Redeemer Church of Waterford

God's eternal plan for the redemption of His people involves the activity of the Holy Trinity: God the Father devises salvation's plan; God the Son executes and accomplishes salvation's plan; and God the Holy Spirit applies, or makes effectual, salvation's plan. Regeneration is the very first step in God's saving of sinners. Why is regeneration necessary? What is the agent and the instrument used in regeneration? What is the effect of regeneration? How can I know that I have been regenerated?

The Apostle Paul mixes his metaphors, using one from agriculture and one from architecture, to make the point that our stability in Christian fellowship is dependent upon the depth of our love for Christ and one another.

The love which Paul desires to see in the relationships of the members of the church of Ephesus, and for which he petitions His heavenly Father, is not sentimental; it is supernatural, it is sacrificial, and it has some very specific symptoms which he identifies throughout his letter to these Ephesians. Do we have the symptoms of this love?

This love which Paul prays his people at Ephesus might be rooted and grounded in love is distinct from God's love for us or Christ's love for us. And while it has the characteristics of the virtue of natural human love, it differs significantly in that it is not sentimental, it is supernatural, it is sacrificial, it is symptomatic, and it is stable and strong.