Power in the Pulpit | Ephesians 2:1–10

Intro: Thank you worship team for leading us tonight. For those of you who I may not have met yet, my name is Gabe Thomas. I am the campus minister for the BCM here at Gordon State. This is my third year at BCM. I love BCM. When I was in 6th grade my brother started at Valdosta State. He immediately got plugged in with the BCM there, though it was called BSU at the time. I knew from then on that I would one day be a part of BCM. When I was a student at Georgia Southern, I was heavily involved in BCM. I was on leadership sophomore, junior and senior year. I served as president my junior year, and was state president my senior year. After college I took a year off and then served two years on staff at the BCM at Georgia State. Then I moved away for seminary in August 2019. But three years later I was back on staff at the Gordon State BCM. I tell you all that just to kind of let you know how much I believe in BCM. But what is BCM? Not the meaning of the acronym. Is it a bunch of do gooders who have it all figured out and have always lived perfectly. No. We are sinners saved by the grace of God. And that is what we will see in our text tonight. The main idea of tonight’s text is that We do nothing to receive salvation, but have been changed by the grace of God. In tonight’s sermon we will see the Bad news, good news, and what that means. And if you don’t mind, as we do at my church, could you please stand in the honor of reading God’s Word.

Verses 1-3

Exposition: As I said, the passage starts out with the bad news. Starting with verse 1 we read, Ephesians 2:1–2 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 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—” . So let’s start with this idea of being dead in your sins. Paul says that we we were dead in our sins and trespasses.

Illustration: I have never watched the princess bride, but there is a famous scene I actually watched in preparation to preach this passage. The famous scene is this character brings in somebody who appears to be dead to this magician or witch doctor. Like I said, I haven’t seen the movie. But the witch doctor tells him, he’s only mostly dead. And he said that’s good news because that means he’s slightly alive. He says, “With all dead there’s only one thing you can do. Go through his clothes and look for lose change.” But obviously the whole exchange is purposefully ridiculous. There is no such thing as mostly dead. There is dead and there is alive. And Paul does not say that we were mostly dead, no he says we were spiritually dead.

Explanation: What it means to be spiritually dead is to be stuck where we are. Our situation was as bad as it can get. We were at rock bottom. We were separated from God, the giver and sustainer of life and there was nothing we could do to make ourselves right with God. We just were. And why, because of our sins. And according to Paul, this was demonstrated in the way we live. Going back to the start we read, Ephesians 2:1–2 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 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—”

Exposition: Paul lists three ways that we walked in our sins and trespasses. The first is following the course, or as some of your translations may say, the ways of this world. It is when we follow whatever the culture we live in says is ok, and not what scripture says.

Application: This can look very different depending on what culture we are in. It can can look like partaking in sexual immorality that is perceived as being normal in a post-modern society. It can be not honoring God with the choices we make in following the laws of the land or not keeping a sober mind. It can be anything that is not in regards to what scripture would have us do. But there are cultures all over the world where it looks different. Maybe it looks like in some cultures that practice false religion, living in a fundamental fashion where a person’s two objectives are to keep the letter of the law perfectly and bring shame and punishment for anybody that doesn’t. Whatever it is, we are living sinfully and it is a sign of being dead in sin.

Exposition: The other way is following the prince of the power of the air. This is a reference to satan himself. Remember, Paul, the writer of Ephesians, was Jewish. In Jewish thought, satan existed in the air which was the spiritual sphere between earth and heaven. We know that the world is not the way it was created. It is broken because of sin, and for now until Jesus comes back and restores things to the way they were meant to be, that satan does rule the earth. And one of the ways that people walk in their sins is to follow him.

Illustration: Now I don’t mean that this is necessarily devil worship. While devil worship would certainly fall under this. It’s not just that as that is more rare. But there are people that for whatever reason stand opposed to the gospel. They find the gospel offensive and they live in a way that is not unknowingly opposed to the way scripture has called us to live. But because they want to stand opposed to what scripture says. This is under the influence of the king of this age.

Exposition: The last way Paul mentions is following the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. The last thing he mentions is that there is just something within us that is sinful. Since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of eden, we we are all born with a sinful nature. None of us are born naturally pleasing God. I have a three year old daughter named Amelia.

Illustration: She’s adorable. The cutest little girl you have ever seen. She also has an terrible temper and gets in trouble all the time for yelling and hitting when she doesn’t get her way. That sin nature is present in all of us. None of us naturally please God.

Exposition: So Paul tells these people they were dead in their sins and that manifests itself in various ways. And Paul says that this is how all the people who are dead in their sins are. But he makes it very clear that this isn’t some unique class of people or there isn’t some group of people that avoided this. He says in verse three Ephesians 2:3 “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.” Paul says that these people who live in their sins and are spiritually dead, we all once belonged to. That we all lived carrying out the desires of the body and mind.

Application/Argumentation: There is a belief that has creeped into Western society that to indulge every impulse is a good thing to do. That do just live as you feel is fine. But it’s not because we are naturally sinful. The sinful nature we have manifests itself in these ways.

Exposition: Paul says that because of this sinful nature that plays itself out in these ways, were by nature children of wrath.

Explanation: In this time, of one were a child of, that meant they were the rightful heir of that person’s inheritance. That as the child of that person, they deserved and got the inheritance of that person. As children of wrath we are deserving of God’s wrath. And I get it that sounds harsh. But God is a righteous holy God that cannot tolerate sin. It is the opposite of who He is. We on the other hand, are naturally sinful. We naturally do things that are disobedient to God and opposite of his nature. So, yes we are deserving of wrath. It’s not that God decides to place his wrath on us, it’s that deserving and due his wrath is our natural state.

Application: And there is nobody exempt from this. There is nobody that got it all figured out and found out how to live in a way that made him or her not to be a child of wrath. Paul says very clearly at the end of verse 3 that his audience, who were Christians were all these things like the rest of mankind. When you look at people involved in BCM, whether it’s me as a campus minister or people on leadership or regular attenders, or anybody. It’s easy to think that these are the people who have always been different. These are all the people who figured it out. But Paul says that all of mankind, everyone is naturally a child of wrath. Even the people we may put on a pedestal. No matter who you are or wha you have or haven’t done, we all stand equally naturally deserving of God’s wrath.

Transition: Man, what a gloomy way to start the semester. Just talking about how terrible we all are naturally and how in need of grace we are. Well, let’s keep that in mind. We are all born sinners and deserving of wrath. Now let’s look at verse 4.

Verses 4-9

Exposition: We see quickly the passage is going to change directions. The next word is but. And we all know that when we hear the word but in a conversation, it’s about to take a drastic change.

Illustration: If you have ever done some kind of performance and you ask how you did and you get the answer, “You did well, but…” You know there is something coming behind that but. Or, if you have been “talking” with a member of the opposite sex or in the early stages of dating and you get the, “I think you are a great person, but…” You know that relationship is over. But it also works the other way.

Exposition: After Paul has just talked about how we are spiritually dead because of our sin. He says but. Ephesians 2:4–5 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” Yes. We are sinful, yes we are deserving of God’s wrath. But God loves is so much, he couldn’t leave us that way. Though we were dead in our sins he has made us alive through Christ. How? It’s not because of anything we did. It is because God sent his son to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus left the glory of heaven, he came and took on the punishment we deserved and he rose again so that those who believe can be saved. It is by his grace that we have made a way. God is great in mercy, meaning he did not give us what we did deserve, which is God’s wrath. Why, because that is the amount he loves us. Though we were dead, he made us alive. Not only that, but he saved us. How did he save us, well by saving us from God’s wrath. But also by grace as Paul says. Grace is when we get what we don’t deserve. And what is that? Paul tells us in verses six and seven.

Exposition: Ephesians 2:6–7 “and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” When God rose Christ from the grave, he rose us as well all those who believe. But as we know, Christ isn’t physically on earth anymore. Scripture tells us that he has been seated at the right hand of the father. And that is where our security is. We don’t just have a hope of avoiding punishment. We have the hope of having our eternity secured. We know that when this life ends, we do not have to fear death. We know that one day we will experience all the holiness of heaven, as Christ is right now. Not only will we experience, we will have a seat next to Christ who is in the seat of highest honor. We will be there with the guest of honor, and we will experience for eternity. It makes me think of the song “How Great the Father’s Love, where at the end the lyrics say, “ Why should I gain from his reward, I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart, his wounds have paid my ransom.” I mean why? Why would God make us who were sinners, able to sit with honor with Christ in heaven. Verse seven says it is so that he can continue to show his kindness towards us for eternity. What an opportunity.

Application: You want to know why BCM exists. You want to know why we even have a reason to be here, it is because of what God has done. He has brought us from being sinners deserving of God’s wrath, to a people of hope. And it is not by anything we have done. He says in verse eight

Exposition: Ephesians 2:8–9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” It is not anything we can do it is by grace us getting what we don’t deserve. But there’s another part to it. There’s faith. We must also have faith. You see, what this passage isn’t, is universalism. It’s not Paul saying that because Jesus died on the cross all of humanity is good. No, we actually have to have faith that Jesus is who he says He is. We have to believe that he is the one who made a way for us. We have to accept that we are sinners and that we are in need of being saved. We then have to believe that Jesus is the one who made a way and there is a hope in no other way.

Argumentation: Maybe that sounds like a work, but it’s not. We are not paying the price for our sins when we believe that. We are not making ourselves right, we are just accepting what God has already done when we place our faith in Jesus. But without doing that and having a personal relationship with Him, we cannot be saved. We cannot receive this grace without this faith.

Exposition: Paul makes that clear with what he says in verse 9. Ephesians 2:9 “not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” It’s not something we can brag about. We can’t even be boastful about our faith because it’s just believing in what Jesus has already done. But so often we try to save ourselves.

Application: There’s two ways this plays itself out. The first, is that we think we are secure in what we have done. We think my family is full of Christians, I have always been in church, I have never done anything crazy, so I’m good. Or we act like we have to get our lives in order to come to Christ. We think that we have to clean it up and then we will be god enough. But both of those are wrong. It’s only because of Jesus, not because of anything we can do.

Transition: But if works do not save is, does that mean that good works have no place in the life of a believer. Quite the contrary actually.

Verse 10

Exposition: Paul writes in verse 10, Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” When we are saved, we are made new. We no longer are the same person we were beforehand. That doesn’t mean we aren’t tempted, it doesn’t mean we will never give into that temptation. But we have a new purpose. That purpose is no longer to serve ourselves. No, that purpose is to do what God has called us to do. And when we live within that purpose, it turns out we are going to do a lot of good things. Not because they are what save us, but because we have been saved and now we want to live a life that glorifies God.

Application: This is ultimately why BCM exists. It’s not so we can do enough good things to get to heaven. It’s because we have been saved by the blood of Christ. We have received mercy and grace and are no longer children of wrath. And our purpose has changed. We want to live as changed people. And one way we can do that is be on campus and tell people that though they are sinners, there is a God who has made a way to forgiveness.

Conclusion: I want to ask this as we close tonight. Have you experienced the grace of God in your life. I don’t just mean are you aware that Jesus died on the cross for your sins. But what I mean, is have you taken your sins before Jesus and asked for the forgiveness of sins. Maybe you’re here tonight and you have been in church your whole life. But you realize that you have never gone to Jesus personally. Maybe you have never really gotten into a lot of trouble and think that you’ve done enough things, but you are realizing there are no amount of good things. Maybe you are somebody who has gone to church and have played the game. But you know there are things deep down you haven’y confessed to God. You have things that you have been to ashamed of to take before God. Or maybe you haven’t grown up hearing a lot about Jesus. Maybe you didn’t go to church and maybe you just did things. And now when you look at your life you think that grace doesn’t apply to you because the amount of things that you have done are just too bad. That grace is for other people. Whoever you are, you are not outside the bounds of God’s grace. No matter who we are, we are all born as sinful creatures and are incapable of making things right. But Jesus came and died on the cross. He took on the punishment we deserved so that we could receive the forgiveness of sins and he rose again securing eternal life with Him. Not only do we not have to hold onto the guilt of our sins, we can look forward to tomorrow. So if that is you and you would like to talk more about what it means to be follower of Jesus, I will be hanging around for a while tonight. Come find me. But if God is moving, answer that call. Let’s pray.