Ephesians 2.8to13 sermon

Closing Hymn for this sermon I liked “I Know Whom I have Believed”

Ephesians 2:8-13

Intro:

When I was trying to plan out what scripture to use for my message this morning I was struggling to figure out what I wanted to do. I have never been a huge fan of holiday-themed messages at least the ones that do not have clear Christian themes like Thanksgiving and Christmas. For me, it was tricky because I’ve heard some messages that people have given around New Year that amount to not much more than a motivational speech that likely took some scripture out of context. That said, my goal was not to talk or go to any extra effort to shoehorn new Year into my sermon. I chose a scripture I am using for a paper in one of my SDBU classes so I could make the best use of my time and as I was working on it realized that it does have some good valuable application for new years or at least many of the topics that surround it as well to our lives in general.

Body:

The scripture that we are going to look at is Ephesians 2:8-13 really focusing in on the first couple of verses. READ VERSE. This first verse here verse 8 is a heavy one. The book of Ephesians is in some ways a condensed version of Romans at least in the way it is written. In Romans, you get Paul’s theology in the first 11 chapters from which his application in the rest is based. In Ephesians, the first 3 chapters are basically Paul’s theology that transfers into how that impacts unity and how Christians should walk from chapter 4 on. Here vs 8 is Paul’s summary statement of the gospel or our salvation that he was building to really from the beginning of Ephesians. It starts with “For”, so we know what he is about to say is most immediately referring to what he has already said in chapter 2 up to this point which is that our spiritual state before Christ, that we were dead in our trespasses and sins but God being rich in mercy and showing us grace saved us. The natural spiritual state of man is dead, walking in sin and now we are saved by God’s grace that was the jest of the start of chapter 2. It is because of that that he goes on to say both positively and negatively in vs 8 that we are saved by grace through faith and that it is not something we did but a gift of God. Now, this statement does have some controversy on how it has historically been interpreted. The controversy focuses on whether when Paul says “it is the gift” if that is referring to grace or faith. Without going into Greek grammar details which I am fairly limited in my knowledge of anyway there are grammatical issues with both stances and of the many times Paul refers to something directly as a gift he is referring to righteousness and he doesn’t use this Greek word in any of those instances. It seems and is more likely, especially considering what Paul has already said that it is referring to the whole statement “by grace you have been saved through faith.” It is the whole of our salvation that is a gift. If we take that Paul consistently argues for our dead spiritual state and God’s sovereign role alone in our salvation it is more appropriate to come to the conclusion that it is the whole of salvation that Paul is referring to as a gift. It then makes more sense with the rest of the statement in vs 9 going on to say that it is not a result of works so that no one may boast. Paul is painting a picture of salvation that is wholly of God. He said in verses 3 and 4 here in chapter 2 that we were like the rest of mankind in our sin, children of wrath starting then verse 4 with “But God” which is one of the most simple but beautiful statements that scripture makes because without the “But God” and what follows then we would still be like the rest of mankind without hope. Our salvation is all God when it comes to God saving us there is nothing for us to point to that highlights ourselves no matter how hard we might try. Aside from Paul making it clear that God is the one who works salvation it makes sense he would say it is that way so that we cannot boast. If we are really honest with ourselves there is no one who would not boast in their salvation if they could. We by nature even the most humble person you can think of without Christ would boast or likes to be recognized to some extent for the things they themselves do and accomplish. That is what Paul is pointing to, that God himself is so great that our salvation is solely his in Christ. In Titus 3:4 and 5 he repeats similarly that God saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the holy spirit. Outside of our sin that provides our need to be saved, we do not contribute to our salvation. The minute we try to force our own effort and works in there it all falls apart. If there is any part of our salvation that is based on our merits then we shouldn’t trust in it.

And here is where Paul starts to hint at the practical because even his overall point in Ephesians is that because we have been saved by grace through faith that is gifted to us by God. It is that that leads to unity with each other and results in walking a certain way that is still a work of God. He says in verse 10 READ VS 10 Paul is using this idea that we are God’s workmanship and creation in Christ both to deepen what we have already talked about and to give it direction and purpose. This is a beautiful picture of our redeemed life. It runs parallel to creation in that God created the world from nothing and Hebrews tells us the world was created through Christ. So in a similar way that God through Christ created the world so does he bring us to life from death forming us in Christ. Paul says in 2 Corinthians that those in Christ are a new creation, later in Ephesians 4 that we are created in God’s likeness, in Colossians he refutes works of the flesh like circumcision saying that we are a new creation. This is all what God is doing to us. God is by the holy spirit forming and working us into the image of Christ. This is how we are his workmanship. He is solely, intimately involved in saving and sanctifying us. The works required of us are the good works that are a result of our salvation not a requirement for salvation. Not only are they a result but God already prepared them for us to do. Not only does God himself save making us capable to do good works but he prepares them for us anyway. That’s an awesome picture of God’s sovereignty and leaves us with little excuse not to do good works because God has made us able and he put them there for us to do. If we reject doing good works we are rebelling against what God as done in us and telling him he is wrong in preparing them for us to do. But what are these good works? I would argue it all that flows from the image of God. If we are being formed to the image and likeness of Christ then he is the example. We have been talking about it all month we are commanded to love as Christ loved us sacrificially. Scripture doesn’t lack describing what it looks like to follow Christ but it does say that this is a result of God saving us and then working in us so that we can walk in these things or good works. Take the list of what it looks like to love from 1 Corinthians, take all the one anothers in scripture, the rest of Ephesians as it talks about being united in Christ and in chapter 5 imitating God and walking in love as Christ. Read it. It gets specific. There is no excuse not to know what scripture considers to be good works there is section after section and book after book in the bible that clearly answers that question. There may be some work in knowing how scripture says a Christian should act and keeping that in mind so you can actually live it out and trust me you aren’t always going to get it right even if your intentions are right. But we have an advocate in Christ and again there is grace and comfort in knowing our salvation doesn’t depend on our faulty works in righteousness but on God’s work of salvation.

Now I haven’t said anything about New Years yet but I think if we are going to join in with some of the popular celebrations or practices that often accompany this time of year then as Christians we should have a biblical view of it and I think this verse is vital for that. Like Christmas when we take time to focus on the incarnation and the birth of Christ we also realize while that is good to do we also have to realize that we need to talk about and focus on those things all the time. It is not just restricted to the month of December. We have a great opportunity at New Years as the world is looking to the new year and there is so much talk about a fresh or new start. The new year is often considered a time to start fresh and make changes. That is an incredible opportunity for the church to be focusing and talking about the only true new start, new life, or new creation that is actually worth having and that is only found in Christ. I think it is telling that we see the secular world celebrate this so much and in many cases, it seems like a symptom of people who are truly lacking Christ and looking for some sense of saving. Another thing I think we should be careful of is the idea of new years resolutions. Now I am not saying they are bad or that it is bad to take time to reflect to identify needed change. It is in a sense sad that it has become common not just to make new years resolutions but that there’s little expectation they are actually kept but I think there’s a reason for that and that is where our scripture becomes more relevant. Overall this time of year and new years resolutions if we are being really honest are increasingly works-focused and very lightly grace-focused. A lot of it is focusing on what needs to change which again isn’t bad but then so much focused on how we are going to change, what we are going to do to make it change, and then how to make it not as bad as it was before when we fail to change. It’s all about how can we bring about our own change. The reality is that as Christians we should reject this view and approach to change it is not compatible with a Christian worldview or the bible’s view of salvation, grace, and works. Another thing that is really why I tend to avoid the idea of New Years resolutions is that a God-reliant, grace-wrought New years resolution is for the Christian simply just repentance. Not only is it simply just repentance but that is supposed to be our constant year-round posture towards God. I do not think it is wrong to have new year resolutions at all but we don’t really need another name for repentance that is specific to this time of year but even if we do we need it to rely on grace, not our own works and our own effort. This is a great time of year to take the time to reflect and repent and to draw people into that who do not know Christ but we must never slip into focusing on our works and own effort but relying on the fact that God has by grace through faith saved us and is working in us to accomplish and finish his work. In that spirit of reflection though I do what to leave us with a few questions to ponder that focus on our scripture. Some of these are ones I came up with and some are from an old Welsh preacher named Martyn Lloyd-Jones when he preached on Ephesians 2.

Are you quickest to rely on your own effort or God’s grace to you in Christ?

Can you say that you are God’s workmanship? Have you seen how his spirit is a work molding and fashioning you?

Are you desiring Holiness? Even though some of the good works God prepared for you seem hard do you desire to do them?

Do you know the love and grace God has for you?