Heavenly places<\/em> are the places on earth where the Kingdom of God is making inroads to life on this earth so that God’s rule and reign comes upon this earth, just as it is done in heaven.<\/p>\nSo when Paul writes that we are seating with Jesus Christ now in heavenly places so that we can rule and reign with Him, he is talking about how we are to lead the world now into the way that Jesus wants the world to live.<\/p>\n
And how is that? Not with violence and blame and hate and anger, where we accuse and demonize our enemies so that we can kill them in God’s name. No. Rather, we are to lead the world into the way of Jesus, into a life filled with grace, mercy, and forgiveness, where, like God, we love others even when they are dead in their trespasses and sins and seek to do us harm in return.<\/p>\n
We reign with Christ by loving our enemies, just as He loved us while we were still His enemies.<\/p>\n
When we live in light of our regeneration, resurrection, and reigning with Christ, it is then that we begin to experience the results of this sort of life, which is what Paul discusses in Ephesians 2:7.<\/p>\n
Results: Riches in Christ (Ephesians 2:7)<\/h2>\n In view of that, though, how should we act? How should we behave? We have been given new spiritual life and physical life in Christ, and have been seated with Him to rule and reign over this earth. We have infinite resources at our disposal. So how are we to live?<\/p>\n
We should not be ashamed of whose children we are. We should be proud of our name and our family. We should not worry about worldly concerns because our Father the King is watching out for us. And if a new life, and being raised with Christ, and getting a royal position are not enough to get you excited to serve God, Ephesians 2:7 tells us the results of living in light of the deliverance Jesus has brought to us.<\/p>\n
Paul writes in Ephesians 2:7… That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\nWith these words, Paul shows that the new life we have been given in Jesus Christ is not temporary or limited. It begins now, and continues through all the ages of our life, which includes all the ages of eternity. In all the ages to come, God will continue to pour out upon us the riches of His grace and kindness. He loves us and will always love us, and we are only beginning to see the height and depth of God’s love for us. We will spend all eternity exploring God’s love in greater detail.<\/p>\n
So, what is the salvation, or the deliverance, that we have been given in Jesus Christ?<\/h2>\n It is that we no longer have to live in the realm of death, where we condemn, accuse, and kill others. Instead, because of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, we are able to truly live. We have new spiritual life (regeneration), physical life (resurrection), and powerful life (reigning) with Jesus Christ. We have been delivered from our old way of life and brought into a brand new way of life.<\/p>\n
A life based on love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness. A life that looks just like Jesus.<\/p>\n
Paul is not done talking about this life. He continues in Ephesians 2:8 to show us how we can start living in this new way of life. That is where we will pick up in our next study. In Ephesians 2:8-10 we will see how we can start showing the world a better way to live. How we can fulfill our calling to reveal the life of Jesus to this dying world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As we continue our study of Ephesians, this study considers Ephesians 2:5-7 and the meaning of the word “salvation.” We see that a misunderstanding of the word “salvation” leads to a misunderstanding of the entire chapter of Ephesians 2. But when we properly understand what “salvation” means in context, we can then better understanding the whole of Ephesians 2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42764,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2297,2230,2231,2296],"tags":[2143,2219,3293,2042,1243,1327,1477,1282],"class_list":{"0":"post-53711","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-redeeming-god","8":"category-redeeming-scripture","9":"category-redeeming-theology","10":"category-z","11":"tag-ephesians-2","12":"tag-podcast","13":"tag-redeeming-god-podcast","14":"tag-regeneration","15":"tag-resurrection","16":"tag-salvation","17":"tag-saved","18":"tag-violence","19":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n
What is Salvation in Ephesians 2:5-7?<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n