship. So you'll see that your salvation is a costly affair. If you take nothing else away from today's discussion, think about the cost, what it cost God to satisfy him about sin, the sin issue. It was a costly endeavor. Okay.

So here's a couple of verses, and I've used the King James in this case, the idea being made to come into a new state you never were before. He has made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance and the saints in light. Wherein has made us accepted in the beloved. And then lastly, for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So I'd like to kind of summarize. So we have these two camps, the far-off camp and the near camp. And same kind of words we've had before. Without Christ in the far-off camp, in Christ, when we're near to God, been made near.

Excluded from God's chosen people, seated with Christ in heavenly places, strangers to God's covenants, partakers of the eternal covenant. Remember, the eternal covenant is the one where Christ and the Father in eternity pass. Actually, we're not going to cover that in Ephesians here, in Hebrews here, in maybe months, many months. It's the agreement between the Father and the Son that Christ will lay down his life for the sins of the world. It's a beautiful passage. We'll cover that in time here. No hope. We have the hope of His calling. Without God in the world. And what does Christ say?

I will never leave you or forsake you. Boy, that's a wonderful pillow right there. That one I always go back to many times. And actually, look, that's another one in Hebrews. It has five negatives. I will never, never, no, not never leave you or forsake you. It's incredible. God, you know, There's marvelous truths about who He is.

So that kind of wraps it up here. But take away the fact that sin was costly. It took the death of His Son, His blood on the cross to do that. And as a result of that, we now have this relationship with our Savior. We're near to God. And that's not something we strive for. We just are. And that's something to remember, that we are near to God because of His doing in our lives and not because of ours. Let's pray. Dear Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for these marvelous truths from your word. We thank you for your son and his death on the cross and what it's provided for our salvation. We ask it in his name. Amen.