Daily Bread Ephesians 2
Made Alive in Christ
1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in 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. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Observation:
Paul gives us one of the richest expositions of the grace of God we have received through Christ in the whole bible. Paul explains how all us were once dead, as we were ruled by our sinful nature, and following the ways of the world. Because of our inherited nature, we were at odds with God and objects of His wrath.
But God because of His love for us, saved us by His grace. Though we were dead in our sins, God has made us alive by His grace. This was all because God wanted to show His true nature, which is one of grace and mercy, not wrath. God’s grace is stronger than the power of the world and the power of darkness. We have been saved by grace and not by works, so it would be made clear what kind of God we serve.
The result of this realization of who God is and what He has done for us in Christ, allow us to see that our true purpose is. Our true purpose is to do good works because of who we are and who God is, not to earn God’s love. God has prepared us to do good works, but never to justify ourselves. Our good works are a natural result of someone who has been brought from death to life. As we realize we are saved by grace and not works, we are also freed from the sinful nature and the powers of darkness. We cannot do this on our own. It is God’s nature that saves us from our nature.
Application:
These truths are some of the hardest for us to truly understand and experience. Most of us want to try and control our sinful nature and do enough good things to save ourselves. Dallas Willard calls this “sin management”. Meaning if I can just manage or minimize my sinfulness and do enough good things maybe God will “grade on a curve”.
But Paul reveals a much better way, which flows out of the very nature of God. Because of God’s great love for us, He has given us a way out of the problem. God has given us all of His riches freely because of His great love for us, and it is a free gift of His grace. The only thing that is required is faith. Faith in God’s promises. Faith that in Christ we can made alive and have a new position in God’s family.
When we trust in these promises and take up this new position, we start to become the people God has purposed us to be from before we were even created. How you been able to realize the great love God has for you in Christ? Have you accepted this free gift of grace by faith? My strong intuition is that the more we have understood these truths, the more we will be freed up to become the people God has created us to be. On the flipside the more we try to do it on our own, the more we will struggle with a nature that is opposed to God and always fighting against God’s will being done in our lives.
Prayer: Gracious God help us to die to our old way of living so we can be made alive in Christ. We thank you for lavishing your great riches upon us all, just because you love us. May we do the good works you have created us to do as response to who you are and who you created us to be before we were even born. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in 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. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Observation:
Paul gives us one of the richest expositions of the grace of God we have received through Christ in the whole bible. Paul explains how all us were once dead, as we were ruled by our sinful nature, and following the ways of the world. Because of our inherited nature, we were at odds with God and objects of His wrath.
But God because of His love for us, saved us by His grace. Though we were dead in our sins, God has made us alive by His grace. This was all because God wanted to show His true nature, which is one of grace and mercy, not wrath. God’s grace is stronger than the power of the world and the power of darkness. We have been saved by grace and not by works, so it would be made clear what kind of God we serve.
The result of this realization of who God is and what He has done for us in Christ, allow us to see that our true purpose is. Our true purpose is to do good works because of who we are and who God is, not to earn God’s love. God has prepared us to do good works, but never to justify ourselves. Our good works are a natural result of someone who has been brought from death to life. As we realize we are saved by grace and not works, we are also freed from the sinful nature and the powers of darkness. We cannot do this on our own. It is God’s nature that saves us from our nature.
Application:
These truths are some of the hardest for us to truly understand and experience. Most of us want to try and control our sinful nature and do enough good things to save ourselves. Dallas Willard calls this “sin management”. Meaning if I can just manage or minimize my sinfulness and do enough good things maybe God will “grade on a curve”.
But Paul reveals a much better way, which flows out of the very nature of God. Because of God’s great love for us, He has given us a way out of the problem. God has given us all of His riches freely because of His great love for us, and it is a free gift of His grace. The only thing that is required is faith. Faith in God’s promises. Faith that in Christ we can made alive and have a new position in God’s family.
When we trust in these promises and take up this new position, we start to become the people God has purposed us to be from before we were even created. How you been able to realize the great love God has for you in Christ? Have you accepted this free gift of grace by faith? My strong intuition is that the more we have understood these truths, the more we will be freed up to become the people God has created us to be. On the flipside the more we try to do it on our own, the more we will struggle with a nature that is opposed to God and always fighting against God’s will being done in our lives.
Prayer: Gracious God help us to die to our old way of living so we can be made alive in Christ. We thank you for lavishing your great riches upon us all, just because you love us. May we do the good works you have created us to do as response to who you are and who you created us to be before we were even born. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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