the effectual working of God's power —Martyn Lloyd-Jones

"Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power." —Ephesians 3:7

"One of the most fundamental questions confronting us as we preach the gospel is, What can turn any man from being a hater of God into one who loves God? What is it that can turn the natural man, to whom the things of God are ‘foolishness’, into a man who delights in them, and enjoys them, and lives for them, and whose highest ambition is to know them more and more? According to the Apostle there is only one answer; it is the ‘effectual working’ of the power of God—nothing else!

The Apostle Paul himself was very conscious of this power. Had he been left to himself he would still have been the persecuting, blaspheming Pharisee. He had heard about the preaching of Christ, he had heard the preaching of Stephen; he knew all that Christians claimed. But he hated the ‘good news’: he saw nothing in it except blasphemy. What happened to this man? There is only one answer; he had been made a new man. He had been regenerated, born again, ‘a new creation’, nothing less than that! And this was the result of the ‘effectual working’ of the power of God.

It is the effectual working of the power of God that makes anyone a Christian. It means a rebirth, a regeneration. It is not the result of our decision, it is not something that you and I decide to do; it is what is done to us! ‘The effectual working of his power!’ Paul would never have been a Christian at all were it not for this power. But even after becoming a Christian he would have been ineffective apart from this same power. It is this working, it is this power of God, that not only transformed his whole outlook, but it called him into the ministry and gave him the gifts that are requisite to the ministry, the understanding of the truth, the power to speak, the power to write, the power to teach. It was all of God."

—Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1972). The Unsearchable Riches of Christ: An Exposition of Ephesians 3 (p. 55).

the redeeming Angel of the covenant — C. H. Spurgeon

“Let us declare concerning our Lord that we found him better and better and better and better, even till we entered into his rest. He has been at first better than our fears, then better than our hopes, and finally better than our desires. So good, so blessed a God do we serve, that he always by his deeds of grace outruns our largest expectations. What cause we have for the worship of grateful praise; let us not be slow to render it…

Do you remember when he [Jesus Christ] came to you personally, and wrestled with you and tore away your self-righteousness, and made you limp upon your thigh? This it may be was your first introduction to him. You saw him by night, and thought him at the first to be rather your enemy than your friend. Do you recollect when he took your strength away from you, and then at last saved you, because in utter weakness, as you were about to fall to the ground, you laid hold of him and said, “I will not let thee go except thou bless me,” and so you won a blessing from him? You had thought aforetime that you had strength in yourself, but now you learned that you were weakness itself, and that only as you became consciously weak would you become actually strong. You learned to look out of self to him, and do you not bless him for having taught you such a lesson? Will you not when you come to die bless him for what he did for you then, and all your life long? O my brethren, we owe all things to the redeeming Angel of the covenant [Jesus Christ]. The evils which he has warded off from us are terrible beyond conception, and the blessings he has brought us are rich beyond imagination. We must adore him, and, though we see him not, we must in life and in death by faith worship him with lowly love."

— C. H. Spurgeon (1878). The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons (Vol. 24, pp. 130).

Substitution —Donald Grey Barnhouse

"Barabbas was the only man in the world who could say that Jesus Christ took his physical place. But I can say that Jesus Christ took my spiritual place. For it was I who deserved to die. It was I who deserved that the wrath of God should be poured upon me. I deserved the eternal punishment of the lake of fire. He was delivered up for my offenses. He was handed over to judgment because of my sins. This is why we speak of the substitutionary atonement. Christ was my substitute. He was satisfying the debt of divine justice and holiness. That is why I say that Christianity can be expressed in the three phrases: I deserved Hell; Jesus took my Hell; there is nothing left for me but his Heaven."

—Donald Grey Barnhouse, Romans, Vol. 2, “God’s Remedy” (Fincastle, VA: Scripture Truth, 1954), p. 378.

It is a most delightful felicitating knowledge, to know that Christ is in you — Richard Baxter

"It is a most delightful felicitating knowledge, to know that Christ is in you. If it be delightful to the rich to see their wealth, their houses, and lands, and goods, and money: and if it be delightful to the honourable to see their attendance, and hear their own commendations and applause; how delightful must it be to a true believer to find Christ within him, and to know his title to eternal life? If the knowledge of “full barns,” and “much goods laid up for many years,” can make a sensual worldling say, “Soul, take thy ease, eat, drink and be merry,” (Luke 12:19, 20,) methinks the knowledge of our interest in Christ and heaven, should make us say, “Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and wine increased,” (that is, more than corn and wine could put into theirs.) (Psal. 4:7.) “Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.” (Psal. 116:7.)" 

— Richard Baxter

daily rehearsings of the gospel ― Milton Vincent

“The New Testament teaches that Christians ought to hear the gospel as much as non-Christians do….In most of Paul’s letters to churches, sizeable portions of them are given over to rehearsing gospel truths. For example, Ephesians 1-3 is all gospel, Colossians 1-2 is gospel, and Romans 1-11 is gospel. The remainder of such books shows specifically how to bring the gospel truths to bear on life. Re-preaching the gospel and then showing how it applied to life was Paul’s choice method for ministering to believers, thereby providing a divinely inspired pattern for me to follow when ministering to myself and to other believers.

The gospel is so foolish (according to my natural wisdom; 1 Corinthians 1:21-23), so scandalous (according to my conscience; 1 Corinthians 1:23), and so incredible (according to my timid heart; 1 John 3:19-20), that it is a daily battle to believe the full scope of it as I should. There is simply no other way to compete with the forebodings of my conscience, the condemnings of heart, and the lies of the world and the Devil (2 Corinthians 4:4) than to overwhelm such things with daily rehearsings of the gospel…

The glory of God is the most powerful agent of transformation available to mankind.  It is so powerful that it transforms those who merely gaze upon it.  The Apostle Paul gives personal testimony concerning this stunning fact.  "But we all," he says, "beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, and being transformed into the same image from glory to glory." (2 Corinthians 3:18)  From Paul's testimony I learn that if I wish to become all that God wants me to be, I must behold His glory each day.

 But where do I find God's glory to behold?  Indeed, the glory of God is revealed throughout all of Creation, (Psalm 19:1, Isaiah 6:3) but the Bible indicates that, outside of heaven, the glory of God in its thickest density dwells inside the gospel.  It is for this reason that the gospel is described in Scripture as "the gospel of the glory of Christ" and "the gospel of the glory of the blessed God." (2 Corinthians 4:4, 1 Timothy 1:11)  Consequently, as I habitually gaze upon the glory of the Lord revealed in the gospel, I can know the actual deposits of God's very glory are attaching themselves to my person and transforming me from one level of glory to another. (2 Corinthians 3:18) This transformation is deep and abiding, and unfadingly displays the glory of God to others. (2 Corinthians 3:13)”

― Milton Vincent. A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God’s Love. Focus Publishing (MN), 2008.