The CRCA
Eph.2 - Saved By Grace
Word of Salvation - January 2010
SAVED BY GRACE, Peter Smit
Sermon 3 of a series on Ephesians (Series title – “Ephesians: Portraits of the living church”)
Text – Ephesians 2:1-10
Reality shows: Biggest Loser, Survivor, Australian Idol, Big Brother, so you think you can dance, Dancing with the stars, the amazing race, America’s next top model, and on and on they go.
The one factor that turns them from loser to winner = what you do.
Work a bit harder, strive a bit longer, work, negotiate, do what you need to do.
Many people approach faith in God like that too.
You’ve just got to work a bit harder as a Christian.
Keep striving and you’ll make it to heaven.
“God helps those who help themselves”.
But you won’t find that statement anywhere in the Bible.
Paul says the exact opposite in Eph 2. God says you can’t help yourself.
Ephesians 2:1-10 is a 3 panel portrait of what happens when you become a Christian.
Remember Chapter 1 of Ephesians: Paul praises God for the blessings we received in Christ. Chosen, Forgiven Sealed. It’s a mountain top of praise. Now in chapter 2 he plunges us down into the darkness of who we were before Christ came to us.
Paul says in verse 1 “you were” that’s your past: Before Christ.
Then in verse 4 he says “But God” that’s our Rescue.
And in verse 10 he says “we are” that’s who we now are In Christ.
Three portraits… “Before Christ”, “Rescued” and “In Christ”.
1. BEFORE CHRIST YOU WERE DONE FOR.
Before Christ (BC) the Bible teaches that you were in a critical condition.
Dead, enslaved, and condemned.
A) DEAD.
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
BC you’re not just sick spiritually, you’re dead.
Your sins separated you from God. You were unable to reach out to him. You were spiritually dead to Christ.
…you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient
Spiritually dead people are led by two things.
The ways of this world – they mix with the crowd. Don’t stand out. Go with flow. Language, dress, attitudes, actions; they all reflect worldly values. There is no thought for God.
They are led by world but also…
the ruler of the kingdom of the air – this is a spiritual being. the spirit who is at work
Paul refers to Satan. He is a f allen angel – In John 8 Jesus confronted the Pharisees, orthodox religious leaders, and said,
43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. John 8:43-44
Spiritually dead people are unable to hear or understand Jesus or God’s word, because they are led by Satan. He deceives them, blinds them to spiritual truth.
4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Before Christ – God says we were dead.
B) ENSLAVED.
Between 1500 and 1867, over 12 million Africans were loaded onto slave ships bound for the Caribbean and Americas. Africans were sold, captured, kidnapped and enslaved. They were chained and then crowded into river canoes and sailed to the coast. Loaded onto ships and transported. Many died through inhumane treatment.
Enslavement meant losing your freedom and the very real threat of death.
Bible says BC we were enslaved. No chance of freedom.
3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.
8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
Spiritual enslavement happens when you’re driven by the need to satisfy cravings of your sinful nature and can only think to follow its desires and thoughts.
Theologians call this total depravity. Not that people are all as bad as they can be all the time. Not that we can’t still do kind acts or that people don’t have a conscience. Many non believers do good and have a healthy conscience. Total depravity means our sin has totally corrupted us and defiled every part of our lives. Without Christ we are enslaved to sin. And we simply can’t get free.
BC we are dead, enslaved.
C) CONDEMNED.
Our DNA is so corrupted by sin that we cannot seek after God.
Paul says…
we were by nature objects of wrath.
In Dec 2006 16 year old Stacey Mitchell was brutally killed by two of her housemates Valerie Parashumti, 19, and Jessica Stasinowsky, 21. The senseless and brutal crime has made those two girls objects of wrath. The public rightly was outraged over this terrible crime. The girls were condemned by the law and imprisoned.
But before Christ came to us, God says our sins condemned us before him. Our sins made us objects of wrath to God. Before God we were law breakers.
The Bible puts our condition this way…
10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 1 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Romans 3:10-12
God in his perfect justice had to condemn us because of our sins because he is morally pure and perfect. Before Christ came to us – we’re condemned.
It’s a bleak picture. BC: Dead, Enslaved, Condemned.
But when we were powerless to do anything about our situation God intervened. The bible says…
2. BUT GOD HAS RESCUED YOU.
If you’re a believer in Jesus Christ, if you love and trust him as your Lord and Saviour then…
Verse 4 is a liberating portrait of you.
NIV Ephesians 2:4-5
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—
But the NASB better translates the Greek.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Paul says But God… God intervened.
You were dead, enslaved, condemned but God rescued you.
He saw your condition and he took action.
Look at how Paul describes God in verse 4: He is rich in mercy, with great love, He loved us –
Just think about that. He loved us, Sinners, condemned God haters. He reached out and loved us. He had mercy. He came to us who didn’t deserve love.
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
Not only did he love us but he…
made us alive together with Christ
He spiritually resurrected us. He brought us back to spiritual life.
To emphasize that you had nothing to do with it. Paul says,
(by grace you have been saved),
The way the Greek expresses this is important. The sense is that this work of God: (a) Happened in the past, but has an eternal ongoing effect. What God has done is effective forever; and (b) was done for you, not by you.
Paul says by grace you have been saved,
Someone said,
Love that goes up is worship, love that goes outward is affection, love that stoops to forgive is grace.
In grace, God reached out and took me when I was spiritually dead and made me alive in Jesus. Alive with him. Alive to him. Alive to God’s spiritual truth.
Like Lazarus we can say, “I was dead, but now I’m alive.”
So far then, Paul has painted for us two amazing portraits.
One a spiritually dead person before Christ.
One a spiritually alive person who has been rescued by God.
But now – look at who we have become in Christ.
3. WHAT YOU ARE NOW IN CHRIST.
What happened to Jesus is what has happened for you if you believe in Him.
Jesus was condemned, crucified and died for our sin. But then God made him alive raised him, and exalted him in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 1 tells you God blessed you with amazing spiritual blessings… God chose you, forgave you, sealed you. But now Paul goes on to express what you are now.
A) RAISED WITH CHRIST.
6 And God raised us up with Christ
The Bible says, when God raised Jesus into the heavenly places, He raised you there with Him. He raised us up with Christ. As a believer God has given you a new status. You’re already living in heaven. Not in body yet, but status before God. If you believe you are currently living in two worlds; you’re a citizen of earth but also of heaven.
Not only are we raised to heaven with Christ we’re also
B) SEATED WITH CHRIST.
and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
After his resurrection Jesus was exalted in heaven.
Philippians 2 puts it this way.
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
Jesus i s enthroned at God’s right hand to the highest place.
In Revelation Jesus said to the church…
I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. Rev 3:21
The Bible says right now by faith you are seated Christ, enthroned with him.
You are with him on his throne and you will one day rule with him.
What an amazing change.
You were dead enslaved condemned, but God rescued you and made you alive, he raised you up and seated you with Christ on a heavenly throne…
Paul says why he did these amazing things:
7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
God did that so for all eternity we could marvel at the incomparable riches of his grace, and his kindness to us in Jesus.
For eternity into the future we will overflow with gratitude as we gaze on the riches of his grace to us in Christ. He saved you by grace.
So how do you respond to that?
4. RESPOND BY DOING GOD’S GOOD WORK.
God wants his grace to motivate you. His rich mercy must spur you on.
You don’t serve God to get to heaven or earn your way through heaven’s gates.
There’s no room for pride and arrogance in Christian ministry and service. It’s not about you or what you want. It’s about God and who he is, what he has done, and what he has prepared for you to do.
The only response to His amazing grace is humility, surrender, sacrifice, gratitude and overwhelming thanks. To remind you of that Paul says.
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Even your faith is God’s gift to you.
No room for pride, boasting, saying “I’m doing this for God.”
No y ou are God’s masterpiece. All that you are is his gift to you.
All that you have become he has given you. All that you will be he has planned for you.
10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
God created you to save you, and enable you to do the good things he’s already planned. There’s only one response needed – humble, willing, submitted service out of deep, deep gratitude to God and his Son Jesus Christ.
Church:
Before Christ you were done for.
But God rescued you
Now you are in Christ, made alive with Christ, raised with him, seated with him.
Today he calls you to respond by humbly doing God’s good work
For his glory and his praise now and forever.
Take a moment to pray.
For some here who are not sure if you’ll go to heaven; not sure if you’re Christian.
Confess sin – confess that you are dead enslaved, condemned. Ask God to make you alive to him.
For some others – your love for God has grown cold. Remember God rescued. Give him your thanks and praise.
For others – you know all this but you’re not responding. You are not serving, not stepping into work God has prepared for you. God calls you to give yourself. Open your life to God. Offer yourself in service. Pray….
