Saved | Ephesians 2:1-10

Notes

Opener

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott A Maasai’s Understanding of Grace

Vincent Donovan is an American Roman Catholic priest who worked seventeen years in Tanzania as missionary to [the] Maasai. The region was rich in wildlife, especially in big game. A Maasai elder once used the lion as a picture of God’s initiative of grace:

We did not search you out, Padre.… We did not even want you to come to us. You searched us out. You followed us away from your house into the bush, into the plains, into the steppes where our cattle are, into the hills … into our villages, into our homes. You told us of the High God, how we must search for him … but … we have not searched for him. He has searched for us. He has searched us out and found us. All the time we think we are the lion. In the end, the lion is God.

SOURCE: Vincent Donovan, Christianity Rediscovered (SCM, 1982), 63.

Point 1 | Motivated by Mercy

Ephesians 2:1–10 NASB95

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, 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 ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as 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 so that we would walk in them.

MERCY

I want to focus you in on this word “mercy”.

Ephesians 2:4 NASB95

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

Mercy can be used synoymously with grace but it can also have some distinction. Mercy is looking at someone current state and being moved to pity. We show mercy when we someone in need and we help them up.

When Paul presented the Gospel he was preaching to the gentiles to the apostles the only thing they said was “remember the poor.” Paul replies, “the very thing I was eager to do.” That is mercy.

Jesus tells the story of the good samaritan and how he had compassion when he saw the ban beaten up and robbed on the side of the rode, and how he dressed his wounds, and cared for his needs. When he asks the lawyer who was his neighbor the samaritan with compassion or the religious leaders who passed him by? The man replies the “the one who had mercy.”

Mercy isn’t just acts of love, it is hearts of compassion and pity.

Now pride tells us pity and charity are not good things. I can do it myself. I don’t need help. And there are certainly places in our life where we need to sink or swim. That is good for us. But if we can’t receive help at all that is likely just pride. If you can NOT receive mercy from God then you will perish away from His holy presence forever and ever under the just consequences of your sin.

DEAD, UNDER THE DEVIL, CHILDREN OF WRATH

Listen to this and as we do notice Paul includes himself in the description:

Ephesians 2:1–3 NASB95

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

You read “dead in your trespasses” and under the control of the “prince of the power of the air” and living “in the lust of the our flesh” and “children of wrath.” And that just sounds awful. That doesn’t sound like something worth saving. That sounds like maybe God should just take out the trash.

But that is not what God does. But here is the amazing thing. Here is something we can learn from God and marvel at just how amazing He is. Not only does He not justly destroy us in judgement, not only does he not just leave us condemned. Despite all of that He looks at us and has mercy. He has compassion and pity.

We know what it is like to have mercy on someone. Our hearts have been stirred at times to help someone because you feel so bad for them. But we have only ever done that knowing some of their faults. This description of the spiritual state of every human being we do not arrive at on our own.

We think better of ourselves often time. I am not that bad. What I did wasn’t that wrong. At least I am not like that guy. But dead in trespasses? Children of wrath? Under the control of Satan?

It takes revelation to see your spiritual state apart from Christ to degree of which it really is. Do you know that you are a sinner? Do you know what a spiritual state of a sinner apart from Christ is? It is what is described in these first three verses.

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott That Grace Might Be Sought

“The law was therefore given in order that grace might be sought; grace was given in order that the law might be fulfilled.”

SOURCE: Augustine, On the Spirit and the Letters, 34:xix.

BUT GOD

Then these amazing two words are spoken “But God...”. “But God...”. Despite all that. Despite knowing are spiritual depravity fully. Despite knowing just how far we had fallen. He had mercy. He had pity. He had compassion.

In one of the most intense rebukes in the entire Bible Jesus said this at the end:

Matthew 23:37 NASB95

37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

God has compassion on lost sheep. God has mercy on sinners. Man’s mercy runs so short. But God’s is without end.

In fact it says He was “rich in mercy”. Without the motive of mercy we would all be dead in our sins. Notice the Gospel starts in the motivation of God’s own heart. Let me just ask you this?

Are you motivated by Mercy?

Do you have mercy on those who sin against you? Do you forgive or do you hold a grudge?

Do you have mercy on those who don’t know Jesus? On those who are still under the thumb of the devil dead in their sins? Do you bring the message of the good news of Jesus so they can be set free.

Do you show mercy just as God tangibly showed mercy. He served the least. He died upon that tree for us sinners. Do you tangibly love and serve those in need?

Are you motivated by Mercy?

Morris of Wellington:

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott “Grace Is Love that Stoops”

“Grace is love that stoops. Love radiates in every direction—grace radiates downwards. Love is between equal and equal, or between inferior and superior; grace, may I say, is love toward the bottom dog.”

SOURCE: Morrison of Wellington, Sermon on Song of Songs 2:14.

Point 2 | Saved by Grace

Ephesians 2:4–9 NASB95

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, 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 ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

SAVED

Notice it says twice “by grace you have been saved”. That is important. The word here “SAVED” is in the perfect tense in the original language. We don’t have a verb tense to translate this to in English to encapture the full meaning, but the perfect tense is emphatic. It communicates a completed action with a resulting state. If you are a Christian you are by definition “SAVED”.

The explanation for Jesus’ name given by the angel was:

Matthew 1:21 NASB95

21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Jesus saves you are saved. This is important. Salvation is not just a future state in the New Testament. There is more to come certainly. Praise The Lord. But those who experience salvation at the revelation of Jesus Christ in the sky are those who are what Ephesians 2 calls “saved” now.

Saved from what?

1) Saved from our trespasses. Our sins. 2) Saved from the prince of the power of the air, the devil. 3) Saved from the wrath of God. The three things mentioned in the first three verses put in abosolute contrast with the merciful saving grace of God in verses 4 and following.

Ephesians 2:4–5 NASB95

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

Imagine what this passage would have meant to the Ephesians:

Acts 19:11–20 NASB95

11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. 13 But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” 16 And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. 18 Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. 19 And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.

You can imagine what Paul’s words here in Ephesians 2 would have meant to them. They knew full well what it was like to be lost and to walk in accord with the “prince of the power of the air”. Did they not? They were really saved. Their lives were completely transformed by the good news of Jesus. This was no small thing.

You may not have “practiced magic” but you were every bit just as lost. Every bit under the influence and control of the devil. Paul used the word “we”. He had a different story but was just as lost. You have a different story but were just as lost. And if you have put faith in Jesus guess what? You are just as saved!!!

Saved by what?

Saved by GRACE. Now grace is little different than mercy. We had God being “rich in mercy” in verse 4, but we have the riches of His grace in 1:7 and 2:7! God is wealthy and fortunately for us in the things that matter most.

Grace

Grace is the undeserved favor of God freely and mercifully given.

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary Grace (New Testament)

Grace is love demonstrated by giving; in the gospel, grace is unmerited divine favor, arising in the mind of God and bestowed on his people

Paul says in Romans:

Romans 5:6–8 NASB95

6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

God sends Christ, motivated by love and mercy, while we were yet sinners. Friends he does this before any of us were even alive yet with us in mind. This isn’t something you asked for. This isn’t something you sought. This is something God did motivated by His own love and compassion. God didn’t hear cries for help and respond. In fact God had the plan before the world was. Such was His compassion, His love, His mercy, His GRACE!

Think of the Ephesians. They were steeped in witchcraft. They “practiced magic” it says in Acts 19. They were not searching for God. They were not longing for him. Yet while they were yet sinners God powerfully brings the Gospel, the good news of Jesus, there way. By GRACE they were saved.

This is really important. God isn’t responsive in saving us. He is proactive. He is seeking and saving the lost. He isn’t just at home waiting for his doorbell to ring. No body comes to God like that. He is out in the forest looking for the lost.

John 6:44 says, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him”.

Salvation is by grace first to last. I want to focus you in on verse 8:

Ephesians 2:8 NASB95

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

What is the grace?

The is perhaps the most important question you will ever ask yourself. You see you are not saved by grace generally speaking. God doesn’t just wave his hand and go “be forgiven”. You also are not meerly saved by the fact that God is gracious, though that certainly leads to the showing of grace. You see when the bible says you are “saved by grace” it is not saying you were saved by an attribute merely existing but by a demonstrable act of kindness from one person to another. This grace was of the most costly type. This grace was a gift of the most precious kind.

1 Peter 1:18–19 NASB95

18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

The gift is ultimately Christ Himself. John 3:16 says God gave us His Son.

WITH

Notice as much as we have talked about being “in Christ” in chapter one we have another important preposition in chapter 2. The word “with”.

Verse 5 “made us alive together with Christ”

Verse 6 we were “raised up with Him” and

“seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”.

Wether it is being in Christ or with Christ it is all about Christ. Who He is and what He has done.

You are either going to look to God’s gracious gift, Christ and Him crucified to save you from your sin, the devil, and the wrath of God or you are going to look to something else.... yourself? good deeds? whatever it may be. To be “saved” you must put your faith in God’s gracious gift, the Son and what He did for you!

Through faith

Notice it says: “through faith.” There is a condition to your salvation. The heavy lifting is the cross of Christ. That is where guilty sinners are justified (declared righteous) before a holy God! That is where transgressors are set free from the bondage of their sin. That is where they are ransomed from the domain of darkness. But it is “through faith”. This is in perfect harmony with God’s grace. In fact it is most likely part of what God calls “the gift of God” in verse 8.

The book of Hebrews calls faith “the assurance of things hope for, the conviction of things not seen.” Conceptually the closest idea we have to the biblical idea expressed here is the english word “trust”. Do you trust in Christ and the work on the cross for your salvation or do you trust in your own goodness and good deeds?

You see you are not saved by grace through faith in yourself. Paul is emphatic about this:

Ephesians 2:9 NASB95

9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

You are saved by faith in the grace that God has provided. So you by definition are looking to Him and what His hand has done. You are not looking to yourself. You are not looking to your own good deeds. You are looking to and relying upon the heavenly solution: Christ!

Personal

Grace is personal by definition. It is one party or person showing it to another party or person. God’s grace is genuine, sincere and personal. You see when you trust in Jesus for your salvation. You are saying my sins were nailed upon that cross. You are saying Jesus died for me!

Paul could say,

Galatians 2:20 NASB95

20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Have you personally trusted in Him? Have you?

1 Timothy 1:15 NASB95

15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.

Can you say Jesus died for me?

I am afraid there are people today with an undiagnosed condition. It is a fatal condition. It will kill them wether or not they get diagnosed. Today God is giving you the diagnoses. You were dead in your trespasses. You were a child of wrath.

That is the bad news, but news you desperately need to hear. Because if you can accept the diagnoses that you by your sins were alienated from God, then we can get you the cure for your death sentence.

But I want you to know that the cure was costly. The U.S government spent over 5 billion dollars on vaccine research for COVID-19. A disease that has a 1.8% death rate today.

The Bible says the wages of sin is death. The death rate is 100%. The good news is the cure is 100% effective. But I want you to know God spent more on your salvation then all human governments will spend on all infectious disease research through all history combined. He gave us His Son. He gave us Jesus.

By grace you have been saved! Do you hear it now? By grace you have been saved. The powerful, overwhelming, magnificent, grace of God.

Understand this. Jesus is the only cure. Him alone. There is no other name under heaven by which you must be saved!

Jesus died for mankind while we were yet sinners. Jesus graciously died with us in mind before we ever existed. If you have never put faith in Jesus before He is calling you right now to Himself. The grace of God is at work in the preaching of the Gospel and is calling you now. and you must trust in Him.

God opposes the proud. He opposes those who trust in themselves or there own good works. But He gives grace to the humble. Do not resist this grace that He freely gives. Do not resist the one who seeks you. Who has been searching for your lost soul. Trust in Him.

Saved for what?

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott Salvation by Effort vs. Salvation by God’s Grace

“All other religions teach salvation by human effort; Christianity alone teaches salvation by the grace of God. All other religions say: ‘Do and live.’ Christianity says: ‘Live and do.’ …

Ephesians 2:9–10 NASB95

9 not as 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 so that we would walk in them.

You see we are not trusting in our own works to be “Saved” but we are trusting in the WORK of Jesus. But then having received His Grace we are made new creations or as Ephesians says here we are “created in Christ Jesus”… and for what purpose and end? For good deeds? Why are good deeds important to God. Because they bring Him glory. They reflect His glory. That is the purpose in which we were made to bring glory to God.

Jesus said:

Matthew 5:16 NASB95

16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

This is something that only the “SAVED” can do. But the “SAVED” do do. They do good works, because such is the power of cross.

Ultimately Justified by grace though faith

Now the good deeds I do are not what ultimately justify me before God. They are merely the fruit of being found in Him. They also can be a warning that I haven’t really trusted in Jesus. They aren’t the only warning but they can be a warning.

Grace upon Grace

But I want to let you in on a secret to good deeds in your life as a Christian. The secret is “grace”.

If you are

Loved by God (verse 4)

Made alive with Christ verse 5

raised and seated with Him verse 6

His workmanship verse 10

Then lean into Him. Keep trusting in Him. It is personal! There is an Old English Prayer that can help you:

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott Old English Table Prayer

“Lord, give me grace to feel my need of grace, and give me grace to ask for grace and give me grace to receive grace, and O Lord, when grace is given, give me grace to use it.”

Paul could say this about His ministry:

1 Corinthians 15:10 NASB95

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

It is by grace first to last. and it is by faith first to last. Keep trusting in that grace of God for you! Keep trusting in what the Bible calls the Gospel of Grace! Keep trusting in the one in whom is the fullness of Grace, Jesus Christ!

God was motivated by Mercy and we are Saved by Grace.