Saved By Grace (Ephesians)
Saved By Grace: What does it actually mean to be “saved” in a Christian sense? The Biblical picture of life in this broken world is bleak — that apart from Christ, we are spiritually dead. Is there any hope? Yes! The gospel says that because of God’s love and mercy, salvation is offered as a gracious gift to be received by faith. The gospel changes everything. Recorded on May 12, 2024, on Ephesians 2:1-10 by Pastor David Parks.
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Our series, Ephesians: The Gospel in Life, serves as an epilogue to Finding Life in Jesus’ Name from John’s gospel. The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reveals much about how the life found by faith in Jesus actually works. This series will touch on themes of grace, identity, purpose, family, the church, spiritual warfare, and more. If you’re considering the life of Jesus or if you’re ready to follow him today, this series is for you.
Sermon Transcript
Well, for the next few months, we’ll be working through a sermon series called The Gospel in Life from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in the Bible. If you missed either of the first few sermons, you can always go back and watch or listen to the podcast to catch up if you’d like. But today, we’re going to try and stare into the sun for the next 30 minutes or so. Today, from one of the most important passages in the whole Bible, we’re going to consider the heart of Christian salvation. What does it actually mean to be “saved” in a Christian sense? Just what is it that God saves us from? How has he saved us? And what has he saved us for? Well, in case you’re thinking, “I don’t really need this message. I’m already a Christian.” just remember, Paul is writing to Christians, to his brothers and sisters in Christ, in Ephesus. They’d already heard and believed the gospel. But today, in Ephesians 2, we’ll see that everybody needs the gospel, even Christians. We never graduate from our need for the gospel. If you have a Bible/app, please take it and open it to Ephesians 2:1.
Ephesians 2:1–2 (NIV), “1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” “As for you” probably refers to the gentile Christians in the church at Ephesus, but he’s not leaving himself or Paul’s fellow Jews from the need for the gospel, as we’ll see shortly. But here, Paul starts with the bad news. “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.” What does this mean? Well, a transgression simply means crossing a line that shouldn’t be crossed. You commit a transgression when you drive your car through a guardrail on the highway — that never ends well. A moral transgression would be crossing a line that God has drawn, breaking a command of God, such as lying, cheating, stealing, coveting what isn’t yours, dishonoring your parents, and so on. These are all transgressions, but sin is very similar. The word for sin was originally an archery term meaning falling short of the mark. In Christian thought, sin means falling short of God’s standard for what is right in thought, word, or deed. Jesus taught that the whole Law could be summed up in two commands: first, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the second, to love your neighbor as yourself. So sin means falling short in some way in our love for God or our love for others. Now, everyone knows that transgressions and sins are bad. God made human beings with a conscience. You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to know right from wrong. But here’s the real problem: Paul says that if you cross a line you shouldn’t cross or if you fall short of what’s right, it’s not just that you’re guilty, and it’s not just that you ought to be ashamed — it’s that you’re dead. You might be physically alive, but you’re spiritually dead. You’re a cut flower. You might even look quite youthful/beautiful on the outside, but you’re separated from the only real source of life in creation. Sin always separates; it’s a disintegrating force. It corrodes and dissolves the bonds of friendship. Sin pushes husbands and wives apart. It ruins Christmas dinner. But far more important than the human impact, sin is cosmic rebellion against God. It’s a rejection of God’s word/will/way. It’s creatures choosing to reject their Creator to follow the ways of this broken “world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” This spirit is known as the adversary, the devil. Now, I don’t think most people would see their lives in such stark terms when they start considering the Christian faith. It’s true that most people have a sense of need or even a sense of guilt that they haven’t lived in a way that honors God before becoming a Christian. But I don’t think most people would check the “spiritually dead” box on the connect card (if we had that box). So, is Paul just trying to make us feel bad here? I don’t think so. The picture Paul is painting here is helpful because it’s true. Whether we fully understood it or not, apart from the person and work of Jesus, we were spiritually dead. We lived (lit. walked) according to the corrupt ways of this broken world, and we were trapped in a satanic system, a kingdom of darkness. But was this just a Gentile problem? Not at all. Paul goes on to include himself and his people in this “walking dead” condition.
Ephesians 2:3 (NIV), “3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.”Here, in switching from “you” to “us,” Paul includes the Jewish believers on the same sinking ship as the Gentiles. In the past, at one time, we were all “gratifying the cravings of our flesh.” That is, we were following any desire/thought, sinful or not, that seemed good to us at the time. Now, it might be obvious, but this is why the modern idea of following your heart doesn’t work. Because our hearts are a mixed bag of good and bad, healthy and helpful motives mixed with self-centered or even self-destructive motives. One moment, we’re trying to love and serve others, and the very next moment, we’re trying to see how much we can take from others. We struggle to do what we know is right. And sometimes, we give in all too easily to what we know it’s wrong. This isn’t a Jew or Gentile problem; it’s a universal problem. “There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Ro 3:22b-23). According to the Bible, this is the main problem in our world. All other problems flow out of this problem. Now, you might think, “If I could just get a handle on my language, or if I could just figure out how not to stop fighting with my spouse or be more patient with my coworkers, or if I could just reign in my drinking/spending/worrying, then I would basically be ok. If God could help me with those problems, then my life would basically be good to go.” But the Bible reveals there’s a far bigger problem under all those other problems. Those problems are symptoms of the disease of spiritual death. As a result, Paul’s prognosis is that “like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” “But wait!” you might think. “I’m not that bad of a person!” And it might be true. You can almost always find someone whose record (moral performance) is worse than yours. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true. You can almost always find someone whose record is better than yours. How do you know if you’re good enough? But according to Paul, the categories aren’t good and bad, the categories are spiritually alive and spiritually dead. We saw two weeks ago that God’s cosmic goal for the gospel is the renewal and unity of all things in/under Christ. And we said that this means all of history has a direction and a destination in Christ. But the bad news is that apart from Christ, we are spiritually dead, so our direction and destination are judgment, wrath, and separation from the life, light, and love of God going on forever. This is what hell is. But is there any hope? Can anything be done about this condition? The answer of the gospel is a resounding “Yes!” Just watch.
Ephesians 2:4-5 (NIV), “4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” Our passage started with “you were” and painted a bleak picture. But…what? But…God! Because of who God is — because of his great love for us and because he’s rich in mercy — we have hope. And because of what God does, because of his wonderful works — we have hope. And what has God done in accordance with his love and mercy? He “made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.” The root of all our problems is spiritual death caused by transgressions and sins. “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro 6:23). This gift of God is what makes Paul exclaim, “…it is by grace you have been saved.” Grace is the unmerited blessing/favor of God. The new spiritual life that God gives is not a paycheck to be earned; it’s a gift simply to be received. We’ll get to how we receive it in a moment, but for now, I’d like to point out that the grace of God is one aspect of Christian salvation that is totally unique. No other religion or philosophy has anything like this. Every other religion says something like, “Here are the steps you need to follow to get the blessing/favor of God.” Every philosophy says, “Here are the steps you need to follow to live the good life.” But the gospel says, “God loves you. So, here’s what God has done/accomplished for you. Here’s the good life that God has graciously given to you in Christ.” It’s totally upside-down compared to the ways of the world. It’s just as radically different from Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism as it is from secular humanism. No one else has anything like the grace of God. But what has this grace done?
Ephesians 2:6-7 (NIV), “6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” This is a curious way of talking about the work of God. Did you notice it? These actions are all in the past tense. (“God raised us…and [has] seated us…”) But we are not in heaven, are we? And the resurrection of the dead hasn’t happened yet, has it? We’re still in the age of redemption, including the Spirit, the gospel, and the church. We’re still seeing the kingdom of God unfolding/expanding here on the earth. It’s not fully “on earth as it is in heaven” — at least not yet. So why does Paul write as if these things already happened? Well, some scholars think Paul is so confident in the gracious work of God — “that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Php 1:6) — that he speaks of our future as if it’s already happened. Like a coach telling their team, they’ve already won the game when they’re up by twenty points with only 30 seconds left in the game. Technically, they haven’t won yet, but the victory is sure. And that could be. If salvation is a gift of God’s grace, it isn’t dependent on me and my shaky ability to earn God’s blessing/favor. If we’re saved by grace, we’ve already won, right? Now, I do believe this is what God has done in Christ, but I think Paul is doing something a little different with his use of the past tense here. When he says that “God raised us up,” he says, “with Christ.” And when he says that “God seated us…in the heavenly realms,” he says, “with him” and “in Christ Jesus.” Paul is pointing to our union with Christ, one of the great themes of this letter. When God raised Jesus from the dead, we, too, were raised from the dead because of our union with him. When Jesus ascended into heaven and was seated at the right hand of God the Father, we, too, were seated because of our union with him. We were raised and seated and have received all the other aspects of the blessing and favor of God because we are in Christ. But how? How are we united with Christ? How do we receive the gift of God’s grace?
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV), “8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast.” If you take notes in your Bibles, these verses would be great to highlight/underline/circle. What is the way of salvation? How might we find redemption, forgiveness, and spiritual life? Do you want to know what it means to be saved? We receive the grace/love/mercy of God through faith — by believing in the person and work of Jesus and trusting him in life. We’re not Christians because we are better or smarter or more deserving than others. We’re not Christians because we have our lives all sorted out. We’re not Christians because we’ve obeyed the Ten Commandments or have perfectly loved God and our neighbor. We are not saved by our works — even works done for God. Therefore, no one can boast. Salvation cannot result in believing we’re better than others. Why? Because we are Christians for one reason only: because we need Jesus, we believe in Jesus, and by God’s grace, we have received Jesus and are now united with him. If we boast in anyone, we boast in him. So, the gospel is not “Here are the steps you need to follow to get the blessing/favor of God.” or “Here are the steps you need to follow to live the good life.” The gospel is the good news of who God is, what he’s done in the past, what he’s doing today through his Son and Spirit, and all that he promises for our future in Christ. Because of his love and mercy, God has already accomplished everything we need in Christ. To receive this as the gracious gift it was intended to be, all you need to do is take God at his word. However, by stressing God’s saving work in the gospel, that it is not by our works we are saved, Paul would never want us to think it doesn’t matter how we live. Just the opposite.
Ephesians 2:10 (NIV), “10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” This is God’s word. So, in light of the gospel of grace, where we’re saved by grace through faith, we discover we do have work to do. Not works to earn our salvation, but works to do because we’re saved. The way of salvation is a gift to receive. But the way of the Christian life, of life in Christ, is a job to do. Why? Because we are God’s handiwork. God has worked like an artisan in wisdom and great purpose in creating us. And God has made us to do good works. To love him and to love others; to share good news and help others come to faith and grow in their faith in Jesus; to work hard at work that meets the needs of others in the marketplace, education, government, and elsewhere; to care for the poor and those in need; to work for justice and raise kids who will do the same. Christians don’t do these works to become Christians but because we are Christians. Do you see why it’s so important to get the order right? As we close, what have we learned (or have been reminded of) about what God saves us from? God has saved us from spiritual death caused by our transgressions and sins. How has he saved us? He sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to live and die and rise again to conquer sin and death for us. His victory is given to us as a gracious gift that is received by faith. And what has he saved us for? God has saved us in Christ to do the good works that he has prepared in advance for us to do. The gospel isn’t the ABCs of the Christian life; it’s the A-Z of the Christian life. This is why we never graduate from our need for the gospel. It’s the only good news that changes everything. How it changes everything is really the subject of the rest of Paul’s letter. But for now, let us be drawn back into the doxology which is where we started. If this is who God is and this is what God has done and is doing, then all we can do is live to the praise of his glorious grace. Let us pray.