Ephesians-By Grace
Ephesians 2:1–10
[1] And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2] in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—[3] among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4] But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—[6] and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7] so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)
The nature of man is one of the most important elements of the Christian worldview today. When we have a skewed view of man’s state before God, it creates false beliefs about our need for salvation. Without accepting the biblical view of man, we wouldn’t need the work of Christ. We would be able to on our own clean up our internal and external life and earn our salvation.
I see this play out a lot in our culture because I work in a school. I think many people believe that children come out of the womb good and the world messes them up. The next logical step to that premise is if we can only give people what need their behavior will become good. Instead when people get what they want they often become increasingly selfish and live to gratify their self-focused desires. Ultimately and thankfully God intervenes on our situation.
v.1-3 And you were dead in trespasses and sins
What is the biblical view of the nature of man? What is man like apart from God?
In Genesis 3, we learn that God created people and put them in a perfect place to live. They were to not eat of the tree of good and evil. Yet when they chose to live outside the commands of God, their eyes were opened to the fact that they could never be God[1]. They were naked and wanted covering-a concrete way of expressing an inner spiritually reality, that the awareness of sin brings shame. Thus, a relational gap was created between us and God. The first few verses of chapter 2 remind us that humankind is physically alive but spiritually dead because our sins separate us from a holy God. We follow the course of this world; its values seem reasonable and what’s popular is how we define what is true. We also follow the “prince of the power of the air” aka spiritual forces opposed to God’s will that want to temp us to follow our flesh. The flesh is the part of us that compels us to continue to turn from God and instead be led by the things we think and desire sensually. Humanity was helpless to change because of its nature and its enemies.
“The apostle is not saying that fallen man lacks a will. The problem is not that man does not have the capacity to choose, his problem is that he has no desire for God. The desires of man’s heart in his natural state are only wicked continuously, turned away from God.[2]”
v.4-7 But God
The gospel is good news because despite the impossibility of us saving ourselves, God intervened. Why? Because of His character. He is rich in mercy and full of great love—so much in fact that He saved those who were dead in trespasses. Dead people can’t save themselves. They have no ability to act on their own behalf. Salvation means life and that’s what we receive freely when we accept his gift. That is why salvation is by grace. We don’t earn it-dead people can’t work, remember? We receive it by His unmerited favor. We are so united with the work of Christ the we are regenerated, raised up with Him from death whose destiny in Heaven, never ending life. When the next age comes, when Christ returns, His work to save us will be on display, proclaiming his grace for all eternity.
v. 8-10 For by grace
Our salvation is by grace, a free action initiated by God, through faith, something we access by believing not by earning. We don’t do anything on our own behalf. We don’t earn it, aren’t entitled to it, don’t have the will power or ability to keep the law. Remember the state of man in verse 1-3? It is impossible for us without God making the first move because our nature was bent on sin. Because this gift is initiated by God to us, based on nothing but His grace, we can’t take pride in the fact that we are saved. Instead our response should be gratitude and thankfulness. This act of generosity to us is a masterpiece in His creation, a work of art showing His attributes displayed toward us. Realizing what He’s done should cause us to worship Him by doing the works He planned out for us. We are people with a new nature who instead of carrying out the desires of the body[3] are able to perform the things God designed for us to do.
Reflection Questions:
· Has reading this section helped you see the nature of man different? What is the biblical worldview of fallen humanity?
· What aspects of God’s character did you notice that motivate his act of salvation?
· Have you understood this aspect of the role of good works? That is a response to your salvation instead of the means by which you are saved. How does that distinction change your service to God?
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