Ephesians 2:1-10 (Sola Gratia)

Introduction

Charles Spurgeon (also known as the Prince of Preachers) was a master of illustrations who lived during the 19th century and pastored a huge Baptist church in London. In a little booklet, designed as an evangelistic tract, he wrote of the necessity and benefit of faith in Christ. He said,

“I am told that years ago a boat was upset above the falls of Niagara, and two men were being carried down the current, when persons on the shore managed to float a rope out to them, which rope was seized by them both.

One of them held fast to it and was safely drawn to the bank; but the other, seeing a great log come floating by, unwisely let go the rope and clung to the log, for it was the bigger thing of the two, and apparently better to cling to.

Alas! the log with the man on it went right over the vast abyss, because there was no union between the log and the shore. The size of the log was no benefit to him who grasped it; it needed a connection with the shore to produce safety.

So when a man trusts to his works, or to sacraments, or to anything of that sort, he will not be saved, because there is no junction between him and Christ; but faith, though it may seem to be like a slender cord, is in the hands of the great God on the shore side; infinite power pulls in the connecting line, and thus draws the man from destruction.

Oh the blessedness of faith, because it unites us to God!”[i]

Last Sunday, we focused our attention on exactly this sort of faith. It is faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ that saves or justifies a guilty sinner, and we must simply trust in or believe in or have faith in the finished work of Christ in order to be forgiven of our sin and declared righteous before God.

The question before us last Sunday was “How?” … “How are guilty sinners able to escape the judgment of a holy God?” … “How are sinners made saints?”

But the question before us today is something different… not unrelated… but certainly a different question. What we’re after today is the question of “Why?”

· “Why has God shown love and blessing to any sinner?”

o Does God have to save anyone?

· “Why does God forgive some sinners and condemn others?”

o Are some people just more lovable than others?

· “Why did God decide to save you?”

o What did you do? Are you smarter, better, more sincere, or more worthy in some way than those God does not save?

· “Why should you be so sure that God will save you in the end?”

o Even if God did love you for a time, why should He continue to do so? …Haven’t you given Him many reasons not to love you?

These questions of “how” and “why” God saves are not new to us today. Christians have been thinking about, writing about, and living out their answers to these questions for 2,000 years. The Bible speaks directly to these questions, and they are at the heart of what Christianity is.

We’re taking the month of October to focus on questions like these and also on a particular time in history when these questions were publicly debated. During the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s (various Christian reform efforts across western Europe), questions about how and why God saves came to the fore. And there was a clear divide between Roman Catholicism and those who came to be known as “reformers” or “Protestants.”

As I’ve said many times now, my purpose is not to denigrate Roman Catholics or to glorify Protestants. But I do pick a side in this fight, and some guys wear white hats, while others wear black ones. I believe Protestants got it right on the most important points of the gospel.

But many people today (both Protestants and Roman Catholics) are just plain ignorant of history. They don’t know why Luther or Calvin or Zwingli protested; they don’t know what Rome taught against Protestant doctrines; they don’t know how the divides today are still echoing the debates and divides of the past; and they don’t have the foggiest clue about what is at stake in this debate.

Friends, we are looking back to the five solas or “alones” of the Protestant Reformation in order (1) to clarify the heart of the gospel, (2) to be more aware of our own history, and (3) to try to be more thoughtful (and biblical) as we aim to live as faithful, believing and witnessing Christians today.

Let’s turn to a passage of Scripture that speaks directly to the “why” of God’s love and blessing upon sinners like us… let’s consider two approaches to this question… and let’s look at what the Bible says about it.

Scripture Reading

Ephesians 2:1–10 (ESV)

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 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— 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.

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Main Idea:

God loves and blesses sinners in Christ Jesus on the basis of grace alone.

Sermon

1. Reformation Reality

1. Council of Trent (1545-1563)

a. Canons on the Sacraments in General

i. Canon 6 – “If any one shall say, that the sacraments… do not contain the grace which they signify; or, that they do not confer that grace… as though they were merely outward signs of grace or righteousness received through faith… let him be anathema.”

ii. Canon 8 – “If any one shall say, that by the said sacraments… grace is not conferred through the act performed, but that faith alone in the divine promise suffices for obtaining grace; let him be anathema.”

iii. In other words, Rome taught that grace is “conferred” or bestowed or presented to a person as they participate in the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church (especially baptism, confirmation, and the Eucharist).

iv. And Rome continues to teach the same today.

2. Catechism of the Catholic Church (pub. 1992, 1994, and 1997)

a. What is “grace”?

i. “Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life.”[ii]

b. How is grace “received” or “bestowed” or “conferred”?

i. “Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify.”[iii]

ii. Christ “acts in his sacraments in order to communicate the grace that each sacrament signifies.”

c. What is an example of grace “conferred” in the “sacraments”?

i. The sacrament of Baptism “is also called ‘the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit,’ [because] it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit…”[iv]

ii. The sacrament of “Confirmation perfects Baptismal grace; it is the sacrament which gives the Holy Spirit…”[v]

iii. It is not clear to me how these two are not contradictory – Is spiritual birth (i.e., the giving of the Holy Spirit) something that happens at baptism or confirmation? – but either way, Rome teaches that spiritual life comes by way of one’s participation in the sacraments of Rome.

3. Protestants made claims to the exact opposite.

a. John Calvin (1509-1564)

i. I quoted the German reformer (Martin Luther) a lot last Sunday; let me give you a handful of Calvin quotes today.

1. Calvin was a Frenchman who spent most of his life and ministry in Geneva, Switzerland.

2. He wrote a first of its kind devotional-textbook, a sort of systematic theology for instructing new Christians.

3. Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion (first published in 1536) has been printed and read (and re-printed and re-read) for nearly 500 years, and this simple-yet-profound work continues to be a great source of Christian theology and devotional insight.

ii. Calvin said, “it would be easier to mix fire and water than to say this: that we can merit a measure of the grace of God [i.e., through participation in the sacraments] and yet also need the aid of the Lord Jesus Christ.”[vi]

iii. On our wretched condition, Calvin said, “we are totally corrupt and there is only wickedness in us; it follows, therefore, that God must hate us. However, if he hates us, woe unto us, for we are damned. This is why we need to be justified before we can be pleasing to God.”[vii]

iv. On the necessity of grace, Calvin said, “we have not the merest drop of righteousness, so that we seek all that pertains to our salvation in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.”[viii]

v. On the ongoing necessity of grace, Calvin said, “even those who have been renewed by the grace of God, and who have learnt to obey him by doing the things which God loves and cherishes, even they can bring nothing to God that can settle their accounts with him. They will always be in debt because all the good gifts they have proceed from God.”[ix]

vi. But why does God ever give good gifts (like favor or blessing) to guilty sinners?

1. Calvin said, “God… owes us nothing; so that salvation is not a reward or recompense, but unmixed grace.”[x]

2. In other words, “grace alone, and nothing else mixed with it.”

3. Calvin went on to say, “Ought we not then to be silent about… good intentions, and fancied preparations, and merits, and satisfactions? There is none of these which does not claim a share of praise in the salvation of men; so that the praise of grace would not… remain undiminished.”[xi]

4. In other words, if we imagine that there is anything in us or about us or from us which contributes in any way to the “why” question of God’s favor upon us, then we have just as much claim on the praise for our salvation as does God and His grace.

4. The contrast could not be clearer.

a. Rome said (and says) that the grace of God comes to sinners by way of their participation in the religious rites of the Roman Catholic Church (esp. baptism, confirmation, and the Eucharist).

b. The reformers said that the grace of God is the completely unmerited and undeserved basis upon which participation in the signs of the gospel (i.e., baptism and the LS) are meaningful at all.

How can we know which way is right? Upon what basis does salvation come to any sinner? How can I be assured that the salvation I have now will be the salvation I enjoy in the end? If God is showing me favor or love right now, how do I know that I won’t fall out of His favor at some point?

2. Reformation Recovery

Our primary text today is the second chapter of a letter from the Apostle Paul to the Christian church in Ephesus. Paul himself had ministered there, and his overarching aim in this letter was to argue for the culmination of the wisdom and glory of God in God’s creation of the NT Church.

God Himself was “making known” the “mystery of his will” by “uniting all things” in Christ in “the fullness of time” (Eph. 1:9-10). And this was God’s plan from “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4), which is to continue to unfold throughout history until all who love and trust and follow Christ “acquire possession” of the full “inheritance” of all that God has promised in Christ Jesus (Eph.1:11-14).

Friends, this is a glorious book with a glorious gospel to tell, and we are jumping into it this morning to ask and answer five questions that will help us understand the “why” of God’s saving activity in the lives of sinners.

1. What is the condition of all natural humans?

2. What do all people deserve?

3. What has God done for those who are “in” Christ?

4. Why has God done what He has for those who are “in” Christ?

5. For what purpose has God done what He has for those “in” Christ?

1. What is the condition of all natural humans?

a. Until or unless God intervenes, all children of Adam are:

i. “dead in… trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1).

ii. “walking” in “trespasses and sins” (v2).

iii. “following the course of this world” (v2).

iv. “following the prince of the power of the air” (v2).

v. counted among “the sons of disobedience” (v2).

vi. living in “the passions” of the “flesh” and “carrying out the desires of the body and the mind” (v3).

2. What do all people deserve?

a. Because of this condition and the overwhelming life of sin, disobedience, and rebellion it produces, all children of Adam are:

i. “by nature children of wrath” (v3).

3. What has God done for those who are “in” Christ?

a. The phrases “in Christ” or “with Christ” are repeated throughout.

i. It is only by association with Christ or by believing or trusting or faithing in Christ that we may be beneficiaries of anything we see here as an act of God’s favor or blessing.

ii. Remember Romans 3 – sola fide – the “how” question.

b. God has “made” them “alive together with Christ” (v5).

c. God has “raised” them “up with [Christ]” (v6).

d. God has “seated” them “with [Christ] in the heavenly places” (v6).

e. In summary, God has “saved” them (v5, 8).

4. Why has God done what He has for those who are “in” Christ?

a. The focus is entirely on God here.

i. Verse 4 tells us something about God’s character – He is “rich in mercy” (v4).

ii. Verse 4 also tells us something about God’s posture toward those who are “in” Christ – He “loved” them (v4).

iii. And verse 5 tells us when God “loved” those “in” Christ – “even when [they] were dead in [their] trespasses” (v5).

b. All of this leads us up the steps toward the ridge where we are able to look out on the vista that is the answer to our “why” question!

i. Those in Christ are saved “by grace” (v6)!

ii. All that God has done for those “in” Christ has been done on the basis of God’s “grace” (v8)!

iii. All of this is a “gift of God” that is absolutely “not a result of works” or “deeds” (v8-9).

iv. Grace is the motive for the gift of undeserved favor or love.

5. For what purpose has God done what He has for those “in” Christ?

a. Verse 7 tells us God’s purpose in all of this – it is “so that in the coming ages he [God] might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward [sinners] in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7).

b. In other words, the salvation of guilty sinners is certainly full of spectacular benefits for them… but the ultimate purpose (i.e., God’s primary aim) is to show just how glorious are the riches of His grace – His grace is immeasurably glorious!

c. Throughout the Bible, the overarching theme is the wise and beautiful and intricate and powerful and vivid ways in which God is making Himself known to His created things.

d. And the marvelous answer to the question – “Why does God save any sinner?” or “Why did God save me?” – is the same answer to the question, “What is God like?” …the answer is that God is incomparably, immeasurably, and inexhaustibly gracious.

3. Reformation Resolutions

If all that I’ve argued from Ephesians 2 this morning is true… and if the Protestants got it right when they claimed that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in the person and work of Christ alone… then how should that affect the way we think and speak and act today?

1. We ought to begin our discipleship with humility and gratitude.

a. If God loves us at all, it is not because of anything in or about us.

b. We come to God through Christ, and we bring nothing but our sin.

i. We ought to obey Christ’s commands – to turn from sin, to believe the gospel, to publicly profess Christ as Lord and Savior (through baptism), to join with other Christians in meaningful friendship and fellowship (through church membership) – but we ought not look to any of these as the basis of God’s love for us.

ii. We ought to look to God’s grace in Christ, and with humility and gratitude, we ought to cling to Him.

2. We ought to continue our discipleship with rest and assurance.

a. If God has ever loved us, He will not ever stop loving us.

b. Our sin did not prevent God from sending Jesus to live and die for us, and our remaining sin will not separate us from God’s love.

i. Romans 8:31-35 – “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”

3. We ought to end our discipleship with joy and hope.

a. If God has loved us in life, will He not also love us in death?

i. It was the gracious love of God that sent Christ to the cross.

ii. It was the gracious love of God that counted Christ as guilty so that sinners might look to Him and be made righteous.

iii. It was the gracious love of God that gave us such a powerful display of God’s intention to complete His salvation in us – Christ Himself was raised from the dead, and if He was raised, then so shall all those who love and trust Him be raised on the last day.

iv. 1 John 3:2 – “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when [Christ] appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

4. We ought to urge others toward humility and gratitude, rest and assurance, joy and hope.

a. If the grace of God is the basis of our salvation (wretched and sinful as we are), then what friend or family member is beyond the grace of God in Christ Jesus?

Brothers and sisters, God loves and blesses sinners in Christ Jesus on the basis of grace alone.

May God help us to believe this… may God help us to understand this more and more… and may God make this doctrine (of salvation by grace alone) the foundation of the gospel we proclaim to ourselves and to others.

Endnotes

[i] See “Why are we Saved by Faith” in Charles Spurgeon’s All of Grace. https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/spurgeon/AllofGraceCHSpurgeon.pdf

[ii] See affirmation 1996 of the Roman Catholic Catechism: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s1c3a2.htm#1996

[iii] See affirmation 1127 of the Roman Catholic Catechism: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s1c1a2.htm#1127

[iv] See affirmation 1215 of the Roman Catholic Catechism: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c1a1.htm#1215

[v] See affirmation 1316 of the Roman Catholic Catechism: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c1a2.htm#1316

[vi] See Calvin’s commentary on Galatians 2:15-16, Justification is by Grace Alone. https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/pdf/calvin_varsermon02.pdf

[vii] Calvin, Justification is by Grace Alone. https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/pdf/calvin_varsermon02.pdf

[viii] Calvin, Justification is by Grace Alone. https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/pdf/calvin_varsermon02.pdf

[ix] Calvin, Justification is by Grace Alone. https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/pdf/calvin_varsermon02.pdf

[x] Calvin, John, and William Pringle. Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians. Logos Bible Software, 2010, p. 227.

[xi] Calvin, John, and William Pringle. Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians. Logos Bible Software, 2010, p. 227.