Martin Luther declared that the truth of “Grace Alone” is the hinge on which everything else about living our lives before God and in response to God connects. We see Paul elevating this truth as well in Ephesians 2:1-11. In this passage, Paul passionately reminds us about how we have come to be able to stand as “children of God.” We have come a long way, says Paul. Reminding us that we were dead “in your transgressions and sins.” Our innate nature is one that is dead to the life and leading of the spirit of God, because in our fallen nature, we are born to follow the ways of the world as directed by Satan, “the ruler of the kingdom of the air”. In theological terms, we call this original Sin. As a result of Adam’s sin of disobedience in eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the corruption of sin is passed on through the human line and so the nature of all people coming after Adam is not naturally driven to pursue the righteousness of Go. Because of our original sin we come into the word driven to pursue the way of the world and “to gratify the cravings of our flesh and follow its desires and thoughts.”
As a result, we also come into the world being under “wrath.” Romans 6:23 tells us, “the wages of sin is death.” This is not a truth many of us want to face. In fact, in many Christian circles today, they strive with great enthusiasm to remove this aspect of Biblical teaching. The feeling in our society is that, we simply want a God who is all loving. We don’t want a God who will condemn us – that’s harsh! We all deserve to get a trophy. We all should win! But Jesus, who talked about hell more than anyone else in the New Testament, says, in Matthew 25:46 that, “sinners will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” So there we are. We start dead.
But notice Paul says that is what we were. We were dead, but no longer! We are, “Raised up.” The breath of life has been brought back into us! Our nature has been changed from one intent on following the dark to living in the light. We are also seated in the heavenly realms. We are enthroned. We have been moved out of a place of condemnation. What a reversal! What a change!
1 Peter says, once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.
So how did this dramatic change happen? The best two words in the Bible: in verse 4 we read, But God. The word, “but” means we are changing course. Quite simply, God stepped in to change the trajectory of our lives and destiny. God took action, when it was hopeless and God moved us from what we were and where we were headed to what we are: raised and enthroned.
Why did God do this? We might think it is because we are so spectacular. Or obviously it is because we are better than others. Or even no doubt it is because we have earned it. But no. The reason is: But God. God alone changed our condition. Twice, Paul reminds us, with astonishment in vs. 5 and vs. 8, that it is by grace! Grace is the disposition in God to look upon us with favor and deliver us from our situation. Louis Berkhoff in his book Systematic Theology defined grace as “the unmerited goodness or love of God to those who have forfeited it, and are by nature under a sentence of condemnation.” Why did we receive this grace? Vs.8 It is a gift! Not your own doing. My own doing deserved wrath but instead God extended to us his favor and blessing.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound! Let the sound of God’s amazing grace propel you today into giving God gratitude.
-Bob Karel, Head Pastor
