I want to speak to you for a few minutes from Ephesians chapter two and the first ten verses, one to ten. Ephesians two, one to ten. Once again I'm trying, as we say in England, to get a quart into a pint pot. I'm doing the impossible in a way. I'm trying to take these ten verses and spend just a few minutes on them, but perhaps it may be profitable with such a brief talk to give an overview of this very important passage. I've called it Trinitarian Conversion. But if you look down the verses you may say to me, and quite rightly say to me, I can see God, God the Father here. I can see the Lord Jesus Christ here, yes. but I don't see the Holy Spirit mentioned here at all and yet you say Trinitarian well I say Trinitarian because although the Holy Spirit is not mentioned by name here in every verse after verse 3 from verse 4 onwards He is most decidedly active. He is the one who is doing all that we read of here even though he doesn't mention his own name. Now this is expressly what Christ foretold. He told his disciples that he would send his spirit and the spirit would do this and that and the other but what the spirit would not do is speak of himself. He will take of the things that belong to me, said Christ, and make them known to you. He will bring back the memory of what I have said. He will lead you into all truth. He will convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and judgment. But He will not take of Himself and glorify Himself and speak of Himself. But He is most active in the application of the great redemption that Christ has wrought. Do you remember? We are thinking about Trinitarian salvation, Trinitarian experience, and Trinitarian conversion. And what we are seeing and hearing and reading in these passages is the work of God the Father in purposing and planning and decreeing the great redemption in Christ. Christ accomplishing this work on the cross for supremely but through his life and even now in his intercessions and the Spirit applying that great work of Christ to all the elect. and I've called it conversion Trinitarian conversion because the Trinity is here working out this salvation in the life of the elect but I've called it conversion because conversion is what it is conversion my friend is under heavy attack today and I'm not at all surprised by that Satan knows even if men don't know Satan knows that unless men and women are converted they will be everlastingly damned. And conversion is the great crisis of life, the great turning point. We must be converted. Unless we're converted, we shall perish. And this passage is about conversion. So let me just spend a few minutes on it and show you what conversion is. I do so primarily for believers, of course, for Paul is writing to Christians here. As for you, he says, and he's writing to the Ephesian believers, so I'm addressing believers primarily, but it has a word for you too, unbeliever. For you must be converted, you need to be converted, and this is what you need. First of all, what are we, all of us, whether elect or not, what are unbelievers like by nature? Verses one to three, we are sinners. Now that's easily said, but Paul works it out in great detail here. Now we are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. What do you mean? We are born sinners. We are born ruined in Adam. We are born ruined in the fall. And we show it in our lives. We are dead in our transgressions and sins. Verse one, you were dead in your transgressions and sins before conversion. You were dead, spiritually dead. You were alive. He says in verse two, you used to live. You're physically alive. You were physically alive. But spiritually you were dead. You had no communion with God. You had no thought of God. You had no understanding of the gospel. You had no spiritual relationship with God. You were not spiritual. You were dead. You were blind. You could not see. You were deaf. You couldn't hear. You were dumb. You couldn't speak, spiritually speaking. Above all, you were dead in your transgressions and sins and it showed itself in the way you live you lived under the dominance although you didn't realize it of satan the ruler of this age the prince of the power of this time you lived in the world and you were of the world and you gratified the things of the world and you wanted the things of the world you gratified your flesh as paul says here Verse 2, you used to live, you followed the ways of this world, the world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. You disobeyed God, you didn't pay any attention to God, you didn't live for God, you just gratified the cravings of your flesh. This is what Paul says. This is what we did, he includes himself. All of us did it. We may have been respectable, we may have been kind, we may have been generous, but we were living for self. We wanted it, we had it, us me I God no Christ no all of us verse 3 lived among them at one time even the elect we were all gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts and like the rest God was angry with us we were by nature the children the objects of wrath God was angry with us John 3 36 the wrath of God heavy upon us and if we died in that state unconverted the everlasting wrath of God would abide on us and abide on us forever and ever that is what the elect were before their conversion That is what the unbeliever is. Unbeliever, if I'm speaking to you, if there's an unbeliever listening to me, you are dead in your sins. There's nothing I can say to impress you. There's nothing, there's no way I can communicate to you. I can't do it. You can't do it for yourself. You are dead. You're as dead as any boards, as any table. You're as dead as a block of stone or wood. You're dead in your transgressions and sins and the wrath of God is upon you. but it's conversion and what a change comes in verse 4 but look how it opens but one of the most powerful words in scripture one of the shortest words in scripture but what a word what a world is conjured up in that word this is what we were in Adam dead ruined under the wrath of God sinners but and how it changes how it changes It's indescribable, this change. I should try my best, but I shall fail. I want you to notice that the change is all the work of God. But God... God did this. God did that. Read the verses through, you will see. It's God who did this. God the Holy Spirit, I say to you. Can I do it myself? No. Is it self-help? No. Can I contribute? No. I'm dead. God has to come upon me and make me live. Well, let me go through it. Verse 5, starting in verse 4, God made us alive. Here we were dead, and he regenerates us. Remember, Jesus said to Nicodemus, you must be born again. The Spirit must come upon you, the Sovereign Spirit, and regenerate you. Must give you life. You are a new creation. Indeed, he uses that word in verse 10. Created in Christ Jesus. We must be created anew, regenerated, born again. And this is what God does in verse 5. He makes us alive. He comes to put spiritual life into us. If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creation. Behold, all things are become new. All things are passed away. Behold, all things He is new above all. He has new taste, new ambitions, new desires, a new mind, a new heart. He is a new man. He was dead in sins. Now he is alive. And he is alive with and in Christ. Verse 5. He made us alive with Christ. Now, Paul could have poured into this passage a whole host of things which he chose not to do. He picked on some of the leading points. He could have spoken of conviction of sin. The Spirit will convince us, make us feel that we are sinners and so on. But he moves on to, in verse 8, he moves on to faith. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. Here God comes upon a sinner and by his Spirit he regenerates him. He convicts him of his sin. but he brings him to repentance and the word that Paul uses here, the thing that he picks on here is faith. He brings that regenerate sinner, he who hated God, he who had no time for Christ, he who was dead in his sins, he regenerates him and what does the sinner do? He trusts Christ. All his hope he finds in Christ, he looks to Christ, he cries out to Christ, Lord save me. for by grace you have been saved verse 8 through faith God gives him the gift of faith that not of yourselves it is the gift of God what next? well we are joined to Christ verse 5 made us alive with Christ verse 6 God raised us up with Christ we are united to Christ so that all that Christ is is ours whatever he has accomplished whatever merits he has whatever benefits he can give the moment we trust Christ we are in him we are raised up in the heavenly realms in Christ and all the treasures of the Godhead laid up in Christ all the benefits of Christ all the works of Christ all the redemption that he has accomplished belong to us who are his children We are united with Christ, raised up with him. We lived in this present world, in the vile mire of this age, the pollution, the sin, satanic age, and we are raised out of this present evil age, into the realm and kingdom of light, out of darkness, even with Christ, even in heaven, seated in the heavenly realms. You remember that Paul began back in chapter 1 in the heavenly realms, and here God touches up his people and draws them up in Christ. by his spirit into all the spiritual benefits that Christ has accomplished for them. Sanctification is mentioned here too in verse 10. God takes this regenerate believer in Christ and he has works prepared for him to live out as Christ would live in this present evil age. I say that God does all this work. What's my contribution to it? Nothing. I'm dead. God must sovereignly come upon me and regenerate me. But having regenerated me, he brings me by conviction of sin and by repentance and faith to look to Jesus. I am joined to Jesus. I have Jesus and I begin to live for Jesus. It's all of God. Why ever should God do this? Paul is express. He's very clear. Verse 4, because of his great love for us. Verse 4, God who is rich in mercy. Verse 5, it is by grace you have been saved. Verse 7, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. It's by grace you've been saved. It's all of God's workmanship. Verse 10. There's no boasting for me here. There's no boasting for any sinner here. Salvation, O my soul, rejoice! Salvation is of God! He plans it, He accomplishes it, and He applies it by the Spirit. It's all of grace. The opposite of works. Grace is the kindness and love and mercy and goodness of God when I deserve His wrath. Where is my works? It's ruled out expressly, not by works, verse 9. I can't contribute anything. All works are mentioned, that is, living out this. That comes at the end here, verse 10. But as for the actual conversion, as for the actual salvation, my works cannot count. It's all down to God's mercy, God's grace, God's kindness, God's love, God's goodness. Why does Paul write this? Well he's writing to believers and he knows that in chapters 4, 5 and 6 he will have a whole host of duties for those believers to live out and to do and to obey. He's writing to me as a believer. As a believer I have to obey. Ephesians 4, 5, and 6. I'm in the pagan world. He tells us about this. Believer, you're in this pagan world, this fallen world. You're still here. Though spiritually you're in heaven, physically you're here upon earth amongst these pagans. You have to witness to these pagans. So do I. We have to live amongst these pagans. We have to take the gospel out to these pagans. And the pagan world is not going to like us. They hate us. Christ said, if they liked me, they'll like you. If they love me, they'll love you. If they hated me, they'll hate you. Well, we know what they did with Christ. And we have Satan against us. He doesn't want to be robbed of his kingdom and his children. And he will fight back. And there's a warfare, and Paul will speak of this. Now how can I be in nerve for this fight? How can I be encouraged to go out for Christ? How can I stand? How can I be made holy? How can I be sure that I'm a Christian? How can I have confidence? For the ground is all here in these verses. Trinitarian salvation. Trinitarian experience. Trinitarian conversion. He's not wasting his time. Before he gets to doctorate duties and practices and standing firm in sanctification and warfare, let us He knows we must get a grip on and be gripped by, not only the doctrine, but the truth of it, the experience of it. We must soak ourselves in it and be soaked in it. We must dwell upon the Father, the Son and the Spirit and their great redemption for us. Primarily Christ. We must fix our minds upon Christ and all he's accomplished for us. You see what I'm saying, believer? Would you be assured? Then look to Christ, look to this Trinitarian salvation, look to this Trinitarian experience, this Trinitarian conversion. Dwell upon it and you will find you will be assured. Do you want to be sanctified? Then dwell upon this great salvation. Dwell upon what Christ has done for you and is for you. Do you want to stand against the evil one? Do you want to take Christ out to the world? Do you want to witness for Him? Do you want to stand against the wiles of the devil? Do you want to put on the whole armour of God? Here is the ground base of it all. Here is the root of it all. Trust. Look. Keep looking to Christ. Dwell upon what He has done for you and in you. It used to be asked to people when they came to give their testimony, what has Jesus Christ done for you? and then what has Jesus Christ done in you, to you? What has he done for me? He's accomplished my redemption. What has he done to me and in me? He has worked all these benefits and all these blessings. Where is work here, believer? It's not mentioned, is it? It's not here. It's all of Christ, isn't it? Where is law here? Now I say that because people tell me that unless you breach the law to sinners, they'll never be converted. Where's the law mentioned here? These Ephesians were converted without the law apparently? Of course they were. The law makes no appearance here. It's all of Christ. Would you be sanctified? They tell me it's the law. Would you be assured? They tell me it's the law, my word. Look to Christ. Look to this Trinitarian salvation. Look to what you are, what you have in Christ, and you will be sanctified. You'll be assured. You will be nerve for the fight. and every for the glory of God. That's what it's all about here. God is going to show His glory through this. Unbeliever, are you still listening? You can come into all the good of this at this very moment. You begin again at the tail. Trust Christ. Cry out to Him for mercy. Call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved. And when I say saved, I mean all the riches of Christ will be yours. everlastingly yours. It's not taking on a system of ethics. It's not trying your best. Works don't come into it. Give up your works. I do my best. Stop doing your best. Look to Christ. I go to church. I don't say give up church, but church won't save you. I trust the pastor or the priest. Trust Christ. Don't trust Mother Church. Trust Christ. Oh, I take the sacrament. Sacrament's nonsense. Worse than nonsense. Trust Christ. Trust Christ. Don't misunderstand me. Sacraments. Sacraments is nonsense. Christ has ordained, commanded baptism and the Lord's Supper. They come after conversion. They're not sacraments. They're ordinances. But if you're talking about conversion at the moment, baptism and the Lord's Supper don't come into it. We're talking about conversion. You must be born again. You need the God Spirit to work in you. You need to trust Christ. Where do you begin, my friend? God begins back in eternity. Where do you begin? You begin at the tail. You begin by trusting Christ. Trust Him now. I urge you. I press you. If you trust Him now, you will be everlastingly saved. So believer or unbeliever, here is this doctrine I've tried to put before you so briefly. Trinitarian conversion. I couldn't do no better than close this by simply reading this passage. Maybe as I read, these are the words of God, not my words. The words, the very words of God. God's word cannot return void or empty to him. It must accomplish the purpose to which he sent it. May it be so even as I read these words to you now. May they be true of you. If they're not true of you, my friend, look to Christ and they will be true of you. If you have looked, if you are trusting him, these things are true of you, my friend. And you, ask for you, you who are dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. but because of his great love for us God who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions it is by grace to have been saved and God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.