God's Transformational Grace

Introduction - Ephesians 2:1-10

Recap Series

the The Gospel is God’s plan to redeem.

the gospel is that the father has chosen you, the son has redeemed you and the Spirit assures you

Today - God‘s Transformational Grace

One of the biggest lies that we believe is that there are good people apart from God

we will even say things like, “well they are not a christian, but they are a good person.”

the truth is, there is nothing good about us apart from God,

As believers, we were one way and now we are transformed, and it has nothing to do with us.

Ephesians 2:1–10 CSB

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! 6 He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

Something that is created cannot brag about how it is created, except to brag about the creator

yet that is what we do when we take pride in ourselves

God’s grace is beautiful all on its own, it does not need your help to shine bright, yet when it is given to us it is like a diamond on a jewelers black cloth, shinning ever so bright in the contrast

PRAY!

How Depraved we were

We read things like Psalm 53:3

Psalm 53:3 CSB

3 All have turned away; all alike have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one.

yet even when we do, we think, but my corruptness is not as bad as that guys

the truth is we are right, we will always be able to find somebody that is more corrupt than we are

yet this still does not excuse us, this does not make the punishment that we deserve any less deserved or horrific

It does not mean that you were any less spiritually dead

Ephesians 2:1–3 CSB

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.

The Princess Bride - Miracle Max… He is mostly dead

This is how Paul starts us off… you were dead,

but not just you, V3 says that we were all this way

you may be a better person than the other guy but you are both spiritually dead

maybe his sins are worse than yours, there are some that are worse than others

do not be confused and believe that all sin is the same, there are some sins that are worse than others

even Jesus when talking to Pilot just before his crucifixion stated about the Jewish leaders, “Their’s is the greater sin.”

Not all sin is created equal, but all is punished equal, spiritual death

why? because of your trespasses and sins

trespasses - the acts of sin

sins - our sinful state

one commentary stated, “We were dead committing our trespasses in our sinful state.”

it says that we walked, or lived, committing these trespasses in our sinful state

While were were running around in our freedom to sin, we were right where Satan wanted us

this is what he loves and where he wants to keep us

indulging in the inclinations of their heart

inclinations - desired purpose or outcome

meaning that we live in a way that will most gratify ourselves

chasing after momentary happiness and gratification

we must see that Satan wants us to seek momentary happiness, joyless life and to be spiritually dead

Paul states, this is all of us… there are none who are born and just chase after God and do not need his grace

How Loved we are

What kind of conditions do you put on the love that you give

think about those you love, what would it take for you to not love them anymore

I know that we say we love unconditionally, but do we

if your friends betrayed your trust or spoke badly about you, would you leave them

if your spouse committed adultery, if your kids were murderers

this is why it is wonderful that we are not God, or that God is not like us

Ephesians 2:4–7 CSB

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! 6 He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

But God… there is nothing more that needs to be said to show the sharp contrast

you were dead in your trespasses and sins… But God

you were evil and following Satan… But God

all of us were running around trying to satisfy our fleshly desires… But God

we were depraved, meaning we were morally corrupt, and wicked

yet, despite our living according to the ways of this world and the ways of Satan, God never stopped his love from coming to us

v4 says, because of HIS GREAT LOVE FOR US

What does the “but” say about God...

He is rich in mercy

rich means have an abundance

mercy is getting what you do not deserve

mercy is God’s expressed compassion

Matthew 13 we read about Jesus feeding the 4000, why did he feed them, they had been traveling with him for several days and had no where to get food… Jesus felt compassion and fed them

He is rich in mercy… he will never run out

unfortunately this is not how we think of God

we think if somebody else gets a blessing of God, then that is one less that I might get, and we can get jealous

as if there is a finite amount of mercy that God has, that he might not have any for us if we are at the back of the line

We are made alive with Christ

you were spiritually dead and now spiritually alive

for those who were raised in a godly home, who have stated you did not have the dramatic testimony

no addictions, no failed marriages, no major setbacks to your life, you were simply raised in a christian home and now have a family you are raising in a Christian home

be thankful… do not say that as if it is a bad thing

notice the miracle that has taken place in your life is no different than that of an addict

you were dead, you were depraved but God, through his mercy and because of his love… has made you alive!

We are seated with Christ

last week

we talked about how Christ had been lifted up to the heavens, seated at the right hand of God, the position of honor.

that he was above all things and that all things were subject to him

because we are so used to the worldly way of thinking, seeing political leaders rule over us, seeing leaders separate themselves from us lower class people

Dinner with Buck O’Neil…

we were in the same room but we were not with him

seated with, literally means, sit down together we are with him...

I am not saying that we are equal to… but that we are with him

This demonstrates the awesomeness of God’s love

we are now the living breathing example of God’s grace that is available to all people

an immeasurable riches of grace… we are visual a display of God’s grace

the world should be able to look at believers in Christ and see the grace of God

the grace that brought our dead souls to life

the grace that will never run out

How God Glorifies Himself

I amaze myself sometimes with my own stupidity

I am getting older, maybe not old, though I am a grandpa now

and in full grandpa mode… grandson sees me and runs to me, his mom said no to going to do something, I said yes and we went and did it

I have noticed thought that there are somethings that I have started forgetting

like why did I walk into the kitchen, oh yeah, I was going to get a drink while I was up going to the bathroom… I better go to the bathroom.

I think the thing that amazes me most though is that I still am stupid enough to continue to tell God how things should be done,

as if he needs my counsel and suggestions

as if I have ever offered him anything, even to my own salvation

Ephesians 2:8–10 CSB

8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

Define some terms

saved - to make well

grace - gift of kindness, not getting what you deserve

faith - the basis of believing; I believe this, so I am doing this

because I believe in Christ, I am living for him

gift - present or sacrifice

The debate has been for a long time, which came first, grace or faith

did God’s grace come to you and then you had faith, did you have faith and then God’s grace came

I believe that we look at this question wrong, the reason for that is because we think that we have something to offer God

as if God has grace that he can offer to us as a gift, and we have faith that we can offer back to God as a gift to him

note… saved, grace, and faith are all listed as gifts that come from God

v9 tells us that we bring nothing to the table,

there will be nobody that is seated with Jesus that will say look what I brought to the table

nobody will be boasting in the presence of Jesus

not about the amount of faith we have,

not about the great things that we have done

only about the grace of God that allows us a seat at the table

V10 can almost seem like it is a sharp change in direction

like Paul had said the word works in v9, and went, “Oh yeah! You are made to do works for God.”

the real interesting word in v10 is workmanship

most translations have it that way, some say creation

NLT - Masterpiece

The word is interesting because it is only found one other place in the NT

Romans 1:20 CSB

20 For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.

where Paul writes that what has been created, is done so, with the intent that people will look at creation and know that there is a God

the same way, you were created, and given tasks so that people will look at you and see the grace and love of God

You have been saved by grace, to show the grace of God to a lost and dying world