August 28 2025

Thursday August 28

Abounding Grace for Freedom

From Guilt and Bitterness

Ephesians 1:7-8

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,”

Today we're looking at these first verses of Ephesians chapter 1. We found so far that we are rich. We're very rich in Christ Jesus. We're like Isaac, the of Abraham. We have been born to tremendous wealth. We've been born again into the family of God. And our Father is wealthy. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the wealth in every mine. The universe is His. The earth is His and all that is in it. Oh, so many Psalms that come to my mind that remind us in Christ now we are rich. We are co-inheritors with Jesus Christ, as God has given everything to His Son, and we are partakers of that inheritance.

This is what we are talking about today as we look at Ephesians 1:7-10: "In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace." In the first six verses, we found the blessings we have from God the Father. In God the Father, we have been chosen. We have been adopted into His family. We have been accepted in Christ. Now in these verses we see the blessings that we have from the Person and the work and ministry of Jesus Christ because of His blood. We have been redeemed and we have been forgiven. We talked about that yesterday.

One thing I want to go back to: I mentioned that evidence of our forgiveness is we have the ability and power to forgive others. And I made the statement that if we cannot forgive others, maybe we haven't been forgiven. Now, that doesn't mean that we are not a believer. It doesn't mean that we're not saved, but it might mean we have not accepted the forgiveness that we have already in Christ Jesus. Some people are forgiven but don't know they're forgiven. They've been set free, but they don't know they've been set free. How sad.

Read Romans chapters 6, 7, and 8. There we read about the law of sin and death that's always pulling us down. But then there's the law of life in Christ Jesus that we must also understand and accept, and that we believe in and that we walk in. And when we do that, we're free. And we walk in that law of life in Christ Jesus through a life of humility. That's why so much is made about humility in Christ. The humility of Christ. He humbled Himself. We humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. It is then that we receive the grace of God (James 4:6), “God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble”.

When we receive God’s grace, we don't get bitter when people hurt us and they cause us pain. When they offend us. No, we're able to forgive because of humility. We swallow our pride. We admit our sins, our guilt. Forgiveness is a daily thing for us. And that is because every day we get our feet dirty in this world. We're human. We don't always respond correctly to the situations and problems and hurts and challenges that we face and we misstep, and we must come to the Lord every day.

1 John 1 reminds us that if we say we've not sinned, we are a liar. The truth is not in us. 1 John 1 is about the assurance in knowing that I'm a child of God and now that “I can walk in the light as He is in the light, and the blood of Christ is daily cleansing me from all sin”. And that means I'm forgiving others also at the same time because of God's wonderful grace.

In Christ, we are redeemed and because of that we have been forgiven. And then Paul goes on in verse 7, to say, "Which He has made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence." We have everything we need to live that life of abundant life. Jesus said, "The thief came to steal, to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10). That thief is the devil, and he wants to steal your joy. He wants to steal your peace. He wants to steal your walk with God. He's a thief. He wants you to be miserable. He wants you to walk in darkness, my friend. But Jesus came to set you free. And if the “Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:32-26).

You are free to love the Lord, free to love others, free to forgive others because you've been forgiven. This again is a great blessing that we have. And God gives us this grace. How does He give it? “In all wisdom and prudence”. This means that we know how to respond to the problems in life. And we do it prudently. We do it the right way by the grace of God.

Today, be encouraged!!! Deal with bitterness, deal with guilt, ask forgiveness, give forgiveness, and walk with the Lord today. And what a wonderful life of freedom you will have and enjoy in Christ today.

God bless!