You Were...But God... Eph 2:1-10

Good Morning Fellowship Espanol! I hope you are enjoying our series in Ephesians. This is week 3 in our study of Ephesians and we have been learning when God opens the eyes of the sinner and they begin to follow Christ, he makes them alive - regenerates, and redeems him from slavery from sin, and seals and sanctifies him for the day of redemption.

It is crucial to understand and know this as followers and disciples of Christ because knowing your identity in Christ is vital to who we are because life is lived from who we are. The decision you make on a daily basis, they are not random decisions, they flow from who you are and what you believe. Proverbs says,

Proverbs 4:23 (ESV)

Keep your heart with all vigilance,

for from it flow the springs of life.

Con toda diligencia guarda tu corazón, porque de él brotan los manantiales de la vida.

The heart in the Bible is the core of our being, this is who we are and what we believe and based on who we are and what we believe, we live life, which is why Proverbs says to keep, guard your heart. Paul is saying in Ephesians 1 when God transformed you In Christ, who you are has radically changed, your identity has radically changed and you will see as we move on through Ephesians we will discover if our identity has changed then the decisions we make and how we live our lives should change also.

We have learned from Ephesians Chapter 1 that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing, that we are chosen in him, holy and blameless, adopted in love, accepted in Christ, redeemed by his blood, forgiven of our sin, lavished in grace, we are part of the plan of God to unite all thing under Christ, have an inheritance, sealed by the Holy Spirit, the power working in us is the same power that raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to the right hand of the Father, All things are under our Lord and Saviour and he is the head of the church...

This is our blessing in Christ, this is who we are and the access we have now that we are united to Christ. This is amazing, amazing Grace.

Pastor Alfredo, spoke about our inheritance and our resources last week. This week we re going to pick up in Ephesians 2:1-10

Ephesians 2:1–10 (ESV)

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 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— 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. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Y Él os dio vida a vosotros, que estabais[a] muertos en[b] vuestros delitos y pecados, 2 en los cuales anduvisteis en otro tiempo según la corriente[c]de este mundo, conforme al príncipe de la potestad del aire, el espíritu que ahora opera en los hijos de desobediencia, 3 entre los cuales también todos nosotros en otro tiempo vivíamos en las pasiones de nuestra carne, satisfaciendo[d] los deseos de la carne y de la mente[e], y éramos por naturaleza hijos de ira, lo mismo que los demás. 4 Pero Dios, que es rico en misericordia, por causa del[f] gran amor con que nos amó, 5 aun cuando estábamos muertos en[g] nuestros delitos, nos dio vida juntamente con Cristo (por gracia habéis sido salvados), 6 y con Él nos resucitó, y con Él nossentó en los lugares celestiales en Cristo Jesús, 7 a fin de poder mostrar en los siglos venideros las sobreabundantes riquezas de su gracia por subondad para con nosotros en Cristo Jesús. 8 Porque por gracia habéis sido salvados por medio de la fe, y esto no de vosotros, sino que es don de Dios;9 no por[h] obras, para que nadie se gloríe. 10 Porque somos hechura suya, creados en Cristo Jesús para hacer buenas obras, las cuales Dios preparó de antemano para que anduviéramos en ellas.

I. You Were...

I know we say Chapter 2, but Paul is continuing his thoughts from the end of chapter 1, which is why we see the “and” at the beginning of this chapter. Pauls said look at all that God has done for you, he has blessed with every spiritual blessing, you lack nothing, the power that raised Jesus from the dead is empowering you through the Holy Spirit, the Jesus who saved you, rules over all, everything is subject to him, he is also the head of the church.

After Paul covers all that he says “and you”, I like what James Boice says here about chapter 1 and chapter 2. He says

“Chapter 1 gives us the past, present, and future of God’s great plan of salvation. Chapter 2 gives us the past, present, and future of the persons Christ saves.1

1 James Montgomery Boice, Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Ministry Resources Library, 1988), 46.

I also think it is important to point out what Paul is about to say, applies to every one and it is important to note because it will set up our passage next week. Paul is writing to Gentile believers in Ephesus, and that is who he is referring to when he says “and you” the you he is writing to, are Gentiles, which is the Jewish way of saying, everyone who isn’t Jewish. But if you notice in vs 3 he says “whom we all once lived”, the “we” Paul is referring to is the Jewish people. The human condition which Paul is about to explain, is not just a Gentile problem, it is a humanity, it doesn’t matter where you are from, if you are a Jew or Gentile, you have a problem.

Another important point that we need to look at is Paul is writing to believers, who are part of the churches throughout Asia Minor. We have to take notice of the words Paul uses, words are important to understanding God’s word and the words Paul uses here when he is writing to believer's are “were”, “once walked”, “once lived”. What does that tell you? Paul is using the past tense, in other words this was your condition before you met Jesus, as we discovered the past two weeks, In Christ, we are transformed people.

What Paul is going to do in the next 10 verses is Paul is going to tell us

Who we are and who God is

What we have done & what God has done

Why we have done what we have done & Why God has done what he has done

Then in 8 - 10, he will sum up what he has said in 1-7

So who were we?

A. Who we are

We were dead in our trespasses and sins

We were the real Walking Dead, people who were born into sin and going through life as dead people. We weren’t just dead, we were dead in our trespasses and sins. It is interesting Paul uses these two words here. The word trespass means “to fall down” and the word sin carries the idea of missing the mark, it is as if an archer shoots his arrow to hit a bullseye, but never hits it because the arrow is crooked. The archer will always miss the mark.

That was our condition, we were dead to God and all his blessings but we are alive to sin and every kind of wickedness. You were always falling and failing to meet God’s holy standard, you were always missing the mark, because we were dead in our sins.

B. What we have done

Paul goes on to describe what we have done as we walked in our deadness

In our deadness,

1. We walked, meaning we lived a lifestyle of sin.

Paul uses the idea of walking, to convey lifestyle. We lived a lifestyle of sin before Christ, seeking our own way and desiring to rule our own lives. we wanted to do whatever we wanted and you know what, we did. We lived a lifestyle of sin, some in thoughts, some in action, and many of us it was both thoughts and actions. Paul continues and says...

2. We followed the world system and the devil

Paul continues by telling us we followed the course of this world. What does Paul mean by world here? When the Bible speaks about the world it does so in one of the three ways.

a. The physical world - sometimes when the Bible use the word world, it is talking about the physical earth and all that is in it.

b. The People in the world - Sometimes when the Bible uses the word world, it is referring to the people who live in the world. “For God so loved the world”

c. The World System - Sometimes when the Bible uses the word world it is referring to the world system that is in opposition to God.

The context is clear what Paul is referring to here, which is the world system. Paul says you once followed the world system, which stands in opposition to God. In your deadness, you followed the ways of the world. Paul takes it one step further, because not only did you sin, and followed the ways of the world, but you followed the devil, the prince of the power of the air. This is referring to the devil, so we were sinners, followers of the world system and followers of the devil himself.

3.We lived in the passions of our flesh

We lived according to our own desires and passions. Here is a word we are introduced to that has more than one meaning, flesh.

a. Flesh - it can mean your skin

b. Flesh - but Paul takes this word flesh and uses it to describe our sinful condition.

Just like the word world, the context of the passage will tell you what the Bible is referring to. We know that Paul is referring to the flesh to describe our sinful condition. As I was studying this passage, I couldn’t help but think of my life before Christ. Before Christ I just wanted to do my own thing, I didn’t want no one telling me what to do, I wanted to be my own person, my own boss and when we are living in our sin, we deceive ourselves into believing that we are in control of our own life, I am the boss. Yet, in reality, and according to God’s word you are just a follower, you are enslaved, you are not your own boss, you are ruled over. You are enslaved by your own sin, you are following after the ways of the world, and worst of all you are following, I don’t think it is too extreme to say a disciple of the devil. According to the Bible, everyone is a disciple, it just a matter who are you following? Are you following Christ? or Are you following the world? following the devil?

C. Why have done what we done?

Why do I sin, why am I enslaved to sin, the world and the devil?

The reason is because by nature we are children of wrath.

Here is the problem, we are by nature, children of wrath. In other words, by nature we are sinners, our lives are infected by sin, we aren’t just sick with sin, we are dead in sin. How did this happen? Paul wrote this to the Romans

Romans 5:12–14 (ESV)

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

12 Por tanto, tal como el pecado entró en el mundo por un hombre, y la muerte por el pecado, así también la muerte se extendió a todos los hombres, porque todos pecaron;

Sin came in to this world through Adam, he sinned by disobeying God, by saying I want to rule my own life and Adam ate the fruit and introduced sin and death into the world and to all who would come after him. But I think the key phrase is “death spread to all because all sinned” what does that mean? It means, in some mysterious way, in Adam we all sinned, therefore the consequences have been passed to all humans, sin has been imputed to us. In reality, if any of us were in Adam’s place we would have ate the fruit. Because we all sinned, we are nature children of wrath, sinners who deserve the wrath of God...

II. But God...

But God, two of the most comforting words in all the Bible, because God didn’t not leave us as objects of his wrath. No he sent his Son, that while we were sinners Christ died for us. While I was his enemy, God sent his son to die in my place, so the sin imputed to me through Adam, Jesus life and death was the price for our sin, and as a result I am forgiven of my sin, and I receive the righteousness Christ. So that when God sees me, he doesn’t see Adam, when he looks at me he sees Jesus.

A. And because of this Paul tells us who God is

God is rich in mercy (Mercy is God withholding the punishment you deserve) and because of the great love with which he loved us, when we were dead in our trespasses, he made us alive! I am alive because God is merciful and because God is Love!

It is because the riches of God’s mercy and the greatness of God’s love, that anyone is saved. God could have just let us all waste away and die in our sins, but because God is rich in mercy and his love is great, he makes us alive in Christ.

B. Paul also tells us what God has done.

Paul sums up all that he was telling us in chapter 1 by saying

God the Father through the work of Jesus,

1. Makes us alive together with Christ

2. Raises us up together with Christ

3. Seats us together with Christ

We read that to fast to get to the by grace part of this passage. Take the time to meditate on what Paul is saying and the words he is using. There is something miraculous that happens when God chose to save me, when he chose to save you. He made you alive, he raised you up and seated you in the heavens, here is the icing on the cake, we are together with Christ. In our salvation, we are united with Christ and I no longer live but it is Christ in me. This is the spiritual blessing we have, that I am no longer standing alone, but I am In Christ and Christ is in me. We are united together. Therefore if God in Christ, is for me, who can be against me?

Romans 8:31–39 (ESV)

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ...

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

31 Entonces, ¿qué diremos a esto? Si Dios está por nosotros, ¿quién estarácontra nosotros? 32 El que no eximió ni a su propio Hijo, sino que lo entregó por todos nosotros, ¿cómo no nos concederá también con Él todas las cosas? 33 ¿Quién acusará a los escogidos de Dios? Dios es el que justifica.34 ¿Quién es el que condena? Cristo Jesús es el que murió, sí, más aún, el que resucitó[p], el que además está a la diestra de Dios, el que también intercede por nosotros. 35 ¿Quién nos separará del amor de Cristo[q]? ¿Tribulación, o angustia, o persecución, o hambre, o desnudez, o peligro, o espada?...

37 Pero en todas estas cosas somos más que vencedores por medio de aquel que nos amó. 38 Porque estoy convencido de que ni la muerte, ni la vida, ni ángeles, ni principados, ni lo presente, ni lo por venir, ni los poderes[r], 39 ni lo alto, ni lo profundo, ni ninguna otra cosa creada nos podrá separar del amor de Dios que es en Cristo Jesús Señor nuestro.

C. Why did God do this?

Why did God do this.... we have already heard this before, we have heard it for the past two weeks, why did God do this?

English Standard Version (Chapter 2)

7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

a fin de poder mostrar en los siglos venideros las sobreabundantes riquezas de su gracia por su bondad para con nosotros en Cristo Jesús.

The reason God does all of this is to the praise of the glory of his grace. God did this to demonstrate the glory of his grace, and the recipients of his grace can sing PRAISE GOD! What is grace? Grace is kind of like mercy, but instead of God withholding what you deserve Grace is God giving you what you don’t deserve.

Paul sums up Ephesians 2:1-7, with verses 8-10.

By grace you have been saved through faith. and this is not of your own doing, it is a gift of God. Nothing we did contributed to God’s gift of grace to saves us. God provides the grace necessary to save and he even provides the faith necessary to believe, it is a gift of God to demonstrate his grace and kindness toward us in Christ.

Paul sums up the reason God did what he did and the way he did it, this time negatively first, so that no one will boast, why cant no one boast? because God did it all, to the praise of the glory of HIS GRACE.

Here is another reason no one can boast in verse 10. We are his workmanship, his masterpiece, his work of art, created, we are his creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

In Christ we have a new purpose to live, created in Christ for good works.

Listen, I am not sure if your mind is grasping all that Paul is writing, but this is amazing! We cannot boast because we are

God’s work of art

created in Christ for good works

Which God prepared beforehand - just think about that practically. I was brought to tears as I meditated on this last night. Because God knew that one day Loredana would come to Fellowship Espanol. He planned that we would be the church privileged with caring for here, before it even happened.

all we have to do is walk in the good works he has planned for us and that is why no one can boast, because it is still all God working for the praise of the glory of His Grace.