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The Book of Ephesians part 3 – Week 39 / September 23rd
Living in the marvelous grace of God
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and That not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:1-10
Having set the context for his written presentation to the Ephesian Church Paul now reminds us of our wretched condition before Christ’s gift of salvation impacted our lives. His point is clear: Only the redeeming grace and love of God can save our lives from temporal and eternal ruin. Paul is thus eager to make sure that we know that salvation from sin can never be attained by our good works as the best of these fall short of the demands of a holy God. We just have no ability to reach the high standard of God and so we “fall short” all the time of God’s glory. (Romans 3:23) Our good works then are in fact dead, without any significance, when it comes to pleasing God. In the passage before us Paul illustrates this point by:
1. Describing our position outside of Christ V 1-3
We were wholly and fully trapped because we were “dead in trespasses.” Death in the Bible is not annihilation; it means rather, being cut off from the presence of God both now and in eternity, if it is not corrected. We are eternal beings and we shall therefore eternally live with our Creator or be banished eternally from His presence. However, not only were we dead in trespasses but being severed from God we were held captive by “the prince of the power of the air.” He, by his greater power took us captive and multiplied our disobedience and sin by thrusting us into the slave market of his will. We could do none other than serve him together with the rest of humankind. We were utterly and completely “children of disobedience!”
All of this left us without hope and with no way to return to God and, more serious still, we were therefore “children of wrath.” Our rebellion against God placed us under His displeasure and wrath. The God of the bible is holy and just and He must punish sin in order to uphold His holy love and character. If He didn’t there would be no such thing as righteousness and justice in the earth and He would be no better than the sinner. In all respects therefore we were weak, sinful, dead, without hope, dominated by the devil, disobedient and under the wrath of God!
2. Describing our position in Christ V4-9
Paul begins this new thought with the marvelous words, “But God…” That is; the offended God, who should blow us away to hell, is “rich in mercy and “because of His great love with which He loved us” has done something incredible to save us and thus do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. In short He has reversed death in our hearts and lives because He has raised us up out of it with Christ, reconciled our lives to Himself, broken the shackles of the devil and delivered us from the wrath to come by what Jesus did on the cross. This is all because of God’s mercy and grace and it has nothing to do with our good works or efforts. God’s love and grace have totally saved us and they have seated us with Christ with Him in Heaven. We are alive!! We are saved and we are redeemed! Throughout eternity God will display His kindness to us as a consequence of our being in Christ. We have absolutely nothing to boast about.
3. Describing our life in Christ V10
Good works are not the grounds of our salvation but they are the evidence of it. Here, in this verse, Paul tells us that from eternity God saw us in Christ because He is omniscient and that He has prepared for each one of us a “road of good works’ to walk upon in life. Your life enjoys a specific destiny and you should find this destiny and live it out. In eternity you will be asked about the way you have walked because it was “prepared beforehand” that you should walk in it. Let’s not be half-hearted Christians but Christians who pursue God with all our hearts and who seek to fulfill our unique God-given journeys. Paul, at the end of his life, was conscious of the fact that he had completed his road and would now receive a crown of glory. (2Timothy 4:6-8) How will you end your life?
This is one of the great passages of the bible because here in its verses Christianity is set apart from all the other religions of the world. It is not a religion built on doing good in order to be saved and to please God. No, it tells us that we were utterly lost, without hope, damned and far from God and yet God in His great love and mercy has saved us by His grace demonstrated and freely given to us in Jesus. Truly, this is not a religion but a newly discovered relationship with God. Those who come to Christ and trust Him fully are brought into a living real experience of the God of Heaven; they are regenerated. Blessed be His name!
Malcolm Hedding
©Malcolm Hedding Ministries
2013Devotional