Our Redemption “in Christ” Detailed to the Ephesians Volume 35

Paul declares some of the Spiritual Gifts given to Believers by our Lord Jesus Christ Part 1

Ephesians 4:7-8 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. KJV

Paul in continuing his thought process of these Ephesian believers and all of us true believers today being unified and living in unity (as that unity is based upon the Word of God) among one another, Paul declares that our Lord Jesus Christ Himself has bestowed grace to each one of us in order that unity would be achieved. This English word grace Paul uses here is translated by the Greek word charis meaning divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude. In other words, our Lord Jesus Christ (who is perfect, loving, gracious, and all knowing) has dispensed His grace/charis to each soul brought into His Body of the exact portion, measure, or degree required to make His Body grow strong and vibrant into complete maturity as the Apostle John declared with these words, “For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another {and} spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing {and} even favor upon favor {and} gift [heaped] upon gift.” (John 1:16) and also as Paul himself wrote these words to the Roman believers, “For as in one physical body we have many parts (organs, members) and all of these parts do not have the same function {or} use, So we, numerous as we are, are one body in Christ (the Messiah) and individually we are parts one of another [mutually dependent on one another]. Having gifts (faculties, talents, qualities) that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them: [He whose gift is] prophecy, [let him prophesy] according to the proportion of his faith; [He whose gift is] practical service, let him give himself to serving; he who teaches, to his teaching; He who exhorts (encourages), to his exhortation; he who contributes, let him do it in simplicity {and} liberality; he who gives aid {and} superintends, with zeal {and} singleness of mind; he who does acts of mercy, with genuine cheerfulness {and} joyful eagerness. [Let your] love be sincere (a real thing); hate what is evil [loathe all ungodliness, turn in horror from wickedness], but hold fast to that which is good. Love one another with brotherly affection [as members of one family], giving precedence {and} showing honor to one another.” (Romans 12:4-10).

Paul details to these Ephesian believers and to us today that what our Lord Jesus Christ has done and is doing by dispensing gifts to His saints was before of old prophesied by King David in Psalm 68:18 (The Psalm is Messianic, a hymn of victory in which God is praised for victory and deliverance.). The ascending up refers to our Lord Jesus’ ascension back to Heaven (after His Resurrection) to sit at the Father’s Right Hand as Dr. Luke recorded the moment for us with these words, “And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:9). The English phrase “he led captivity captive” is translated by two Greek words aichmalōteuō which means to capture or lead captive a prisoner of war: and aichmalōsia meaning to be in captivity. In other words, what King David meant of this in Psalm 68:18 is that the LORD defeated all of His enemies and then marched them bound, chained, captive, and imprisoned before those whom they once oppressed, yet now they are in complete and bitter defeat. It is our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ who inflicted a heavy crushing blow and  has led all of His enemies captive by His death, burial, and then resurrection from the dead, those enemies are all unseen to the human eye, that is, all sin, Satan and his demons, darkness and death as our Lord Jesus Christ declared what He was doing to Satan and his kingdom when the Pharisees accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Satan, “And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, ‘He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.’ Others, to test Him, were demanding of Him a sign from Heaven. But He knew their thoughts and said to them, ‘Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebub. And if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed. But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.’” (Luke 11:14-23).

Paul declared this same idea expressed by King David of our Lord Jesus complete victory over His enemies to the Colossian believers with these words, “[God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display {and} public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him {and} in it [the Cross].” (Colossians 2:15). The war between God and Satan was ended at the Cross with Satan and his principalities and powers crushing defeat and now our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ has triumphed and is distributing bountiful gifts of grace to those of us who were once under the dictatorship (Ephesians 2:2-3) of the enemy, but now we are forever free “in Him” (Colossians 1:13-14) and now this grace is forever teaching us (Titus 2:11-14) and this was all prophesied of what our Lord Jesus Christ would do for each one of us “His redeemed” by the Prophet Isaiah when he said, “THE SPIRIT of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed {and} qualified me to preach the Gospel {of} good tidings to the meek, the poor, {and} afflicted; He has sent me to bind up {and} heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison {and} of the eyes to those who are bound,” (Isaiah 61:1).

My own Personal Note: This “given grace” is the means by which the truly regenerated souls are converted to Christ and likewise is the means by which we are to live and walk worthy of our call “in Christ” because He is the dispenser of grace to each of His children. The gift or measure of grace is what teaches us how we are to live being the “new creatures” we are as sojourners, pilgrims, and aliens away from our true home which is our Heavenly home.

“Christ is the giver. He has ‘power over the Spirit of Holiness’ and as the Evangelist has said in his comment on our Lord’s great words, when ‘He stood and cried,’ ‘If any man thirst let him come unto Me and drink,’ ‘This spake He of the Spirit which they that believed on Him were to receive.’ We cannot pierce into the depth of the mutual relations of the three divine Persons mentioned in the context, but we can discern that Christ is for us the self-revealing activity of the divine nature, the right arm of the Father, or, to use another metaphor, the channel through which the else ‘closed sea’ of God flows into the world of creatures. Through that channel is poured into believing hearts the river of the water of life, which proceeds out of the one ‘Throne of God and of the Lamb.’ This gift of the Spirit of Holiness to all believers is the deepest and truest conception of Christ’s gifts to His Church. His past work of sacrifice for the sins of the world was finished, as with a parting cry He proclaimed on Calvary, and the power of that sacrifice will never be exhausted, but the taking away of the sins of the world is but the initial stage of the work of Christ, and its further stages are carried on through all the ages. He ‘worketh hitherto,’ and His present work, in so far as believers are concerned, is not only the forthputting of divine energy in regard to outward circumstances, but the imparting to them of the Divine Spirit to be the very life of their lives and the Lord of their spirits. Christian people are but too apt to give undue prominence to what Christ did for them when He died, and to lose sight, in the overwhelming lustre of His unspeakable sacrifice, of what He is doing for them whilst He lives. It would tend to restore the proportions of Christian truth and to touch our hearts into a deeper and more continuous love to Him, if we more habitually thought of Him, not only as the Christ who died, but also as the Christ who rather is risen again, who is even at the Right Hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Alexander McLaren

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…