“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
—Ephesians 1:13-14
OUR TEXT teaches that there is only one way to be saved from the guilt and consequences of our sins, and it is by believing God’s Word, the Gospel! But most people in our society say, “There are many roads that lead to heaven.” They say that if a person is sincere and lives a moral life and does good deeds then surely they will go to heaven, no matter who they worship or what they believe. And sadly, this thinking has come into the church. Many church members say things like, “Oh, yes, Christ saves, but it is unloving to say that Christ is the only way. That would condemn all other religions.” You see, the Gospel of Jesus Christ will be tolerated by most people if it is presented as one way among many, but when it’s proclaimed as the only way, the exclusive way, then it becomes offensive.
AND SO, we read in our text, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
THE WORDS “in Him” refer to Christ. What Paul is saying to the Ephesians is that they came to trust in Christ, to hope in Him, “after they heard the truth, the Gospel of salvation.” And this is also true of every believer. You see, no one is saved apart from trusting in Christ and no one trusts in Christ apart from “hearing the word of truth, the Gospel of salvation.” The preaching of the Gospel is God’s ordained means to bring sinners to salvation. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 10:13-14, “For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?”
WHAT DOES this say to us about the importance of being in a place of worship where the truth of the Gospel is constantly proclaimed? Not every building that has the name “church” on it is truly a gathering place of God’s people. You see, true worship only takes place when God’s people gather in spirit and in truth to sing praises to God, bring their tithes and offerings to God, bow in prayer to Him, confess their faith in Christ, and, most importantly, they come to hear the Word of truth from God, and this doesn’t happen apart from the Word of God! It is by the Word of God that we hear Him. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:21-22, “But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus.” When Jesus sent out the seventy-two, He said to them, “He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me” (Luke 10:16).
PEOPLE OF GOD, we are never to gather in a place that doesn’t faithfully proclaim God’s Word! And if you love your kids, you will make sure they are in worship on the Lord’s Day being exposed to the Word of God because if they are going to be saved it is going to happen as they hear “the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation.”
Tuesday Encouragement: April 16, 2024
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry