Evening Sermon: How Does The Spirit Apply Redemption?: Baptist Catechism 33: Ephesians 2:1-10

Baptist Catechism 33

Question: How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?

Answer: The Spirit applieth (applies) to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling. (Eph. 2:8; 3:17)

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:1–10, ESV)

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[Please excuse any and all typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church, but without the benefit of proofreading.] 

Instruction

The salvation of God’s elect was accomplished by Jesus the Christ nearly 2,000 years ago through his obedient life, sacrificial death, victorious resurrection, and glorious ascension to the right hand of the Father. That was when our redemption was accomplished. That was when the victory was won. When Christ said, “it is finished” at the time of his death, this is what he meant: he had finished the work that the Father had given him. He had accomplished our redemption.

But how do the elect of God come to be redeemed? How do they come to be saved? 

They are not born into this world “saved”. They are not born into this world alive to God and in a right relationship with him. To the contrary, even the elect of God are born into this world in sin, dead spiritually, and enemies of God. That is what Paul teaches in that passage we have just read. He was writing to Christians in Ephesus when he said, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—” (Ephesians 2:1–2, ESV). And a little bit later he said that they were “by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind”  (Ephesians 2:3, ESV). Paul was not saying that this was who these people were at the time of his writing, but rather, this is what they used to be. They were in the past “dead in their sins”. They were “by nature”, that is to say, from the time of their birth, “children of wrath”. 

But his point in this passage is that something had changed. Instead of being “dead in their… sins”, these had been made alive with Christ (v. 5). And instead of being “children of wrath” they were now “raised us up with [Christ] and seated… with him in the heavenly places…, so that in the coming ages [God] might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward [them] in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6–7, ESV). 

That is quite the change that the Apostle is speaking of. These people — and we must picture real individuals like you and me — were changed from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive. They were moved from being children of wrath (meaning that they stood guilty before God and deserving of his wrath), to beloved children of God. That is a very radical transformation. And it is the same transformation that all who are in Christ have experienced. They have gone from death to life, from children of wrath to beloved children of God, from filthy to clean, from guilty to not guilty, from bondage to freedom. 

More can be said concerning this change. But if we wish to speak of this change generally and in one word, we may simply say “redemption” or “salvation”. What does it mean to be redeemed? Well, specifically, it means to be purchased and set free. But generally we might use the word to speak of all of those wonderful benefits that belong to those who are in Christ Jesus. The redeemed are those who have been made alive, set free, washed, justified, adopted, etc. And we use the word “salvation” in a similar way. Specifically, to be saved is to be rescued from danger. But when we use the term generically (as we often do), it refers to many the benefits that belong to those who are in Christ Jesus. 

Christ accomplished our redemption — he earned our salvation — a long time ago. And the question that is before us is how do we come to be saved? How do we come to have this redemption which Christ has earned, along with its many benefits, as our own?

Question 32 of our catechism started in the right place by saying, “We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to us, by His Holy Spirit.” This is certainly true. The Father sent the Son to accomplish our redemption, and the Father and Son have sent the Spirit to apply the salvation that Christ has earned to the elect of God in every age. “How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ?” Well, to start with we must know that it is by the Holy Spirit. The accomplishment of our redemption was the Son’s work. But the application of the redemption to the elect of God is the Spirit’s work. As I have said, our salvation is Trinitarian. Who saved you? The answer is not only Jesus, therefore, but God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit! 

Question 33 builds upon this. It clarifies how the Spirit effectively applies the redemption purchased by Christ. Again, the question: “How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?” The answer is very helpful, because it is biblical: “The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.”      

I would like to briefly work backwards through this answer, taking it in three parts. 

First of all, notice the little phrase, “in our effectual calling”. I will not spend too much time here explaining what “effectual calling” is, for we will have an opportunity to focus on that next week. In question 34 we will ask, “What is effectual calling?” So for now let us simply acknowledge that it is the Spirit of God who calls sinners to repentance and faith. We might also say that the Spirit draws sinners. This he does through the preaching of the gospel. When the gospel is preached men and women are called to faith and repentance by other men and women. This an essential calling, but this is not an “effectual calling.” What do I mean? Well, it is essential that the gospel be preached, and that Christians call men and women to faith and repentance. But this call is not effective by itself, because it is merely external. If the gospel call is going to be effective, the Spirit of God must call inwardly and effectually. This is what Jesus was referring to when he spoke to the crowd, saying, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44, ESV). Jesus preached the gospel to the crowd. There was that external call, which is essential. But at the same time he acknowledged that no one could come to him unless the Father draws him, and this the Father does by the agency of his Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s call is called effectual because it is always effective. He gets the job. Those he draws will in fact believe upon Christ and be raised up on the last day, as John 6:44 says. More on “effectual calling” next week, Lord willing. 

Secondly, notice the little phrase, “thereby uniting us to Christ”. “Union with Christ” — this is a very important doctrine that is often over looked. To be redeemed is to be united to Christ, and to be united to Christ is to be redeemed. In Christ, we are adopted as sons. In Christ, we have an inheritance. In Christ, we are set free. In Christ, we are raised from death to life. In Christ, we are washed. Have you ever noticed how often the New Testament, and particularly Paul, makes reference to our union with Christ with that simple little phrase, “in him”? In fact, we can stay in Ephesians to make the point. Look at 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him…” (Ephesians 1:3–4, ESV). 1:7: “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace…” (Ephesians 1:7, ESV). 1:11: “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,” (Ephesians 1:11, ESV). And 1:13: “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit….” (Ephesians 1:13, ESV). Many other examples can be given, but perhaps my favorite is Philippians 3:8 where Paul says, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:8–11, ESV). The point is this: if you wish to be saved, then you must be “in Christ” and clothed in his righteousness, for salvation is found in no other. And this union with Christ is a real union. It is not a figure of speech or a merely hypothetical union. It is a real union that is wrought (brought about) by the agency of the Holy Spirit. There are many passages that teach this, but perhaps the most famous is that John 14 passage where Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit. In verse 15 he says, “‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.’ Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, ‘Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?’ Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him’” (John 14:15–23, ESV). This is what our catechism is refering to in that little phrase, “thereby uniting us to Christ”. To have  redemption is to be united to Christ, and to be united to Christ is to be redeemed. This union is real. It is wrought by the Holy Spirit.  

Lastly, notice the phrase, “by working faith in us”. So how do we come to have this redemption that Christ has earned as our own? How do we come to be saved? Well, the Spirit does that work. He effectually applies the redemption purchased by Christ to the elect. And how does he do this? “By working faith in us.” Faith is the instrument whereby salvation is received. It is through faith that we come to be saved, just as the Apostle says in Ephesians 2:8: “For by grace you have been saved through faith…” (Ephesians 2:8, ESV). And what is faith except trusting in Christ. Just as you receive a gift at Christmas time by opening the hand, so you receive the gift of salvation by faith — faith is the open hand by which the gift of salvation is received.  We will talk about faith more as we progress through this catechism together, particularly in questions 90-104. For now, please understand that we come to be saved, not by works, but faith in Christ alone. As Paul says in Romans 4:16, “That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all…” (Romans 4:16, ESV). Salvation is not a reward for us to earn, but gift for us to receive, and we received it by faith, which means that we trust and rest in the work of another, namely, the work of Jesus the Christ, our Redeemer. We are saved, not by the keeping of law, nor by good works, but by God’s grace alone and through faith in Christ alone. And one more thing needs to be said, even the faith is a gift from God. Did you notice that our catechism said, “by working faith in us.” Who works the faith in us? The Spirit does. He is the one who enables the elect of God to believe. 

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9, ESV)

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Conclusion

Let me now conclude with three very brief suggestions for application. 

One, let us be grateful to God for this underserved favor that he has bestowed upon us. That Ephesians 2 passage that we read at the start is very dramatic as it reveals to us how terrible our natural condition was and great the lovingkindness of God is to save sinners such as you and me. How could we not be grateful! How could we fail to serve him with all that is in us now that we are his redeemed?

Two, knowing that our faith was a gift from at the beginning, let us pray to God and ask him to strengthen our faith from day to day. Of course, there are things that we must do to strengthen our faith. But it is also right for us to ask God to strengthen our faith. I am reminded of that passage in Mark 9 where a father brought his sick child to Jesus for healing. Jesus implored the man to believe, and the man cried out to Jesus saying, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24, ESV). It is right that we strive to grow in the faith. But is also right to rely upon the grace of God even in this.

And three, let us know for sure that all of the benefits of redemption come to us only through our Spirit wrought union with Christ, and may this produce humility within us. We are holy only because he is holy. We are righteous because his righteousness has been imputed to us. We are adopted as sons, but only because we are in Christ, the beloved Son of God. We have inherited the new heavens and earth, but only because we are co-heirs with Christ. We were born into this world in Adam and in our sin, with death as our reward. But we have been re-born in Christ and in righteousness with, with eternal life as our reward. All of this is received by faith, and all of this is by God’s grace. Let us walk humbly before God and man, for there is no room for boasting.    

Question: How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?

Answer: The Spirit applieth (applies) to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.