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On August 6, 1801, a steady stream of pilgrims made their way up the hill to the Cane Ridge Meeting House near Paris, Ky. They came for an annual communion service, a practice brought over from Scottish Presbyterians that involved a weeklong festival of preaching, fasting, and prayer and that culminated with the once-a-year taking of communion.
They were Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists, and they came at the invitation of Barton W. Stone, the Presbyterian pastor of Cane Ridge. Stone had been impressed with and excited by the kinds of camp-meeting revivals that had recently started sweeping the country, the opening act of the religious fervor known as the Second Great Awakening. And he wanted to see it happen in his own town.
So began the Cane Ridge Revival. As many as twenty thousand people attended over the course of a week, hearing sermons and taking communion but also having emotional experiences like ecstatic preaching and being slain in the Spirit.
Within the next few years, Stone would lead an exodus from the Presbyterian Church, establishing a group that simply called themselves Christians. Stone himself had problems with the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the group he led claimed to do away with confessions and doctrines beyond the Bible itself.
Many people today might agree with Stone and his movement. “We don’t need doctrine,” they say. “Doctrine divides. What’s more, doctrine stifles passionate Christian life. When we focus on doctrine, we become dry intellectualists. It’s better to maintain a simple faith in Jesus.”
The Apostle Paul would disagree. In Ephesians 1:15–23, he tells his readers about his prayer for them, and he indicates that there are some doctrines that we ought to know. What’s more, he expects that these things will in fact contribute to a vibrant Christian life.
One particular petition of Paul’s prayer is that the Ephesians would know “the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” (v. 18). Paul has already mentioned an inheritance in this chapter. In verse 14, he speaks of a future inheritance, “our inheritance,” of which the Holy Spirit is the guarantee “until we acquire possession of it.” This is something that belongs to us and that we will receive in full in the future.
But in verse 18, rather than speaking of “our” inheritance, Paul says “his” inheritance: “the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” In this case, Paul is speaking of God’s inheritance rather than our inheritance. That means that God sees us, the saints, as a glorious treasure that He will get to enjoy fully someday.
This treasure includes those “who were the first to hope in Christ” (v. 12) and gentiles as well (2:11). God has set apart a people for Himself from before the foundations of the world, sent His Son to carry out their redemption in love, and has sealed them with His promised Holy Spirit (1:4, 7, 13), storing them up for Himself so that He can redeem them fully in the end.
Yet even for those who are redeemed and have received the Holy Spirit, sin remains on this side of glory. Many Christians, when they understand the depth of their sin, sometimes struggle to accept the reality of God’s love for them in Christ. Even if they are able to accept that truth, they may still struggle to accept God’s genuine affection for them.
No doubt we have all experienced times when, as children, we invoked our parents’ displeasure or disapproval. At such times, we may have heard them say, “I love you, but I don’t like you very much right now.” We may feel as though God says the same thing about us. How could He not? We sin every single day, in thought, word, and deed. At what point does He throw up His hands and decide that He’s done with us?
Now we can see why this is a place where doctrine can inform a vibrant Christian life, for Scripture has much to say about God’s devotion to His people. Scripture repeatedly describes God’s relationship with His people in terms of a loving husband with his wife; in fact, Paul does this later in this very book (5:25–27). Likewise, Revelation 19:6–9 records the song of the saints at the marriage supper of the Lamb, a scene of great joy, when the Bridegroom can finally be with His bride in fullness.
God delights in His people. Those of us who are in Christ are His treasure, and He cannot wait to be with us one day. Paul prayed that the Ephesians would understand this, and we should understand it as well—how valuable we are to God. After all, that’s one of the reasons that He sent His Son to die for us.
God’s affection for us in Christ is no mere reluctant devotion, no slavish obligation. It is a settled and persevering love. It is a deep and abiding affection. It is a steadfast love that is grounded in eternity, that is sealed in the present, and that looks forward to a joyous and certain future. God can no more cast off those of us who are in Christ than He can cast off His own beloved Son.
The knowledge of this doctrine can and ought to animate our spiritual lives. We can have certainty of our acceptance by God, assurance of His affection for us, and anticipation of fully enjoying our spiritual union one day. May this truth move us to live lives of joy, gratitude, and humility today and always.