Unwrapping the Gift of Salvation: Eph 2:8-10

Good morning, and welcome to Dillingham Moravian Church.

My name is Pastor Simon. For those who are listening on live stream or on radio, welcome.

May the Lord lead us to abide in Christ as we study the Word of God together.

This past Christmas, our family did not have the usual Christmas morning where

we opened all of our gifts at once.

Rather, we allowed the kids to open one gift at a time every day from a week

before Christmas until Christmas morning when we would give kids the big gift that we had.

Abigail believed that we all needed socks. And so the major little gifts that

we were getting were all the smart wool socks.

And for us Alaskans, we understand that those smart wool socks are very important. They're very helpful.

At any time of year. My reason for sharing this story is that none of us in

our family deserve the gifts that we received from other people.

We didn't earn them. We didn't work for them. They were gifts.

Exponentially and infinitely greater, God in Jesus Christ has given us the gift

of salvation, a gift that we didn't earn, nor did we ever deserve that wondrous gift.

Let's pray. Father, we pray, thank you for the ministry of your love to us in Jesus Christ.

Thank you for your salvation that you so wondrously lavished upon us,

that you poured out upon us in overwhelming measure.

We are so, so grateful.

Thank you, precious Lord.

And Lord, as we go to your word today, may your word soak into our hearts and

minds through your Holy Spirit.

May you fill us with your spirit so that we can truly understand and know your word, your truth.

In your precious son's name, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

Well, here at Dillingham Moravian Church, with a few important sidetracks,

we have been going through a teaching series on Paul's letter to the Ephesians.

And last time in Ephesians chapter 2, we studied that Paul taught the Ephesian

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

church that God in Christ has raised his church up to be seated in the heavenly

realms to showcase the riches of God's kind grace.

And I used the illustration of the showcase that we have in the Dillingham High School.

We go by, we see the trophies, we see a Wolverine mascot, and that's a showcase,

a show off what Dillingham High School has done.

We are to be the showcase. We are showing off what God has done in us and through us.

The second truth that we have learned was that salvation from the wrath of God

is only found in the grace of

God as a person responds to God's grace with faith in Jesus Christ alone.

And this is where we come to our passage today in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8 through 10.

Ephesians 2:8–10

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves,

it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one would boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,

which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in.

As we delve into what God has for us in this passage, I want to show you three

essential and foundational truths of God's word.

The first truth that I want to bring to your attention is that salvation is a gift.

It's not of works so that we may not boast.

Paul, in verse 8 through 9, taught, For by grace you have been saved through

faith, this not of yourselves.

And here's where we are today. It is a gift of God.

Or actually, it's the gift of God, not of works, so that no one would boast.

I want you to see in this verse that Paul was teaching the Ephesians that this

grace that he has given us, or salvation is something that we could never have

earned or that we could have worked to achieve.

Ephesian Christ followers would have been approached by the Judaizers or the

Jewish Christians who were convinced themselves that in order to be saved,

you still believed in Jesus,

but in order to be fully saved, you had to conform to the Jewish laws,

Especially the dietary laws And sacrificial laws,

And so these Jewish Christians were going about trying to convert all of the

Christian churches and groups that were in the known world at that time.

In a sense, what the Judaizers were focused on was working for their salvation,

that they could, by their efforts,

impress God by obeying the Mosaic law to the letter and have a better or right

relationship with God because of their own virtuous deed.

Paul was writing to explain that there is nothing, nothing that any person can

do to earn the grace of God. The question is why?

Because since the fall of humanity, Adam and Eve and all human beings after

them are depraved before God.

What that means is that no one is right on their own before the holy and ever-living

God of the universe. for even one of our sins, even the smallest sin and most

forgettable sin that we don't even think about.

God's word teaches us that we deserve death, the shedding of all of our light

blood for even that one sin alone.

And that's not including all the rest of the sins that we accrue during our life.

No, we cannot earn our salvation because it is a gracious gift of our benevolent God in Jesus Christ.

The word that Paul used for gift or present meant something transferred to a

person as an object to be received without compensation.

Again, meaning you can't earn it. Meaning that because of the sacrificial blood

offering of Jesus on the cross, God saved us from his terrifying wrath from our sin.

Does God expect anything back from us for his wondrous present to us?

Does God want us to pay him back for his gracious salvation in Christ?

Absolutely not. God's salvation gift to us is exactly what it says.

It is a gift. It is freely given.

And since salvation is a free gift to us, we cannot boast.

We cannot brag about doing anything or earning our salvation in any way.

In fact, as a human being who has been created and given gifts and abilities,

even the life that we have, the fact that our heart is beating in our chest

and the lungs are our breathing air.

Or that in every second we are sustained to have life by God.

We have no reason to brag about ourselves.

Furthermore, Jesus Christ has redeemed us. He has bought us with his precious blood.

He has paid our debts so that we will not be thrown into the fiery depths of hell forever and ever.

And because of Christ, we are now his beloved adopted children and co-heirs

with Christ to the kingdom of God. We are Christ's bond or willing slaves,

and we belong totally and 100% to Jesus Christ.

You and I, we have no reason to boast other than in God through Jesus Christ,

as we praise and give him glory.

As Paul proclaimed in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 27, But God has chosen us,

1 Corinthians 1:27

the foolish things of the world, to shame the wise.

God has chosen the weak things of the world, the shame, the things which are

strong, and the base things of the world, and the despised.

God has chosen the things that are not, so that he may abolish the things that

are, so that no flesh may boast before God.

But by His doing, you are in Jesus Christ, who has become to us wisdom from

God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, so that,

"just as it is written, let him who boasts, boast in the Lord."

And this is what Paul was explaining to the Ephesians, that there is no reason

for any believer in Christ to boast in their own power and deeds.

Because God in Christ, Jesus Christ, has given us his merciful grace.

There's undeserved favor as a gift to us. And we have been saved from the terrifying

wrath of God as a result of our sins. So what can we learn as believers in Ephesians

Ephesians 2:6

chapter 2, verse 6, sorry, 8.

We have learned that as disciples of Christ, our response to the gracious and

magnificent gift of salvation from God in Jesus Christ is to be one of gratitude and not of boasting.

Have you ever watched TV or been on social media or Facebook,

and maybe you've heard someone encouraging others, saying that they're worth it?

Now, do you ever think about where that saying came from?

Now, most of the time when people are using this tag or these memes,

they're directed towards women and are meant to genuinely boast the self-esteem of others.

But the phrase, I am worth it, came from L'Oreal Paris, the cosmetic company.

That helped to change the worldview of beauty for good. When actress Joanne

Dusso first uttered the now iconic phrase in the early 70s, it was the first

time an advertisement campaign claimed beauty for oneself and not for men.

The tagline became a rallying call that voiced the shifting place of women in society.

Today, the brand continues supporting women on the journey to self-worth.

Now, don't make it wrong. I despise tyranny of any sort, whether it's racism,

sexism, or any other form.

And I understand the statement "because I'm worth it,"

came about as part of the women's liberation movement to allow women to have

personal ideas, identities, and self-worth apart from men and the rules of society

that had enslaved women for so long.

Yet the statement, because I am worth it, begs one of the most essential questions of the Bible.

Is any human being worth anything on our own? And the answer is a resounding no.

I understand that this is a tremendously shocking and offensive statement to say in modern culture.

But one of our most fundamental themes of God's Word is that without God,

our Creator, and especially without the merciful and gracious sacrifice of Christ on the cross,

We as human beings are without any worth, and we are worthy of being destroyed

and sent to hell forever.

Paul in Romans 3, verse 10, quoting the Psalms, said this, "As it is written,

Romans 3:10

there is none righteous, not even one.

There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks for God. All have turned aside.

Together they have become worthless. There is none who does good, not even one."

I want to encourage us today that any worth that we have as human beings,

especially as redeemed children and holy ones of God, comes directly from God

and is in identification with God.

In Christ, you and I, we have been given the status of being a child,

a crown prince or princess of God's kingdom.

We are so loved that God the Father sent His only begotten son,

Jesus Christ, to die on that cross for all who believe in him.

So that we may have eternal life.

Yet our value is not in ourselves, by ourselves, but from the God who created

us and the salvation that Christ bought for us at such a great and dear cost.

And for that, you and I are to loudly boast and praise our most amazing and

wonderful God, Jesus Christ.

And as we study Paul in the scriptures, That is exactly what he does.

He is never boasting about himself.

He is always boasting about Jesus Christ.

So far, we've learned that the Apostle Paul taught the Ephesian congregation

that salvation or a right relationship with God cannot be earned or worked for.

Rather, it is given as a free gift of God's grace through faith in Christ as only Lord and Savior.

The second major truth that Paul was teaching the Ephesian church was that as

Christ believers, we are God's workmanship and we're created in God for good works.

One of my favorite things to do when I have time is to go down to our local

farmer's markets or bazaars, look at the pieces of art that our local artists have made.

Sometimes we'll see advertisements on Dillingham trading posts on Facebook of

the local artists displaying their works.

Dillingham is home to many, many talented and gifted artists and craftsmen or craftspeople rather.

Local artists and craftspeople make works of ivory, beadwork,

glasswork, ulus, paintings,

woodworking, and more. You can tell from some of the products displayed that

they often took hundreds of hours on their finished piece and those pieces are

beautiful And they were made with love.

And please listen to that. They were made with a lot of love.

Paul in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10

Ephesians 2:10

For we are his workmanship

Created in Christ Jesus for good works

I want you to see that Paul was explaining

to the Ephesian congregation and subsequently to all of us who believe in Christ

That all of the branches of Christ's vine or Christ's church Are God's workmanship

All of humanity was created by God and we are physically His workmanship.

Yet here in verse 10, Paul specifically pays attention to Christ's church as

being created in Christ Jesus as God's special workmanship.

And don't miss the, I guess, the flavor here in this verse 10.

This is love. This workmanship here, we are His workmanship created with love, great love.

Through Christ's sacrificial blood slaughter on the cross for us,

God has spiritually recreated us as part of his church.

John 15 teaches us that as part of his vine, same idea here.

As Paul in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17 proclaimed, Therefore, if anyone is of

2 Corinthians 5:17

Christ or is in Christ, he is a new creature.

The old things have passed away. Behold, new things have come.

Back in Ephesians 2, verse 10,

Ephesians 2:10

the word Paul used for that which is made means a product. What is made,

created. What Paul was getting at was that we as human beings could not physically

nor spiritually create ourselves.

God created us with His loving craftsmanship.

And God also created or recreated us completely as new creations in Christ.

Another equally important aspect of God making us a new creation in Christ is

that we are created for good works.

As human beings, we cannot create ourselves spiritually, which is part of the

salvation process of God.

And thus, we were not created or saved by good works.

Rather, we were saved for good works.

The word that Paul used for good referred to moral excellence.

Now this is not the moral excellence in regards to human morality or a human's

ability or inability to be morally excellent. No,

this moral excellence that Paul referred to was based on the moral excellence

or goodness of God Himself. and God's moral excellence and goodness is portrayed

to us in God's covenantal laws His teachings,

His principles of His precious Word,

the Bible. God in Jesus Christ is the standard for good works that we are created for in Jesus Christ.

Peter in 1 Peter 1, verse 14 to 16 taught, "as obedient children,

1 Peter 1:14–16

do not be conformed to the former lusts, which were yours in ignorance.

{And here it is, verse 15,} but like the Holy One who called you,

be holy yourselves also in your behavior, because it is written,

you shall be holy for I am holy."

Yet the question remains, how do we, you and I, as Christ believers,

do good works of such a high standard that only God can do? How can we do that?

One of the most pivotal passages on how to daily abide in Christ and do God's

work is found in Galatians chapter 2:20.

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live,

but it is Christ who lives in me ...

{So as a believer, Paul says that our old self is no longer alive spiritually.

Meaning our old flesh, it is gone.

It is now Christ who operates us. It is Christ who lives in us.

But how then can we accomplish God's good work as He defines goodness?

Listen to what Paul says next.} And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by {what?}

By faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me.}

As people of the Christ-abiding church, we are called to the good works that God

in His holy Word has set before us.

But we can only accomplish God's holy work as we live and do God's work by faith

in the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself up for us.

So what does it mean for us as Christians that we are created in Christ Jesus for good works?

What this means for us is that we have been designed as God's new creations to

do the good works that God wants us to do and to do those works under His power

by faith in Jesus Christ.

Everyone from young to old, to those who are professional workers,

to those who are subsistence hunters and gatherers or commercial fishermen,

we can all do good works that God has commanded us and taught us to do from His Word.

How then can we practically work the deeds of God by faith in Christ?

I call this prayerful, intentional, obedient, joyful trust. And I'm working on the anachronym.

I listen to John Piper. He's always got these little anachronisms.

As we go to our workplaces as a worker or to school as a student or teacher,

or as we parent or we do our housework or when we watch our kids' sports games

or we take our kids to school or when we steam or when we do subsistence activities.

We go to the grocery store to shop.

We intentionally remember the truths and promises of God's Word,

like Galatians 2.20, that apply to our situation and our location.

We then pray for God to direct our path and who we talk to or who God brings

into our sphere of influence that day.

And then by trusting faith in who Christ is, as God dwelling in us, and joyfully

trusting in Christ's love for us,

we then surrender to Christ to let Him operate us in the particular activity,

the circumstance that we are in.

Doing God's work is carried out as we obediently do what is right from God's

Word, intentionally looking for ways we can love others around us,

considering others as better than ourselves.

And as we trust in Christ's love, we lean on the joy of the Lord for our strength.

Up to this point, in Ephesians chapter 2, Paul was teaching the Ephesian church

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

that God's people are the workmanship of God created for good works that God wants us to carry out.

The main truth that Paul was communicating in Ephesians chapter 2 was that God

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

prepared our good works beforehand so that we may be characterized by them.

You know, here in Dillingham, it's not unusual to find repurposed parts of broken machines

or tools such as boat propellers or old used nets and buoys used as lawn ornaments

or housing decorations.

Old broken down vehicles are often saved and rebuilt or used to rebuild other

vehicles to make them functioning whole machines.

And we all know that we all, or almost all of us do that.

In a related way, God has taken our old spiritually dead lives and he has remade us.

He has repurposed us into who He has always designed us to be in the first place.

Paul continued on in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10, "for we are His workmanship

Ephesians 2:10

created in Christ Jesus for good works.

{And here's what we're looking at now} which God prepared beforehand so that

we would walk in them." There are two aspects of this last part of verse 10 that I want you to notice.

The first aspect is that as abiding disciples of Christ, not only has God specifically

and lovingly recreated us as new creations who are designed to accomplish God's work by His power,

God has also prepared those good works in advance for us to accomplish.

The word Paul used for "prepared beforehand" was ":the New Testament equivalent

to predestinate, to appoint before.

And there's only two times in the New Testament that this verb is used.

It is used of God's foreordaining for good, referring to glory and to good works."

The second observation I want to show you that Paul was teaching Ephesians was

that abiding believers are to live in such a way that we are characterized

by God's good deeds that are prepared for us to do before.

The word for "walk" referred to the "sphere in which one lives or ought to live."

So as to be characterized by that sphere is designated by good deeds.

What this means is that believers, you and I, are to be so identified with God

and God's ways that we are characterized by doing good or God's good deeds everywhere.

Others will know that a person is a Christian or a little Christ.

I don't know if you know it, but that's what Christian means, "little Christ."

Because their lives are characterized by good works.

Remember that according to Galatians 2.20, Christ lives in us,

we who are children of God.

There is to be so much of Christ in us that we just do good works of God.

People will see, even our close family will see what God is doing in us and through us.

And most importantly, God sees that. The question that we seriously need to

ask ourselves is that if God were going to give a survey of our Christian lives,

what would He say that our lives were characterized by?

Would He say that our lives are characterized by anger or frustration or impatience

with others? Would we be seen by God and our families and our communities as people

who are characterized by the truth and love of God?

You see, living a life characterized by good works points others to the glory

of God's workmanship in us!

God has chosen us to be His adopted sons and His heirs in Christ Jesus from

before the world was ever created.

And at that time, God also predetermined the good deeds that he wants us to do.

Now, does this mean that we are automatons, that we are robots going about what

God wants us to do as being pre-programmed into us?

Does that mean that we have no ability to choose on our own?

Absolutely not. God has chosen us and He has chosen what He wants us to accomplish

as His branches who abide in His Son's vine.

But we need to be the ones to choose.

We're the ones doing the abiding. At every moment, you and I,

we have a choice to make, whether we're going to surrender to Christ,

who is living and dwelling in us, or whether we're going to disobey our mighty and merciful God.

Paul in Philippians chapter 2 instructed in verse 12,

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

"So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed,

not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence,

{and here it is,} work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God

who is at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure."

Paul doesn't say for us to work out our salvation or sorry to work for our salvation

but he says to work out your salvation and to do it with and in the fear of God.

For example, this is similar to going to the gym and working out our muscles

(and I don't do it as much as I should).

But we work out our muscles so that they are strong and that our bodies are healthy.

We didn't make our bodies, we didn't make our muscles, but we are to keep them

strong by exercising them, working them out.

And this is what God, through Paul, was telling the Ephesians and us to do.

How do we live out our salvation in Jesus Christ? How do we exercise so

as to accomplish the good deeds of God that He has designed for us?

And the simple answer is that we live by faith in the Son of God who loved us

and gave Himself up for us.

You see, faith or the loving, trust-filled, joyful surrender to Christ working

in us at every moment is the work that we have been designed to do.

As we trust Christ, Christ in the Holy Spirit, He will operate us.

He will work His good deeds through us, to others.

What has God been teaching us today? There are three main central truths that

God through Paul has taught us.

1. The first truth we have learned is that salvation or the right relationship

with God cannot be earned or worked for.

Rather, it is given to us as a free gift of God's grace through faith in Christ

alone as our only Lord and Savior.

2. Secondly, we have learned that God's people are the workmanship of God created

for God's good works that God wants His people to carry out.

3. Lastly, God communicated to us through Paul that abiding believers are to live

in such a way that we are characterized by God's good deeds that He has prepared in advance for us to do.

I wish to give you great courage by telling you that God has given us,

as believers in Christ, such a wonderful gift that you and I can never repay.

And that gift is our salvation in Jesus Christ as we have responded to God's

grace with faith in Jesus Christ alone as our Lord and Savior!

As part of our salvation life in Christ, God has prepared beforehand God's good

works for us to accomplish here on earth.

And I, for one, I am extremely excited to see what God has in store for me and you.

But for you and I to accomplish what God has so lovingly designed us to do,

we must, by faith in Christ, die to ourselves.

Meaning, die to being in control and give control over to Christ,

who is the One supernaturally living and dwelling in us and through us by the Spirit.

And I'll leave you with this scripture from 2 Corinthians 5,

2 Corinthians 5:14

verse 14. One of my personal favorites.

"For the love of Christ controls us. And having concluded this,

that one died for all, therefore all died." Let us pray.

Father God, we thank you for the mercy and love that you have bestowed upon us in Jesus Christ.

We are so grateful. We are thankful for the mercy that you have bestowed upon

us and just so overwhelmingly given us. Thank you.

Use us, Lord, and may you be the one operating and living through us.

In your precious Son's name, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.