Untitled Sermon (2)

Ephesians 2:1–10

From Death to Life — Saved by Grace

Introduction

how does the gospel looks like ,,, Ephesinsa a good book for explaing the gospel and is rich on teachings.

What does grace mean? Why do we need grace? Can we be saved without the grace of God? And how do grace and faith work together?

Ephesians 2 answers all of these questions in one chapter.

This chapter is a journey. We begin in the valley of death and darkness, and we end not only saved in Christ, but also formed into a habitation of God through the Spirit. Or better anlegi is a Mountioan hike where we start from caves below see level and than come above the ground and come to the summit… because thats the christian doctrion by grace trough faith !!!

lets read it ones through and than go step by step through …

Ephesians 2 is the gospel in miniature. It shows us:

who we were,

what God did,

why He did it,

and what we now live for.

Verse 1

Ephesians 2:1 (ESV)

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins…”

Paul does not say you were sick. He does not say you were weak. He does not say you were confused.

He says: you were dead.

Before conversion, we were spiritually dead—depraved and disobedient toward God. We lived as if God did not exist. Imagine living life without knowing the law of God, without submitting to the authority of the Creator.

Atheist … there is no moral stand point beside christanety .. And if there is a good moral out there its becuase of christanaty.

look at society … world wide. with god it prospers with out it it colaps example usa ,… germany …

anayway

We were dead because of sin.

Sin is any wrongdoing—falling short of the glory of God. We all know what sin is. But historically, this was not always clearly understood.

Before the Reformation, there was the idea that sin was merely the loss of supernatural gifts. Adam, it was said, was simply a good person who later fell. Before sin, he could do good because of a supernatural gift; after sin, he was left to nature and could choose only evil without grace—which is true for Adam after the fall.

But this framework opened the door to serious errors. If sin is merely the loss of a gift, then perhaps some humans could avoid total corruption. This is how ideas developed that someone like Mary could be sinless.

The Protestant Reformers rejected this strongly. They taught that sin brings real guilt, deserving the just judgment of God, leading to the ruin of body and soul.

Sin corrupts every part of human existence: Sin is like a cancer virus but again dont forget dead

our reason,

our will,

our desires.

Nothing remains untouched. Until grace intervenes, everything in us stands opposed to God.

Verse 2

the question arises whats the problem ?? i am dead yea i can t do somthing for it i need to be raiseed

and paul is not : dont worry god has a way to figure this out … NO

Ephesians 2:2 (ESV)

“In which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air…”

Paul now points directly to the Ephesian church and reminds them of their past. This is where you came from.

They were not only dead—they were walking, actively living in rebellion. Walking according to the course of this world.

A world filled with immorality, ungodliness, selfishness, violence, pride, and rebellion against God.

This is not neutral culture. This is a system opposed to God. Where are enemies of GOD

And Paul goes further: they were following the prince of the power of the air.

Sin is not merely personal failure. Sin is enslavement. imagen slaves in CHanges … i am no longer a slave to fear is wrong you are not a slave to Sin anymore !!

There is a spiritual ruler at work in the sons of disobedience.

Augustine gives a powerful illustration: a horse can have only one rider. Either God or Satan. There is no middle ground. There is no riderless neutrality.

Those who are dead to God are under Satan’s rule—fulfilling his purposes by rebelling against God and destroying themselves.

look and lgbtq ore my body my choice .. there think there do this for there own good or for freedem but not

when you rebell against God or his creation rules .. you are destroying your self !!

And yet, we must not forget: human being is still created in the image of God. That is what makes this tragedy so severe. thats why john 3,16 god loved the world ..

This is why conversion cannot be reduced to moral improvement. What is needed is liberation. A transfer from one kingdom to another.

Verse 3

now Paul is going deeper …

Ephesians 2:3 (ESV)

“Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh… and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

Paul now removes all distance.

no he changes from you to we !!!

He says: we all.

Not just pagans. Not just immoral people. Not just outsiders.

All of us. we all did that !!

We lived in the passions of our flesh. And by nature, no one desires God. Some reject Him openly, as atheists do. Others create alternative hopes—other religions, philosophies, or even distorted versions of Christianity.

But we didn’t just have sinful desires. We carried them out. We practiced them. We lived them.

And then Paul says something deeply uncomfortable:

By nature, we were children of wrath.

Wrath is not a popular word. But it is a biblical one.

God’s wrath is not emotional instability. It is His holy, settled, righteous opposition to sin.

We are under wrath not only because of what we do, but because of who we are by nature.

We are born in a state of sin and condemnation. This is the doctrine of  original sin.

original SIN ….

iportend what was historycly agreed or disagreed … trinety canon canon new testament ..

but mainly there

we have 2 different views on the debat is already for a long time on the table

A Short History of the Debate on Sin and Grace

It began in the 5th century with Augustine and Pelagius. Pelagius taught that humans are born morally neutral and can obey God without special grace. Augustine responded that humanity is fallen in Adam, spiritually dead, and completely dependent on God’s grace for salvation.

so a kid is born it has to first learn how to be evil and to do sin,

i believe the opesite .. no one needs to teach me what is bad . Thats what good we need to learn!!

In the 16th century, the debate resurfaced during the Reformation with Martin Luther and Erasmus. Erasmus argued for the freedom of the human will. Luther answered that the human will is bound by sin and that salvation depends entirely on God’s gracious action.

Later in the Reformation, the discussion continued with John Calvin and Jacobus Arminius. Calvin emphasized God’s sovereign grace in salvation. Arminius raised questions about election and human response, while still affirming original sin and the absolute necessity of grace.

After their deaths, it was mainly their students and followers who sharpened the disagreement. This eventually led to the Synod of Dort (1618–1619), where the Calvinist position was formally defined in response to Arminian teaching.

Today, this long discussion is commonly summarized as Arminianism versus Calvinism. But at its core, it is the same question the apostle Paul addresses in Ephesians 2:1–10:

Are we saved because we reach for God, or because God first makes us alive by grace?

because of time sake dont wanna go to deep into that .

Despite real and important differences, both sides agree on the core of the gospel.

Both affirm original sin—humanity is fallen, corrupted by sin, and unable to save itself. Both affirm the necessity of the new birth—no one is saved apart from regeneration by the Holy Spirit. Both affirm justification by faith alone—we are declared righteous by faith, not by works. Both affirm that salvation is by grace alone—grace is the source and cause of salvation. Both submit to the authority of Scripture as the final rule for faith and practice. Both call believers to holiness—true faith produces obedience and a transformed life. Both are committed to evangelism—the gospel must be preached to all people. Both teach the assurance of salvation—believers may know and rejoice that they belong to Christ.

So the debate is not about whether salvation is by grace, but how grace works in bringing dead sinners to life.

And that brings us back—once again—to Ephesians 2:1–10.

And this my frends the valley i was talking about it.

Our natural condition is not mere weakness. We are born with a disposition that stands under God’s just displeasure.

This is the valley. This is the darkness. This is the truth about humanity apart from Christ.

Summary of the Valley (Verses 1–3)

Before conversion:

We were spiritually dead

We walked according to the world

We followed the prince of the power of the air

We lived according to the flesh

We stood under the wrath of God—by nature

There is no hope here. No escape from within. No self-salvation.

We were not only sinners—we were dead.

No Buddha. No Allah. No philosophy. No human effort can raise the dead or forgive sin.

not a relegion even explains such a view of human nature …

Verse 4

no we leaving the vally of darkness

Ephesians 2:4 (ESV)

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us…”

Two words that change everything:

John 3:16 “For in this way God loved the world, so that he gave his one and only Son, in order that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life.”

But God.

Not Paul. Not the apostles. Not good works. Not long prayers. Not good intentions. Not philosophy. Not self-righteousness.

But God.

Rich in mercy. Great in love.

creation .. the world does not start with human ore there efoort it was all good, so with salvation the same application

Christianity does not begin with human effort. “It begins with what God does.”

Verse 5

Ephesians 2:5 (ESV)

“Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.”

Notice the timing.

Even when we were dead.

Salvation starts before we come alive again. Beeing born again is the procces of it!!

Not after improvement. Not after repentance. Not after desire. Not after cooperation.

God made us alive.

and this power of become live again born again regenerated ..

Is resurrection language. The same power that raised Christ from the grave raises dead sinners to life.

Jonathan Edwards emphasizes that believers experience the same resurrection power Christ possessed—accomplished by mercy and grace, not human effort.

Romans 8:11 ESV

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

the holy spirit is crussial of the repentence

Paul insists that faith itself is God’s gift. We are entirely His workmanship.

John Owen puritian addresses the tension clearly: salvation is by grace alone, yet believers must pursue obedience with full diligence. Works once falsely served as the means to earn salvation; now grace changes their purpose.

We obey not to obtain salvation, but to respond to it.

True humility means being just as serious about obedience because we are saved freely as we would be if salvation depended on works.

Being born again opens our eyes to how desperately we needed grace.

Verse 6

Ephesians 2:6 (ESV)

“And raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…”

God does not merely forgive us. He exalts us.

We are raised and seated with Christ.

This speaks of identity, authority, and belonging. It also points to something corporate.

God no longer dwells in temples made by hands. He dwells in His people.

The Spirit indwells each believer and builds us together into a dwelling place for God.

later in Ephesians 2:20–22 “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built up together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” “in whom the whole building, joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,”

We are living stones, united to Christ and to one another.

This carries responsibility. Peace, unity, worship, and love matter. Division and neglect grieve the Spirit.

We are not merely saved individuals—we are God’s habitation. it means God living in us or among us through the Holy Spirit.” here the explenation !

Verse 7

Ephesians 2:7 (ESV)

“So that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

God’s purpose in salvation extends beyond our lifetime.

Our salvation is a display of grace for all ages to come.

That goes trough church history from the beginning of the early church till today God give repantance to sinners like us and gloryfyis his Almighty Hand.

Titus 3,4 confirms this: God saved us not by works of righteousness we have done, but by His mercy, through regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

Salvation exists for God’s glory.

Verse 8–9 — The Summit

and now we reach the summit we left the darknesse the valley …. here is the key vers for christianety !!!

Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV)

“For by grace you have been saved through faith… it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Grace is the source. Faith is the instrument. Works are excluded.

So that no one may boast.

Every form of pride dies here. Every religious résumé is erased.

Talk about different religions that now on has the grace given frelly to them. Evrey relegion falls shourt on this because of wrong understandings that you need to do somthing.

THats why its hard to recieve christan faith. Becaue here we are all sinners …

Paul even calls him self the chief of all sinners.

Here we are the same, no one can boast becaseu christ fullfiled it on the cross. !!!

But thats why we are the desciples of Jesus !!!

We folllow him and learn from him. Than he also sended the Holy Spirit as a helper to reminde us on the teachings of Christ. and now we grow together into the Church ..

Ephesians 2:18–22 “

English Standard Version Chapter 2

For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Verse 10

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…”

We are saved for good works, not by them. We are saved for them !!!!

God prepared them beforehand. Now we walk in them.

grace saves; works express that salvation.

Grace and faith work together like this: Grace is what God gives; faith is how we receive it. Grace is God acting first to save us; faith is our response to what God has done. Grace is the source of salvation; faith is the open hand that receives the gift.

We are not saved because of our faith, but through faith—because salvation comes from God’s grace alone.

Ephesians 2:11–14 ESV

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

Ephesians 2:16 ESV

and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

Ephesians 2,1

Ephesians 1:18 ESV

having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

Ephesians 2:19–22 ESV

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Final Conclusion

From death to life. From wrath to mercy. From slavery to sonship. From ruins to God’s dwelling place.

And all of that By grace alone.

Amen.