God's Everloving Grace (real)

God's Ever-Loving Grace

Ephesians 2:1–10

Who here loves gifts? Birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas! We love those days because of what they represent—and yes, because of the gifts too! My little ones, but Norah most certainly does. And when we receive a gift, do we earn it? If we did, it wouldn’t be a gift, it would be a transaction. Imagine me saying to my daughter, “Here’s a new Minnie Mouse doll, but you can have it only if you mow the lawn.” That’s not a gift. That’s payment (merit), all religions are based on merit.

Now think of Grace. Do we do anything to earn it? Absolutely not. It is, as Paul writes, “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (v.8).

John Calvin said it well: “We shall never be clothed with the righteousness of Christ except we first know assuredly that we have no righteousness of our own.”

1. Dead in Sin, Alive in Christ

(Ephesians 2:1–3)

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked...”

Notice: dead, not sick, not wounded, but dead—completely helpless, without spiritual life. Total depravity means our entire nature is corrupted by sin. We don’t just occasionally do bad things; we are by nature children of wrath.

I remember after my son was born, seeing a photo of myself weighing over 200 lbs. By God’s grace, I changed my diet and became healthier. But that’s just an external change. Spiritually, we need far more than self-improvement—we need resurrection! Our natural state is sin; as the Psalmist says, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity.”

Why? Because from birth we naturally rebel against God. No one teaches a child to lie, to be selfish, it comes naturally. I will tell the frog and scorpion story here, That is why grace is so necessary.

2. Mercy Makes the Difference

(Ephesians 2:4–7)

“But God…” These two words change everything. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us…” Even when we were dead, God made us alive together with Christ.

Think about this, God didn’t look down at us and say see something good in us. He saw our deadness, yet chose, out of His own love, to make us alive.

Paul says God raised us up and seated us with Christ—why? “So that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace.” Your salvation is ultimately about God displaying His grace and glory.

3. Gift of Grace, Life of Purpose

(Ephesians 2:8–10)

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

Notice three things:

It is by grace – completely undeserved.

Through faith – faith itself is a gift.

Not your doing – so that no man one may boast.

We were created in Christ Jesus for good works. Works are not the cause of salvation but its result. So, if we think our good works earn us anything, we are dead wrong. We are saved to live holy lives, reflecting God’s grace.

What really saves us?

Let’s be clear:

Do we earn salvation? No.

Does God see anything in us that deserves saving? No. We were dead! Salvation comes only through Christ, who fulfilled God’s promise from Genesis 3 by crushing the serpent’s head on the cross.

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21)

The thief on the cross is a perfect example (Luke 23:40–43). He did no good works, wasn’t baptized, didn’t join a church. Yet Jesus said, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” Why? Because of Christ alone.

This is from Allister Begg, Man on the middle Cross Think about the thief on the cross . . . I can’t wait to find that fellow one day to ask him, “How did that shake out for you? Because you were cussing the guy out with your friend. You’ve never been in a Bible study. You never got baptized . . . You didn’t know a thing about church membership, and yet . . . you made it. How did you make it?” That’s what the angel must have said, you know:

“What are you doing here?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I don’t know.”

“Excuse me, let me get my supervisor.” They go get their supervisor angel. “So, just a few questions for you. First of all, are you clear on the doctrine of justification by faith?”

The guy said, “I’ve never heard of it in my life.”

“And what about the doctrine of Scripture?”

This guy’s just staring — and eventually, in frustration, [the supervisor] says, “On what basis are you here?”

And he said, “The Man on the middle cross said I can come.”

Don’t steal God’s glory

Too often people say, “I’m a good person. I deserve heaven.” But salvation is not a human achievement. You are not the hero of this story—Christ is.

Do not steal His glory.

As Calvin reminds us, we must know we have no righteousness of our own so we may cling entirely to Christ’s. Share something that we can’t improve on or get stuck on

Challenge

God’s grace is a gift, freely given, completely undeserved, yet it changes everything. We were dead, but God made us alive. We were objects of wrath, but now trophies of His grace.

Do you know this grace? Have you seen this in your life? If you do, chances are you know someone, a family worker, a co worker, a gym rat. Tell them of the crucified and risen Savior who saves by grace alone, it is wicked that the body of Christ doesn’t share the good news as often as we should, yes, that includes me too. Tell them about the goodness of our Lord.

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.

Amen.