1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Message: The Grace of Regeneration
Time: Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians sometime in AD 60–61, around the same time he wrote Colossians and Philemon. Ephesians deals with topics at the core of being a Christian - faith and practice, no matter the situation.
What the Lord is Saying:
John Calvin comments that every part of salvation is authored by God. This includes even our decision to believe. As we grow more independent and seemingly more self-sufficient, this type of thinking that 'God does it all' is actually quite offensive to the world in which we live and naturally they resist it. It also seems to me that the Gospel or Truth is not that clearly spoken in our churches. Even in my own life, I am not sure if sharing the Gospel is a major focus of mine.
The last couple of studies that I have had on these subjects of grace have been significant. What I realized last time is man's fallen condition makes him incapable of making a choice for righteousness. Thus, our salvation is entirely about God. I still have free will and the power to choose but in relation to my salvation I don't have the means to choose salvation, thus God draws me.
I think in many ways we fear the real message of the Gospel which chooses some, but not most for salvation. That's the truth of the doctrine, but we as his followers do not who has been chosen and he still wants us to spread this gospel and speak to people.
As this passage make clear in Ephesians it is all God. Man's life is contrary to God. We are sinners. The Way of the Master presentation is significant because it takes a moment to do something simple and radical for this day and age - it helps people see that they are sinners. And sinners need God to intervene and save them.
Ephesians 2 presents tough words about the condition of man:
- Dead in your sins
- Lived in the lust of our flesh
- Indulging the desires of the flesh and mind
- By nature children of wrath
- even as the rest
This is the condition of man. And this condition makes us incapable of coming out of it. Our nature is a child of wrath - our nature. We stand in opposition to God. The work of salvation is entirely God:
- Rich in mercy
- His great love
- Made us alive together with Christ
- Raised up with Him
- Seated us with Him in the heavenly places
- Saved by faith not ourselves
- It is the gift of God
So people will do good things. They will show compassion to the poor and needy. They will restore homes and give to those in need. We have a country that is very aware of those that are hurting and helps them. But we cannot think that all of these good deeds makes us deserving at some point of salvation. This is contrary to our world-based thinking that hard work results in a reward. Most certainly giving to others yields the result of making us feel good about ourselves and that we have in a small part helped out a person in need.
The part we have in all of this is seen as having faith - For by grace you have been saved through faith. Yet, it would seem that regeneration and being made new has already happened at that point and the declaration by us of faith is a formality.
Promise: God is God and man is man. The two are separate entities. Man in his condition is fallen and that fallen condition is incapable of making the jump to being declared righteous. Man sinned and became like God, but this does not mean that gaining the tree of life was not of his own doing. God needs to make this happen.
Prayer: O God my Father, thank you for saving me. It is all you. None of it is me. My works are filthy rags in your eyes. You are rich in mercy and have great love and have made me alive together with Christ. You have raised me up with Jesus and I am seated with Him in the heavenly places. That is a done deal. You see me as completely accepted as completely loved and completely in Christ. Thus, in your eyes my position in the heavenly places is a done deal. Thank you God for saving me. I will never understand it and never should I.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of April is about salvation by grace alone. March was about the sovereign providence of God; February was about the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January is about the doctrine of God.
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