Ephesians Ch2v1-10 - Saved By Grace

Well, good morning. It's great to see you all today. Beautiful sunny day. I hope you had a good day yesterday and that you will enjoy the day today.

Let's open our Bibles then to this passage, Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

Thank you. I'm going to pray and ask for God to help us as we look at his word together. Let's pray again.

Father, thank you for this beautiful day. Thank you for the sun that you created.

And we thank you for your spirit that is now present with us. And we pray that his light would shine in our hearts and warm us afresh to the wonder of your amazing grace.

So help us now, we pray in Jesus name. Amen.

So we're starting a new series today, asking the question, the big question is, what is a Christian?

And over the next few weeks, we're going to take some of the main themes that tell us what a Christian is.

So you can think of it like this. Think of an orange. OK, the orange is the Christian.

And we're going to take a segment of that piece and we're going to look at it week by week to see what it has to say.

And then hopefully we'll have a complete picture of what a Christian is.

So this morning, we're going to see that a Christian is someone who is saved by grace.

So look at the end of verse five with me.

It is by grace you have been saved.

And in case we forget, it's repeated for us in verse eight.

For it is by grace you have been saved.

Now, grace is a word we use quite a bit.

And so I've got a definition here. You can see it on screen.

You can tell me what you think of it later. Maybe you can come up with something better.

But here we go. Grace means God's joyful acceptance of us.

Not because we have earned it or deserved it.

But because he delights to give it to us freely at Christ's expense.

God joyfully accepts us.

He delights to give us his grace.

You see, grace is what makes us a Christian.

We don't become a Christian by birth or our heritage or our tradition.

It's not even my decision that I become a Christian.

It's not by our effort or our performance.

So God looks down and says, oh, well, they've read their Bible.

They've been going to church.

I'll make them a Christian.

It's not by our effort.

Do you see what it says in verse nine?

Thank you, Daniel.

Do you see what it says in verse nine?

Not by works so that no one can boast.

If we're a Christian today, it's because of God's kindness and goodness, which is unearned and undeserved.

So we're going to unpack that this morning by looking at three big themes.

And each of them have a number of points, but we're going to go through them quickly.

So you can follow along on the screen or write in your notes.

So here's the first big idea this morning.

First, we're dead without grace.

But you say, no, I'm quite alive today.

I'm speaking.

I can hear.

No, the writer is describing what life is like before we become a Christian.

OK, so look at verse one.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.

It's like we're spiritual zombies.

You've seen some of those films or the programs on TV.

We are literally the walking dead.

Look at what our dead life is like.

We're dead in sin.

And it's described in three ways.

First, we follow the ways of the world.

Let's read verses one and two.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of the world.

The ways of the world is a way, is a path that walks away from God.

It's a life that resists and rejects God's rule.

But not only do we follow the ways of the world.

Keep with me.

We follow the way of the devil.

Look at the rest of verse two.

We follow the ways of this world and we follow the ruler of the kingdom of the air.

You know who that is, the ruler of the kingdom of the air?

It's the devil.

And his work is to tell us lies.

The kind of lies that he's used from the very beginning of time.

A lie that says things like, you can be like God.

You decide what is right and wrong.

And we can't help but listen to him and follow him and live disobedient lives.

So we follow the ways of the world.

We follow the way of the devil.

And third, we follow the way of our desires.

Look at verse three.

All of us also lived among them at one time.

So again, he's talking about a life before you become a Christian.

This is what it's like.

You are gratifying the cravings of your flesh and following its desires and thoughts.

It's very simply saying that we want, we work, we will pursue for whatever we desire.

And the problem is, before we're a Christian, the only thing we desire is what I want for me.

We don't desire God.

Essentially, we live with self at the centre.

We remove God from the centre and put ourselves at the centre.

We feed and we pursue our selfish desires.

Now this is what it means to be spiritually dead.

It's like we've joined humanity's great protest against God.

You've seen protests walking down the streets.

Well, we're part of this great big cosmic march.

And we're all holding up our placard saying,

My way, not God's way.

My will, not God's will.

We're like spiritual zombies.

We're the walking dead.

We don't want or desire to walk any other way.

And without grace, that's me and that's you.

What do you think about that?

Do you like that diagnosis?

Well, there's more to it.

Because that puts us into a very, very difficult situation.

We are deserving of God's wrath.

Did you see that?

The end of verse 3?

For those who follow the ways of the world, the way of the devil and the way of our desires.

Look at the rest of verse 3.

We, like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

Well, I know we don't like to talk about wrath and God being anger.

Surely God's a God of love.

Yes, he is.

But he's a loving God.

He's not temper-like.

He doesn't lose his control.

You can't press God's buttons by living a certain way and he just responds in an outrage.

No, God's wrath is fair.

It's just.

It's been reasoned.

It's God's response to people like us who follow the way of the world,

who follow the lies of the devil,

and who follow the ways of our own desires.

By our nature, a nature that we're born with and a nature that we live with,

we're all set against God.

And that puts us on a collision course with God.

We're under his justice.

And God can't overlook our sin.

He can't pretend, oh, just live as you want, it's all right.

No, God cannot tolerate our protest forever.

In other words, if we follow the world,

if we follow the devil,

and if we follow our own desires,

it means we're taking a path, we're walking a path,

that will lead us to hell.

A life separated from God and his goodness.

And all that is beautiful forever.

Now, it's going to get worse.

Follow with me.

Because if we're spiritually dead,

that means you and I can't change our predicament,

and nor do we actually want to change.

Just think about this with me for a minute.

Just think of a food,

a particular food that you really don't like.

Okay?

Think of a food you don't like.

Mine is sandwich spread.

Do you ever eat that stuff?

It's a paste with cut up vegetables

and horrible things like celery and peppers

in a detestable sauce.

It says cream sauce.

No, it's not cream sauce.

I hate sandwich spread.

I have no desire for it.

I don't even want to like it.

If there was a course put on and said,

come to this course and we will help you like sandwich spread.

No, I'm not going to like it.

Put it anywhere near me

and I'm going to run in the opposite direction.

I don't want sandwich spread.

Do you believe that truth about ourselves before we are Christians?

Well, if you don't believe what I've tried to say,

I'm going to say,

I'm going to say,

I'm going to say,

I have no desire for God.

I do not even want to desire God.

put God anywhere near me

and I'm going to run away.

I don't want it.

Do you believe that truth about ourselves before we are Christians?

Well, if you don't believe what I've tried to illustrate,

go back to Romans chapter 3.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

Go back a few pages to Romans chapter 3.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

The whole case at the beginning of Romans is showing that everybody,

no matter our background, our religion, our culture,

that we're all guilty before God.

We're going to pick it up in verse 10.

Romans chapter 3 in verse 10.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

As it is written,

There is no one righteous,

not even one.

There is no one who understands.

There is no one who seeks God.

Do you believe that?

Before you are a Christian,

you do not seek God.

You've no desire for him.

Let's go back to Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

One writer put it like this.

No one prompted by their own decision and acting

in their own ability

wants to find God.

We say,

no, no, no, no.

I did.

I wanted to find God.

Well, no, no, no, no.

No, no, no, no.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

More about that later in a minute.

You see, left in our dead state,

we do not seek God.

Dead people cannot make themselves alive again.

Do you know anybody who made themselves rise from the dead?

Just as we can't do that physically,

so we can't make ourselves spiritually alive.

We're dead.

Now the question is,

will you accept God's diagnosis of your life?

I'm dead in my sins,

deserving of God's wrath.

Without grace,

this is who I am.

Well,

doesn't sound great, does it?

But we need to hear

what God says.

Second,

saved by grace,

dead without grace,

saved by grace.

Let's pick it up in verse 4.

But,

so something's changed.

There's an intervention.

Something has happened.

God has done something.

Verse 4.

But,

because of his great love for us,

God,

who is rich in mercy,

made us

alive.

He is

rich

rich in mercy.

God didn't respond

because we were pleading for mercy.

No,

God acted.

God took the initiative.

God moved towards us

because

he

is rich in mercy.

And look at how God intervened in our life.

it's amazing.

It's beautiful.

Three things.

First,

he made us alive

with Christ.

Let's read those couple of verses again.

Verse 4.

Because of his great love for us,

God,

who is rich in mercy,

made us alive with Christ,

even when we were dead

in our transgressions.

We were spiritually dead,

but now he says,

you can be made alive.

Well,

how does that happen?

Well,

when Christ

died on the cross,

something extraordinary

took place.

Christ

took my

dead in sin

kind of life

and he made it his own.

It was as if

Christ,

or not as if,

it was

that Christ

was treated

as someone

who followed

the ways of the world,

followed the way

of the devil,

and followed

his own desires.

He took

my dead

in sin

life

and the wrath

of God,

the judgment

that I deserve,

fell

on Christ

and was absorbed

by him.

My spiritual

dead life

was put

to death

in the death

of Jesus.

My dead

life

was put

to death.

But more

than that,

not only

were we made

alive,

we were

raised

with Christ.

Look at

verse 6.

And God

raised us

up

with Christ.

When Christ

died on the

cross,

physically

he died,

he was raised

from the dead,

so he's saying

you too

had a

spiritual

resurrection

in your life.

We

came alive

to God.

We were

drawn to him.

we had

a desire

for him.

We began

to pursue

him.

God

breathed

new life

into our

spiritual

dead

lives.

He

resurrected

us.

We were

dead in our

sin.

Now we've

been made

alive

with Christ.

But he also

did something

more wonderful

again.

Do you see it

there,

the rest

of verse

6?

We were

raised up

with Christ.

Not just

raised with

him, but

he seated

us with

him in

the heavenly

realms in

Christ Jesus.

When Christ

was raised,

he ascended

into heaven

and was

seated at the

right hand of

the Father.

That's a

position of

all power and

authority.

God

and because

we have

been

spiritually

raised and

given new

life, we

are seated

with him.

In other

words, God

now treats

us as his

own son.

Because my

dead in sin

life was

dealt with,

because I

now have the

life of

Christ, I

am now

welcomed, I

am now

accepted, I

am now

treasured.

That's

what happens

when God,

who is rich

in mercy,

reaches out

and intervenes

into our

life.

God takes

us from the

path of

walking the

way of the

dead.

He makes

us alive

and rises

us up, so

we now walk

a new path.

We now have

desires for

God and

loves for

God.

We seek

him, we

pursue him.

we wonderfully

receive his

grace that

saves us.

We are

recipients of

God's grace.

Look at

verse 7 with

me.

God did

all this.

God did

us making

alive,

resurrecting

us, seating

us with

him.

He did

all of

that work

for us,

verse 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

this.

God acts

in grace

towards people

like us

to show

to a

watching

world

how

gracious

God is.

God's

grace.

It's like

we become

a living

display

of God's

grace.

Think of

it like

this.

When an

artist, for

those of

you who

can draw

and paint

and all

that sort

of thing,

when you're

finished your

work,

you hang

it up,

don't you?

A great

artist will

be able to

hang it up

in a

gallery.

They put

their artwork

on display

for people

to be able

to see.

And as

people walk

around and

stop and

sit and

look at

these beautiful

pictures,

they marvel

at the

picture.

But not

just at the

picture,

they marvel

at the

artist.

You see,

when you

look at the

picture,

you celebrate

the artist.

But when

God acts

in grace

towards us,

it's like

he puts

us on

display

before a

watching world.

He hangs

us up and

says,

look!

Not so

that people

would think

how great

we are,

but people

will look

at us

and see

how amazing

and how

rich

God's

grace is

to people

like us.

That God

could change

us and

save us.

that's

worth putting

on display

to the

world.

You see,

the wonder

is,

God delights

in giving

grace to

dead in

sin,

deserving of

wrath,

people like

us.

God

saves us

by grace

so that

we might

praise him.

Now,

this is all

good news.

It's great

news.

Left to

ourselves,

we're never

going to

choose God.

We enter

the world

spiritually

dead.

As one

writer put

it,

you can

see this

on screen,

just as

the physically

dead can't

communicate

with the

living,

so also

those who

are spiritually

dead

cannot

communicate

with the

eternal

living God.

God.

But when

God,

who is

rich in

mercy,

takes the

initiative and

intervenes in

your life,

he makes you

alive to

God.

He gives

you a new

life.

He sparks

off a new

beginning where

you begin to

pursue,

seek,

and desire

God.

God,

who is rich

in mercy,

saves us

by grace.

Now the

big question

here is,

will you

accept what

God has

done for

you?

The empty

wisdom of

the world

says,

no, no,

no, no,

I don't

need God.

I can do

it alone.

But the

words of

God to

us today

is saying,

Christ is

everything you

need,

and I give

him to you

freely.

so dead

without

grace,

saved

by grace,

and then

third,

experiencing

forever

grace.

So the

question we

want to ask

here is,

as we look

at this

last part,

is how

do we

get to

experience

grace?

How can

this be

amazing

grace for

me?

Well,

look at

verse

8.

For it

is by

grace you

have been

saved,

through

faith,

and this

is not

from

yourself,

it is

the gift

of God.

Experiencing

grace is

a beautiful

gift from

God to

you.

these

gifts

come in

three ways.

We're

going to

just look

at three

here.

First,

the gift

of a

new

faith.

Do you

see it

there in

verse

8?

It is

by grace

you've

been

saved,

through

faith,

and this

is not

from

yourselves,

it is

the gift

of God.

God's

intervening

grace is

a gift,

and the

faith to

believe and

the faith

to trust

is also

a gift.

Look closely

at verse

8.

It says,

this is

not from

yourselves.

Well,

what's not

from

ourselves?

Faith

is not

from

yourself.

Faith

is gift

from God.

It's not

something we

kind of

build up

within

ourselves

or motivate

ourselves

from within.

Faith is

a gift

from God

so that

you can

respond to

him.

When I

was spiritually

dead,

my faith

was in

me,

and in

nobody else

but me.

I depended

on self.

Now I've

been given

a new

faith,

a faith

that enables

me to

trust only

in Christ

and his

grace to

me.

So we've

been given

a gift

of faith.

We've

also been

given a

gift of

a new

status.

Look at

verse 10.

For we

are God's

handiwork.

Can you

consider what

that means?

Literally,

God is saying

to you,

if you're

a Christian,

you are

a work

of art.

You are

my

masterpiece.

God has

taken people

like us

and created

us

and worked

in us

who deserve

God's

wrath

to be

recipients

of his

grace.

And God's

assessment,

because he's

worked in

us,

when he

looks at

us and

inspects

us,

he sees

no flaws,

nothing

wrong,

because you

are his

masterpiece.

You are

loved,

treasured,

accepted,

welcomed,

saved for

other.

In other

words,

you have

been given

the same

status as

the Son,

Jesus Christ.

That means

God treats

you as

his own

dear Son.

No matter

how much

you fail,

no matter

how much

you fall,

that status

will not

change.

What an

incredible

gift.

New faith,

new status,

what we

call the

last one,

a new

purpose.

Read verse

10 with me

again.

for we

are God's

handiwork,

created in

Christ Jesus

to do

good works,

which God

prepared in

advance for

us to do.

We do

good works.

we serve

God,

not to

earn his

favour,

not to

earn his

grace,

not to

get God's

attention and

say,

I'm here,

give me your

grace,

did you see

what I

did?

No,

we serve

because we

have received

grace.

It's a

response.

When we

were spiritually

dead,

we served

self.

Look back

at verse

three if you

need reminded.

we lived

gratifying the

cravings of

our flesh

and following

its desires

and thoughts.

We served

self.

We didn't

serve God,

but now

we've been

given a new

purpose.

We serve

the God

who saved

us.

Because I

am loved,

I now

love him.

Because I've

been accepted,

I now want

to obey

him.

Because I'm

his child,

I want

to hear

his voice

and I

want to

follow his

way.

Because I've

been saved

by grace,

I want to

live for

him.

Now,

if all

this is a

gift from

God,

and it

is,

what's that

going to

mean?

If it's

all a

gift,

what does

that mean

for us?

God's

grace?

Well,

we boast

in Christ

alone.

We boast

in his

grace.

Let's read

verses 8

and 9

and you'll

pick it

up and

you'll

get the

focus here.

For it

is by

grace you

have been

saved,

through

faith,

which is a

gift,

it's not

from yourselves,

it's from

God,

not by

works,

not by

anything we

can do,

by your

performance

or anything

else,

so that

no one

can boast.

You see,

when we

experience

God's

grace,

there is

no longer

any I

or me.

Think this

through with

me as

we try

to capture

what it

means to

boast in

grace.

If somebody

says to

you,

why are

you a

Christian?

what would

you say?

Well,

because I

was searching

or seeking

God,

because I

decided to

follow Jesus.

Well,

if you say

anything like

that,

you know

what,

you're

boasting

in self,

you're

trusting

in self.

If you

seek God,

it's only

because God

sought you

first.

If you

decide to

follow Jesus,

it's

because God

has enabled

you to

follow Jesus.

Or put it

this way,

if someone

says,

why are you

a Christian

and they're

not a

Christian?

And you

answer something

like this,

well,

because I

had faith

or because

I chose

God.

Well,

again,

we're doing

it,

we're boasting

in self.

We're

saying,

we're

basically

saying,

if only

they had

faith like

I had

faith,

if only

they did

what I

did,

they would

be saved

too.

No,

if you

have

faith,

it's

because God

gave you

faith.

It's all

a gift.

We can't

boast in

ourself

for anything.

Now,

I know

that greats

with us,

we don't

like that.

And the

reason is

pride.

But pride

isn't going

to save

you.

It's going

to destroy

you and

crush you.

You see,

when we

experience

grace,

it

humbles

you.

It

changes us

from the

inside out.

It makes

us into

beautiful

and

attractive

people.

Rather than

people who

hide their

sin and

pretend that

sin doesn't

matter,

well,

we now

begin to

admit our

sin and

we begin

to repent.

We run

to God

who is

full of

grace and

is rich

in mercy.

If we

experience

grace,

it will

make us

so humble

that we

will no

longer look

down on

anybody and

say,

they're

undeserving

because God

gave us

what we

don't

deserve

and could

never

earn.

It means

we'll never

ever again

write anybody

off and

say,

you know

what,

their sin

and what

they did,

they're beyond

God's

mercy.

We don't

think like

that because

God didn't

write me

off and

he didn't

write you

off.

he loved

you.

And it

means we

will forgive

those no

matter what

wrong they

do to us

and we

will hold

no grudges

because God

loved you

and forgave

you and

dealt with

your sin

once and

for all.

it'll make

you humble,

beautiful

and attractive.

You will

be filled

with grace

and you

will live

a life

of grace

because God

has been

gracious

to you.

Consider

this,

if you

understand

grace

you will

never boast

in yourself,

you will

only boast

in Christ

who achieved

salvation

for you.

So what

is a

Christian?

It's

someone

who is

saved

by grace.

Let's

pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Father,

your word

is so

simple

and so

clear.

Help us

to accept

your

diagnosis

of who

we are

and what

we are

like.

Help us

to accept

what God

has done

for us

who is

rich

in mercy

making

making us

alive,

making us

to a

new way

and

seating

us

with

Christ.

Thank you

for the

gift of

faith.

Thank you

for the

new status

we have,

a new

purpose

to live

for you.

and we

pray and

ask that

we would

experience

your grace

more and

more,

that it

would

humble us

and change

us so

that we

become more

beautiful and

attractive,

a display

piece to

the world

of how good

and gracious

you are.

Thank you,

Jesus.

Amen.

Well,

guess what

we're going

to sing?

Amazing

grace,

how sweet

the sound.

Let's stand

together as

we're able

and let's

rejoice and

sing and

remind ourselves

of how

beautiful and

how great

God's grace

to us is.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.