THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL, THE RESURRECTION POWER is put on display in Ephesians chapter 2 of GOD’S POWER to save, rescue, deliver and impart spiritual life into Spiritually dead people!
“YOU WERE…” v1- PAST TENSE! Paul shows the believers what condition they had been in, but no more. He said “you were dead in sins and transgressions.” The sphere they had been “in” was the sphere of sin, they were spiritually dead, alienated from God. All people outside of Jesus Christ are as Paul says, “…being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;”-{Eph 4:18}
Physically alive but their spirit was dead. They had been part of the “walking dead.” The word, “sins” is “hamartia,’ and is a hunter’s word, it means, “to miss the mark,” and then came to mean “missing the goal”, any goal, not meeting it. “Trespasses,” means “to fall, stumble, deviate, go the wrong way.” This is what “you were,” he tells them. They were sinners, had lived in the environment of sin. Like living in a sewerage, a sin sewerage, “walking dead,” and not even knowing it. Walking in the darkness and deadness and depravity of sin, stumbling, in sin, falling in sin, deviating and going the wrong way in sin, missing the mark of what God required. Hopelessly, alienated from God. No spiritual life within. Miserable, empty lives. Like a ship without a rudder.
SINNERS BY NATURE, SINNERS BY CHOICE;
Sin is who we are- sinners- Sin is missing the mark of the standard God has. Sin is not just what we do but what we Don’t do. We miss God’s mark for us-For example, We Don’t Glorify God. We are not perfectly righteous, we are not holy, we do not love God with all of our heart, we cannot , because we are spiritually “dead in sins and transgressions.” Paul says, they had been deceived by the devil who influenced their disobedience and they were dominated by the worlds system, value system, and lived pursuing, occupied with the world system dictating what was important, valuable. Sinners for centuries leading, guiding and setting the standard for other sinners, failing, falling, deviating, going the wrong way, in the various degrees of depravity, “professing to be wise they became fools,” and all the time missing the mark of God. Spewing out sin, indwelt by sin, living in sin, manifested by self-centered thinking, and living. Spiritually dead, captives, held by the devil to do his will-{2 Tim 2:15}; and all the while proclaiming our “freedom.” Unaware of the depravity, bondage of our true spiritual condition, as the Bible teaches.
Such is the environment, sphere that people- sinners who are dead spiritually- walking spiritual corpses, zombies, who have fallen, stumble, deviate from God’s way, walking in the darkness of their own heart, depraved, turning away from God. This is the condition of all people everywhere. Some sinners, may abhor us, while other sinners seem “nice” and “good people,” but they both are dead! Spiritually dead- and sin IS KNOWN BY what they are not doing, namely, They do not live to Glorify God. They do not live Loving God supremely. They do not live perfectly righteous, they are not holy. They are “dead in sins and transgressions.” It is against this horrific darkness, and depravity and deadness of the putrefaction of sin, that Paul reminds the believes of what is involved in salvation.
WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN? – CONSIDER THESE 6 MARKS.
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– SALVATION- FROM SIN – V-1-3–
“You were…” how beautiful these words, “you were”… that is the believers past. “You were dead in sins and transgressions…” “YOU WERE…” DEAD….in sins and transgressions..” “YOU WERE…” Deceived by satan, and influenced by him “YOU WERE… “ Dominated by the worlds ideology BUT something happened…. two of the most beautiful words, which speak of contrast, intervention and it is God who does the intervening, for the spiritually dead, who live in the cesspool of sin, HE IS NEITHER OBLIGATED TO SAVE, yet He does and these two comforting words show His knowledge of our condition and yet we see there is Hope in Him, for there is a glorious. ...”BUT GOD…”
“BUT GOD…”
intervened, “BUT GOD…” had mercy on the miserable sinners and relieving the guilt of their sin, acted on behalf of sinners. Salvation from Sin. because of “BUT GOD…” the believer now can say to be saved means” SALVATION FROM SIN- the spiritual deadness of missing the mark that God desires and demands and which we cannot do. “But God…” delivered, rescued and saved me out of that sphere. He transferred me from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His Beloved Son.{Col 1:13}. He justified me- declared me righteous and His Son’s righteousness was placed to my account because He bore the wrath of God for me- {2 Cor 5:21.} What I was incapable of doing GOD DID!”-{Rom 8:2}. Salvation from the dominion and penalty of sin. Salvation from Sin!
2.- SALVATION – BY LOVE – V4
“ Being RICH in MERCY because of His GREAT LOVE with which He LOVED US…” “RICH” speaks of wealthy. God is wealthy in mercy to show compassion for the miserableness of sin and rich in mercy to cleanse and remove a guilty conscience. Rich In Mercy toward you, and why did God save these people Paul wrote to? Why did He save you? What motivated Him to show mercy upon the miserableness of sinners? Paul tells us -“Because of His GREAT LOVE…” …“GREAT” Speaks about the intensity of His Love. He intensely loves you. Salvation … BY LOVE. How do we know He loved us?
- “But God DEMONSTRATES His own LOVE TOWARDS US, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” -{Rom 5:8}
- “We KNOW Love by this, He laid down His life for us…” – {1 John 3:16}
- “For God SO LOVED the world HE GAVE His only Begotten Son…”- {John 3:16}
- ” The Son of God LOVED ME and GAVE HIMSELF up for me…”- {Gal 2:20}
- “To Him who CONTINUALLY LOVES US and has released us from our sins by His blood…”-{Rev 1:5-6.}.
“I have LOVED YOU, with an EVERLASTING Love ..,”- {Jer 31:1}. God’s love was thought through. It is His choice from eternity past. His choice. From before He spoke the heavens and earth into existence . Before you were born, God loved you !
God made His love known by sending His Son into the cesspool of sin. He came to release the captives, to resurrect the spiritually dead and cause them to stand in newness of life, power, permanent status before Him. {Rom 5:2}. They were saved from sin because of …LOVE!
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– SALVATION – UNTO LIFE;– V5
“You were DEAD….” –“But God…”– “Made us ALIVE together with Christ”-v5
A person who dies physically has no capacity to respond, to feel, to be aware, they have no life in them. Spiritually dead….“BUT GOD…”…”Made us ALIVE with Christ.”
Alive ; “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ” -{Rom 6:11}; “... He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,” – {Col 2:13}; “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.”-{Rom 8:10}; “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. “-{Rom 5:25}
Alive to desire to Know God,{Phil 3:10}, alive to hunger for righteousness, alive to thirst after His Word like new born babes who crave the sincere milk of the Word- {1 Peter 2:1-2.}. Alive to the Word of God, reading and understanding as the Holy Spirit who resides within you teaches and illumines His Word to you. Alive to seek God’s kingdom. Alive to the power and promises of God -{2 Peter 1:3-4}. Abundant life. Eternal Life knowing Him. Power to live a new resurrected life, to walk in the power of life and Godliness. “… and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. “-{John 17:3; Phil 3:10; 2 Peter 1:3-4; 2 Cor 5:15}.
“BUT GOD…!!!”
How is this all possible? By the grace of God and the mercy of God motivated by the LOVE OF GOD… SAVED BY LOVE… Saved to LIVE NEWNESS OF LIFE.
The Spiritual corpse were those whom God had raised up to stand up in newness of spiritual life,from the deadness of sins and now walk among the spiritually dead, with the Good news. We live in a world, walking among “the spiritually dead.”
Note Paul- shows the BAD NEWS first and from there the turning point is always, “BUT GOD…” WHO DELIVERS, RESCUES AND IMPARTS LIFE… and we can look back and say that is what we “were,” but now we “are,” Alive with Christ. ” It is not perfection in our performance but there is a new direction because of the new perfect standing we have with God-{Rom 5:1-2, Phil 3:9}.
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SALVATION – GOD’S GIFT; – v8-9
” For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
For “you have been saved by grace through faith…” “Now Paul shows us we moved from“you were” to “you have been”– from one sphere to another, salvation is now yours and it is the GIFT OF GOD, and not of your own resources, merit, so there is no self boasting! Even the faith to believe is the GIFT OF GOD. So no one can boast, but let him who boasts boast’s in the Lord -{1 Cor 10:31.}. – Salvation is the GIFT OF GOD! God rescuing us from spiritual death to life is all of His Grace. His Gift to the undeserving to rescue the sinner from the penalty of sin, the wrath of God into a right standing with God, is not by self effort,or merit, it is all by His Grace, His kindness, His unmerited favor! “Grace,” is His “blessing,”us with what we do not deserve, “favor.”
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SALVATION – God’s MASTERPIECE. – v 10
” For we are His workmanship,”- The first four words in Greek for “masterpiece” spells “Poem.” You are God’s Poem, His Masterpiece. He is still working on you, But He is intimately involved and you are a trophy of His grace, His Divine favor and kindness. You may not feel much of a “masterpiece,’ “But God…” is continually working and you are His masterpiece of more value than the costly works of the grandest and brilliance of the most acclaimed artist. For you have been bought with the “precious,” valuable blood of Jesus. He has set His value upon you, and there is no higher authority than God Himself! The Jerusalem Bible translates workmanship as “work of art.” He has “saved”us from the corruption, destruction bondage of sin to make something beautiful out of us, we are to HIM, His “Masterpiece!” It is a new life created out of nothing within us that God has to work with but “a new creation in Christ,”we are On display as GOD’S Masterpiece!
6. – SALVATION- UNTO GOOD WORKS. -v10
“…created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” – v10
God CREATED US WITH A PURPOSE- to walk in those good works God has prepared for us.
“FOR…” Gives the explanation…
“Good works” are the “fruit,” of this new life of being ALIVE with Christ. The “Good works”are a manifestation of being saved. We don’t work to seek or gain His favor, but in light of the fact we have His favor and acceptance, “good works” are an evidence of His salvation and an appreciation to Him for this wonderful salvation. God has given the believer the resurrection power to enable us to fulfill those “good works” that have been created for us. So as you “go” daily, what is before you, you have the power to do, resurrected Power that raised you from the deadness of sins and translated you into the Kingdom of His Beloved Son. You have power to do “good works.” And ultimately the purpose of “good works”is that “let your light shine so that others that they may see your good works and GLORIFY your Father in Heaven” – {Matt 5:16}. You were “created” for the doing of “good works,” you have the power within to accomplish His “good works ,”He has laid before you. Salvation through His resurrected power unto “Good works.”
SALVATION- “YOU WERE DEAD….” “BUT GOD…”YOU ARE…ALIVE…”
“YOU WERE… YOU ARE…”
READ- Ephesians 2:1-10….. note what “you were…” – v 1… note who “you are…”
“YOU WERE…” DEAD….in sins and transgressions..” “YOU WERE…” Deceived by satan, and influenced by him
“YOU WERE… “ Dominated by the worlds ideology.
“BUT GOD…”
Now…“YOU ARE... ALIVE WITH CHRIST” – “YOU ARE... saved By Grace through faith.” “YOU ARE...God’s Masterpiece. “YOU ARE... empowered , created to walk, live your life, doing good works.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CHRISTIAN?
It Means…
I AM…
* SAVED – FROM SIN
* SAVED – BY LOVE
* SAVED – FROM SPIRITUAL DEATH TO LIFE.
* SAVED – THROUGH GOD’S GIFT TO ME
* SAVED – GOD’S MASTERPIECE
* SAVED- CREATED TO WALK IN GOOD WORKS
SAVED- BY LOVE!
“THE LOVE OF GOD”
“The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.
When years of time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men, who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.”- Lehman
APPLICATION;
1.- BLESS GOD- “SPEAK WELL” OF HIM AND PRAISE AND THANK Him for what He has done for you…{Eph 1:3}
- – READ,MEMORIZE, MEDITATE– Eph 2:1-5
- – SHARE– THIS GOD NEWS WITH SOMEONE…
- – PRAY– YOU WOULD UNDERSTAND AND BE ABLE TO HELP OTHERS UNDERSTAND- THESE 6 MARKS OF BEING SAVED- SALVATION…”In Christ…”