When we were younger, many of us received the call to play T-Ball, and/or baseball. We may have had a flyer sent home from school, or a postcard in the mail, or maybe a friend encouraged us to sign up. This is what we could refer to as a “common call” – everyone is welcome, anyone can play, and they are encouraged to do so. As the years pass, some have more of an interest in continuing to play, and some have more ability than others. Eventually the “herd” is thinned out and by the time high school rolls around some talent has been lost to bad choices or other interests. Some peaked early and have been passed up in ability, and what remains is what we see on our high school fields. God has given my son the ability to throw a baseball fast and with accuracy and with unusual movement. Because of that, he received “the call” to continue playing at the college level. What he does with that call is up to him. With the fall training complete, and now that he is home on break for the winter, I will see firsthand what the effect of this call has had. The coaching staff has given him a workout regimen to follow during break and over the next 6 weeks I will see just how serious he is taking his “call”. This reminds me of Paul’s transition in Ephesians 4 where he takes the reader from the doctrine of the first three chapters, to their duty; from their position in Christ to practice. Essentially this is where we see whether a person has been impacted by the common call to repent and believe the Gospel in such a way that there is an effect on their walk. Has this “common call” really been an “effectual call”? We see in Ephesians 2 that we have all either “walked according to the course of this world” or we are still “walking according the course of this world”. For those that have trusted in Christ alone to redeem them from the severity and consequence of sin, Paul is urging them to walk a different way, which essentially serves as evidence of a new birth, a new creation in Christ. This new walk is a walk that is worthy of your calling. Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, If my son spent the next 6 weeks eating junk food, drinking pop, playing video games and watching TV, never darkening the doorway of the gym, I would know how seriously he is taking his call to play the game of baseball at the highest level possible. In the same way, when a believer does not exhibit the “walk” Paul urges them to, they can self-examine and know whether their call has been effectual, or simply common. Ephesians 4:2-3 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. A follower of Christ has been sealed with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit dwells in them, convicting converting, changing them, growing them into the likeness of Christ. Paul gives a very clear contrast in Galatians of the contrast between walking by the Spirit, or walking according to the flesh: Galatians 5:19-25 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Romans 8:5-9 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

As I was studying Ephesians, I was reminding how fascinated I am with the way Paul writes in such a way that it seems like his letters should read in reverse order. For example, Ephesians 2 tells the believers who they were before they were born again, and Ephesians 1 tells the believer who they are in Christ. It seems that should be flipped. But then as I thought about it, Paul is writing to believers and encouraging them of who they are in Christ, but also reminding them who they formerly were. If it were an evangelistic letter, then maybe it would be flipped; but all of Paul’s letters are to believers. I thought it would be an interesting exercise to bullet point Ephesians 1 and 2 briefly in reverse order to first look at who we either are or were. Ephesians 2:1b dead in the trespasses and sins *All of us either were or are spiritually dead, what is evidence of being spiritually dead? Ephesians 2:2b following the course of this world, *The “course of this world”, is self-centered, self-focused, thinking much of ourselves and our opinion, continuing in sin. Ephesians 2:2b following the prince of the power of the air *The “prince of the power of the air” is Satan, the devil. People do not think of themselves as “following Satan”, but the reality is, when we are on a course that is not led by the Spirit of God, it is a course that is of Satan. Whether it be secularism, humanism, decadence, philosophy, or religion; without Christ it is a course of the devil. Satan doesn’t care what course you follow, do good, do bad, do nothing, he doesn’t care, so long as you do not follow Christ. Ephesians 2:2b the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience *There is a spirit at work in those that are disobedient to God, a spirit that wants to keep them on the course they are one, a course that does anything but repent and believe the Gospel. Ephesians 2:2b in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind *This is a mindset that does what it pleases. A mindset that justifies their sin or can’t see and doesn’t care about the severity and consequence of their sin. Ephesians 3:2b children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. *This is as heavy as it gets. Consider this paradigm: The ones that know they were children of Wrath have been redeemed from sin’s debt, the ones that are still children of Wrath have no idea they are. We ALL, either were or are children of Wrath. To die a child of Wrath simply means the Wrath of God is upon you and will remain upon you for eternity. There are various responses when a person hears this, but the reality is, they all boil down to two: “I don’t believe this.” “I believe this, and it scares me, what must I do?” Ephesians 1:13a the word of truth, *All of us who believe have first heard, listened to, understood, and have had our minds changed upon hearing the Word of Truth. The Word of Truth being that we are all sinners deserving to suffer under the Wrath of God forever, but Jesus Christ (God that became flesh and dwelt among us) lived the perfect life (completely sinless), died a brutal death on the Cross where He bore the sin of the world and suffered under the Wrath of God, paying the debt of sin, died and was buried, rose again three days later defeating sin and death, so that all who trust in Him alone to save them from the coming Wrath will be given forgiveness of their sin and be granted eternal life. Ephesians 1:13b the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, *When we hear the term “salvation” it should stir up the thought, “saved from what?” When we think about “believing in Him” we should be reminded that we believe His Words, His commands, and are trusting in nothing else and no one else to save us. When this happens we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, meaning He sends the Holy Spirit to abide in us, to change us, convict us when needed, to comfort when needed, and teach us to grow in obedience and faith.

One of the most amazing and insightful chapters on how to get to Heaven is given in Ezekiel 37. God shows Ezekiel a valley filled with dry bones, and then asks him a question, “Can these bones live?” There are two answers that can be given: 1) The “human logic” answer, “Of course not! They are dead and dried up with nothing left. No blood, no skin, no organs, no life – of course they can’t live.” But, we are told throughout Scripture to trust in the Lord. Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 2) The answer when you do not lean on your own understanding is the answer Ezekiel gave: “O Lord God, You know.” This is a picture of the spiritually dead. In the spiritual world we look like dry bones in a valley full of dry bones (or we used to look like that). From a human logic perspective, if we could see our true condition and asked, “can I be made spiritually alive, can I be given new life, can I be born again?” The answer would be, “Of course not! There is no good in me that God should ever give me eternal life!” The answer when you do not lean on your own understanding is, “Oh Lord God, You know.” We do not have the ability to gain a new spiritual birth any more than we have the ability to make that valley of dry bones alive. We do not play a part in being born again any more than we played a part in our physical birth. THIS IS A HUGE PROBEM! This is a huge problem because Jesus said, “unless a man is born again he cannot enter the Kingdom of God”. So, what must we do?! Answer: The only thing we could ever do – plead with God to have mercy on you and shower His Grace upon you. The Grace to believe the Gospel. The Grace to redeem you from spiritual darkness. The Grace to regenerate you, to make you a new creation in Christ Jesus. If He has opened your eyes to sin, confess it and turn from it. We must draw near to Him in prayer and in the study of His Word, and obey what you read. A logical question would be, “If I do not play a part in being born again, how do I know if I am born again?” We must look at the evidence. Evidence #1: Do you see yourself as sinful, deserving to suffer under the Wrath of God for eternity? If you see it any other way, you must plead with God for mercy. If you say, “I am not perfect, but I don’t think I deserve hell”; if you say, “I know I have sinned, but I _____________”; then you need God’s mercy – ask Him for it. One mercy of God is showing you the severity and just consequence of your sin – IT MUST START THERE. Evidence #2: Do you understand and believe that there is NOTHING, not one little thing, you can do to contribute to your salvation, your new birth? If you see your works, religion, or rituals contributing in even the smallest of ways to your salvation, plead with God to have mercy on you. Knowing you can do nothing to earn or deserve salvation is a mercy from God. Evidence #3: Do you believe Jesus is who He said He is, who the apostles said He is, and who the Scriptures say He is – the Son of God, God incarnate, the Creator of all things? He is not just a prophet. He is not an angel, He is not just a “good moral teacher” – He is the One who gives and sustains life, the Judge of all, the King of kings, the Lord of lords – do you know Him this way? If you see Him another way, ask God to have mercy on you. Having your eyes opened to the True Identity of Jesus is a mercy that not all receive – plead with Him to reveal this Truth to you. Evidence #4: Do you know and understand that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, suffered under the Wrath of God the Father as He hung on that Cross where He bore your sin, He became sin for you – by His Blood He paid the debt of sin that you should have paid? Not only that, He imputes His perfect righteousness to you, He cleansed you in His Blood, He washed you clean of your sin when you believed the Gospel. He was Resurrected from the dead on the third day, defeating sin and death once and for all, the One final sacrifice, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Evidence #5: Are you trusting in Him alone to save you from the Wrath that is coming upon the ungodly? Evidence #6: Have you been changed? If you have walked through these first five evidences and said, “yes” but you have not been changed as a result of this belief, that should concern you. God’s Word says that, “he who is in Christ is a new creation, the old has passed away and the new has come.” Make no mistake, I am not talking about perfection, but I am talking about direction. Is your life moving in the direction of being made more into the likeness of Christ? Turning from sin, loving what God loves, and hating what God hates? This is the strongest evidence of a new birth. This is all evidence of the Spirit’s work in your life. This is Grace upon Grace, wave after wave of God’s Grace! If you have been born again, don’t forget how it happened. You aren’t smarter than those that aren’t. You aren’t better. You didn’t want it more? God did it. John 3:3 Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." 1Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, Ezekiel 36:25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. John 3:7-8 Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."