Untitled Sermon

Ephesians 2:8–9 LSB

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, so that no one may boast.

PNP: 3 Pitfalls to avoid in understanding one’s salvation

#1 Self-origination: Not of Yourselves / of the saved’s doing — by God’s exclusion of human origin

SAYING: “I can secure this salvation God gave me”

BELIEVES: salvation of oneself, not specifically faith itself

PROOF: man on his own is just sinful (Eph 2:1,5)

Man’s innate sinfulness taints faith if it considered solely

DENIES:

One’s sinful origins (1 Corinthians 4:7 ("what do you have that you did not receive?"))

God’s mercy (Romans 9:16 (not of the one who wills or runs))

The dead cannot raise themselves (inability):

Ephesians 2:1, 5 — dead in trespasses (the immediate ground)

John 6:44, 65 — no one can come unless the Father draws/grants

John 15:5 — apart from me you can do nothing

Romans 8:7–8 — the mind of the flesh cannot submit to God

1 Corinthians 2:14 — the natural person cannot accept the things of the Spirit

Jeremiah 13:23 — can the leopard change its spots

The new birth is not of human will:

John 1:13 — born not of the will of man but of God

John 3:3–8 — born of the Spirit

James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:3, 23 — he brought us forth / caused us to be born again

Salvation rests on God, not man:

Romans 9:16 — not of him who wills or runs, but God who has mercy

1 Corinthians 4:7 — what do you have that you did not receive (also feeds #3)

2 Corinthians 3:5 — our sufficiency is from God

Philippians 2:13 — God works in you to will and to work

John 15:16 — you did not choose me

Faith itself granted (the τοῦτο thread):

Philippians 1:29 — granted to you to believe

Acts 13:48 — as many as were appointed believed

Acts 16:14 — the Lord opened Lydia's heart

Acts 18:27 — believed through grace

#2 Self-achievement: Not of works — by God’s exclusion of human works

SAYING: “I can work towards securing this salvation”

BELIEVES: earning salvation as wages for doing “God’s good works”

PROOF: salvation is already provided by God (vv.4-7)

Foundational basis cannot be usurped by man’s works

Titus 3:5 (not by works done in righteousness)

DENIES:

God’s grace given unto salvation (Romans 4:4–5)

Christ’s finished work on the cross (2 Timothy 1:9)

Justified apart from works:

Romans 3:20, 28 — no flesh justified by works of the law / justified by faith apart from works

Romans 4:2–6 — Abraham; to the one who does not work but believes

Galatians 2:16; 3:11 — not justified by works of the law

Saved and called by grace/mercy, not works:

Titus 3:5 — not because of works done in righteousness, but according to his mercy

2 Timothy 1:9 — not because of our works but his own purpose and grace

Romans 11:6 — if by grace, no longer on the basis of works, or grace is no longer grace

Romans 9:11–12 — not because of works but because of him who calls

Human righteousness is inadequate as a ground:

Isaiah 64:6 — righteous deeds like a polluted garment

Philippians 3:8–9 — no righteousness of my own from the law

Galatians 2:21 — if righteousness came through the law, Christ died for nothing

The right place of works — fruit, not root:

Ephesians 2:10 — created for good works God prepared beforehand (Paul's next breath)

Titus 2:14 — a people zealous for good works

James 2:17–18 — works as the evidence of living faith, not its basis

#3 Self-exaltation: So That no one boasts — for God’s exclusion of human boasting

SAYING: “I am so special to have reached this level of salvation”

BELIEVES: one’s humanity however already stated as saved has any value towards salvation

PROOF: Christ’s declaration of “It is finished” already puts a period to what is needed for salvation (Jn 19:28-30)

DENIES: Christ’s central role in enacting the believer’s salvation

Boasting excluded:

Romans 3:27 — where is boasting? it is excluded (ἐξεκλείσθη, the same shutting-out logic)

1 Corinthians 1:29 — so that no flesh might boast before God

1 Corinthians 4:7 — why boast as if you did not receive it

Galatians 6:14 — boast only in the cross

Boasting relocated to the Lord:

Jeremiah 9:23–24 — let him who boasts boast in this, that he knows the LORD (the OT root Paul cites)

1 Corinthians 1:31; 2 Corinthians 10:17 — let the one who boasts boast in the Lord

Salvation aimed at God's glory alone:

Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14 — to the praise of his glorious grace (the letter's refrain this clause serves)

Romans 11:36 — to him be glory forever

Isaiah 42:8; 48:11 — my glory I give to no other

Psalm 115:1 — not to us, but to your name give glory