Scripture: Ephesians 1:3

C.I.: “For by Grace You have been Saved!”

Last week saw that Jesus promised to build His “church” (cf. Matt. 16:18), which is His body (cf. Col. 1:18).
We also we saw that God has a purpose for us to be a witness for Him & He blesses us in Christ (vs. 3-13).
Today we will see how God was able – save us for Himself!!!

I. A Past to be Instructed by, A God to be Adored! (Ephesians 2:1-10)

A. Who We Were (verses 1-3)

1. The amazing thing about the blessings of God – is that He bestows them in spite of who we were…
a. (v. 1), “And you [Gentiles, v. 11] were dead in your trespasses and sins.”
1) Death = Separation; physically - spirit from body (Jms. 1:27), spiritually (Isa. 59:2)
2) People without a spiritual mindset – don’t even realize they are dead (I Cor. 2:14).

b. (v. 2), “…in which you formerly walk according to the course of this world, according to….”
1) “Course” = 2nd Law of Therm. – social engineering only changes outside of man –
(i) You can; abolish slavery but not racism, make laws against stealing but not against greed!.
(ii) “Only dead fish always flow with the current” – Jms. 4:4; I Jn. 2:15.
2) “Prince of the power…” = Satan, II Cor. 4:4, “…the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.”
3) “the spirit now working” – spirit = attitude, 4:22-24, “…that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self … that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind – which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness & holiness of the truth.”
(i) “Spirit now working” = Pride, arrogance, selfishness, etc., each lead us to “disobedience”

c. (v. 3), “Among whom we [Jews] too all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging the….”
1) Religious people are NOT any better than the non-religious people!!!
2) So who we were – whether raised in a devout family or a pit – we were a rotting corpse!!!

B. What God Did (verses 4-7)

1. The best two words in the Bible
a. (v. 4a), “BUT GOD…!”
1) In spite of being spiritually “dead” … BUT GOD! In spite of the fact we were followers of this world – BUT GOD! – Even when we lived by Satan’s rules – BUT GOD! – When our spirit/attitude focused our attention on our lusts – BUT GOD!!!
2) We were spiritually dead because of 3 things (v. 2) – God made us alive by 3 things…

b. (v. 4b-5), “…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…).”
1) “Rich in Mercy” – God’s riches are like Scrooge McDuck’s money bin – only God turns loose of His riches – (cf. Eph. 1:7), “forgiveness… according to the riches of His grace,” – (1:18), “… the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,” – (3:16), “…the riches of His glory – to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man.”
2) “Because of His great love” – Last week we saw – the reason God made man – was so He could bestow His love & blessings on someone outside of Himself – its still true (Jn. 3:16)!
3) “By grace you have been saved” – Grace = favor, it is God’s unmerited gift for you!
(i) (Rom. 4:4), “The one who works, his wages is not credited as a favor, but as what is due”
(ii) Physical work reaps physical rewards – But working to earn spiritual rewards won’t succeed - (Isa. 64:6), “All our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment”
(iii) Thus, grace is bestowed when we trust the work God did for us through Jesus – (Rom. 4:5), “But the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.”

c. So because of God’s “Mercy, and Love, and Grace” – He was able to take our stinking, rotten, spiritual corpse - “…and raised us up and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus,” (vs. 6-7).

C. How He Did It (verses 8-10)

1. So we’ve seen who were were & what God did – not lets learn how He did it…
a. (v. 8), “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the….”
1) “Grace” is God’s part – His unmerited favor towards us. – Yet while GRACE is unmerited, it is not unconditional. – God extends His grace to us when we do our part.
2) “Faith” is Our part. – We need to be willing to put our trust in a truly loving God – who demonstrated that love for us – through the gift of His beloved Son!!!
3) This “faith” is NOT a faith in ourselves – it originates with God (Rom. 10:17).
4) Illust.: So God’s GRACE + our FAITH = Salvation!
5) Illust.: So if salvation is God’s gift; given on the condition of our faith – and if faith is possible only through the gift of God’s word – the everything about salvation is a gift God gives us!!!

b. (v. 9), “It is not as a result of works, that no one should boast.”
1) Illust.: “So its not about … worship, praying, giving, good deeds, teaching, etc. – Just faith in God. – SALVATION REALLY IS A GIFT!!!”

c. (v. 10), “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus…”
1) God was able to take us as we were – and remake all new – (II Cor. 5:17)!
2) “We are His workmanship … for good works, which God prepared… that we should walk….”
3) Illust.: “So now we get to pray, give, do good deeds, etc. – not to be saved – but out of the sheer joy of having already been saved!!!”

Conclusions: 1) How is your Christian walk? – (cf. Eph. 2:2, 10)!

2) A spiritual death (Eph. 2:1) - requires a spiritual resurrection (Col. 2:12)