Ephesians 2_8-9 Grace Alone
Turn in your Bible:
Biblical:
2 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.
Personal:
- Glories vs. application…
- Often the emphasis is on the doing or application… it is an inherited trait.
- Parenting… Behaviour mod. Versus Character… God-glorifying
- Evangelism… doing but never asking…
- Christian life… versus a life of glory…
- Glories of Calvary… not about the doing… about the display of God
- Application flows from the Spirit at work in a believer in line with the word they study and store in their heart
- It isn’t like we don’t know…
- It is that we have not chosen to align our character with God
- 1 John 3:24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
- The landing strip in your heart…
- Ready to see the glories… not ferret out what to do… but who to be… to savour the Glory of God… live the abundant life in light of the Gospel of the Glory of God in the Face of Christ… And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God
Bridge:
- So Grace, Faith, Salvation… Human Responsibility… how does this all fit?
- The temptation is always to fix the tension in our relationship with God where we deem it should be, or where it gives us less problems.
- But neither solution is biblical…
- The words of Scripture speak is if we could and should be able to understand them…
- We need to accept what we know…
- Prepare our hearts for the glories of God…
- The Grace of God… isn’t about doing…
- Faith isn’t a pull up the bootstraps activity…
- Salvation is not the reward we pursue!
- How, Through, Not...
Body:
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.
How… 8 For by grace you have been saved…
The Bible in its most basic sense is a book of contrasts
- The Holy vs. the profane
- The eternal and the temporary
- And you were dead in the trespasses and sins… But God! Made us Alive… Raised us up… and Seated together with Christ!
- How?
- By Grace…
- Divine purpose * Noun dative… the means by which you have been saved…
- 1 Cor 1:4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,
- 2 Pet 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
- Ro 3:21-25 - 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
- Salvation is by Grace…
- Through… 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith.
- By Grace…
- The contrast… unmerited…favour
- God giving himself…
- To us…
- By faith…
- Faith that originates in God himself…
- Gen 15
- The covenant of God…
- To credit us with his righteousness…
- God’s Covenant with Abram
- Ge 15:1-2115 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
7 And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
- God’s covenant…
- We can’t meet the stipulations…
- He accepted the consequences…
- He initiated, executed and sustains the covenant
- The credited righteousness was for faith…
- Faith given by God by Grace!!
- Faith is not believing in the unbelievable
- Faith is not being Optimist
- Faith is not based on feelings
- Knowledge
- Heart Response
- Commitment
- Learning, responding, Committing… like marriage
- Courtship, Heart, and Wedding…
- Learning, responding, Committing
- Faith from our perspective…
- Salvation by Grace through Faith
- Salvation God’s gift of Himself… the Gospel
- Grace Unmerited Gift
- Faith in and through Christ
- Received Knowledge
- Heart Response
- Forever Commitment!!
- THAT’s FAITH!
- Not… 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.
- Grace is not works
- Faith is not works
- Salvation is not works
- It is not about the application…
- It is about the character!
- Are you alive or dead
- Holy or profane
- And you were dead in the trespasses and sins… But God! Made us Alive… Raised us up… and Seated together with Christ!
- Dead or Alive…
- The Application…
- There isn’t one…
- It isn’t about doing lest we boast
- It is about being…
- It is about living the life of faith by the grace of God…
- It is about having a godly sorrow over sin
- It is about a love and passion for Christ that is insatiable.