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We'll turn our Bibles to Ephesians chapter 2 and we will read verses 1–10. “And you were dead in your offenses and sins in which you previously 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. Among them, we too all previously lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ.
“By grace you have been saved, and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the boundless riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
Let's pray. Our dear precious Heavenly Father, we thank you God for this song time and this opportunity that you have given us to as your people and to meditate upon your word. And we pray Father for the work of your spirit in our midst, in our lives. We pray that you would enlighten our hearts through your word, and may you create convictions in our hearts Father, submit to the teaching of your word, and also Lord live by your word. Give us your grace go Father, in Jesus Christ, amen. Chapter 1 is a basis of our Christian salvation and
we have seen what the triune God has done to accomplish salvation in our lives. And also in chapter 1, you see Paul reports of his prayer. And his prayer is basically for us to know God better. We do not want to have mere head knowledge of all the doctrines.
The point is that we have to experience God more profoundly. And Paul prays for God's people. And in chapter 2, we see that Paul focuses on a Christian experience. Paul shows us what happens when we become Christians. Many of us in churches, we are so, we get so accustomed to the culture of the church. And many of the Christians believe that they are Christians because they go to church. But here, if you look into the word of God, Paul makes it very clear what happens to us when we become Christians.
Right? In the first part of this chapter, Paul shows us our condition and how God operates in us through which we are resurrected by God's power to a new life. In chapter 1, Paul prays that we understand the vastness of God's power and the power which God exerted in the resurrection of Christ Jesus.
And we see that's the same power which is in operation in our lives. If you look at verse 1 of chapter 2, it seems like it's like a continuation. it says and it begins with and it says and you are dead can you look at verse 4 it says what but God made alive made us alive you know verse 1 says you were dead was forces God made us alive before Christ and because of Christ before we knew God before we have come to know Christ we were all dead and because what Christ has done in our lives you know we see there that God has made us alive God raised his son from the dead through his power.
And we see that the same power works in our lives. Basically, Paul tells two things in the first 10 verses of chapter 2. Firstly, he shows us who we were before we were saved by God's grace. That we see in verses 1, 2, and 3. secondly from verses 4 to 10 he shows us how we have been changed since we become christians and this passage answers two fundamental questions number one what is our basic nature and what is this new nature or new condition you know in Christ in Christ our new our new situation or our
new, uh, condition in Christ. Number one, our original nature, verses 1, 2 and 3. Verse 1: “And you were dead in your offenses and sins.” Paul uses a very strong word here to show who we were before Christ. Or anyone else here are seated, if you are not still in Christ, this is the way the Bible describes us. And this is the way the Bible describes us, we were dead in our trespasses or offenses and sins. What? How can that be true? Am I not alive? Am I not breathing?
Am I not moving? Am I not making choices daily? And how can Bible call me dead? What does that mean here? You know, Paul says we were dead in our trespasses and sins, and we walked in a course of life. And he also says here that we were the children of wrath. And in verse why, observe the contrast between dead and alive. God made us alive in Christ. All this shows that we were, and all unbelievers are, spiritually dead to God. We might have an excellent moral upbringing, but we are
dead in our relationship with God. We were lifeless and insensitive to God. And how did we all come into this situation? Paul says elsewhere in Romans chapter 5 verse 12, he says that, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sin.” You see that the first parents, our first parents, Adam and Eve, sinned against God, and their disobedience cost to the Lord. It impacted the entire human race. Everyone who descended from the first parents were affected by their disobedience.
All humans come from one man and one woman. That is Adam and Eve. It confirms that our human race is a unity. There is no biological or theological basis for racism. When one race or one ethnic group can claim superiority over another. We all come from one human race.
You may be white, you may be dark. You may be fat, you may be thin, you may be coming from a Brahmin background or an Esti community, you might be an American, you might be a German, you might be an Indian, you might be a Chinese, whoever you are, there is no biblical and theological basis for racism. No race is superior than another.
Nor anyone, nor did any group of people claim to be untouched by sin. All humanity is contaminated by sin. The moment Adam and Eve sinned against God, the moment they rebelled against God, the moment they chose to act against God’s will, they died. They died. How? That entered their lives and into this world. Generally we see death as an event. We die one day. That is physical. We physically die one day. But according to the Bible, that is not only a physical event. It is also our state of existence. It is art, it is a symbol of our spiritual death. It is us, it talks about God. All
who are born in this world were contaminated by the sin of Adam are dead to the knowledge and the life of God. That’s the reason today we have so many notions about God. That’s a reason today there are atheists. That’s today there are people who are agnostics. There are different religions. That doesn’t mean that there are many gods. There is only one and true living God, and all humans are incapable of knowing that one true God because we are dead to him. When Adam and Eve sin, we were counted as dead. We are counted as sin in
Adam, that in Adam we do sin. When Adam and Eve were separated from God, we too also are separated from God. All his offspring separated from God. All who descend from Adam are separated from God. And this is called as the doctrine of the original sin. The doctrine of original sin is that Adam committed the sin, Adam and Eve committed the sin, and all humanity sin with Adam. Sin, we are in Adam. So therefore entire human race sin against God. Adam is depicted in the Bible as a federal of human race, and as a federal head
are representative no when he said we also sinned against God his sin is imputed to us along with our own sin we also serve in different ways but because private and we sin because privately we inherited a nature of sin have you ever A small toddler, rebelling, being stubborn, that's the toddler's sinful nature.
Generally, a dead person is lifeless. He cannot move, he cannot talk, he cannot respond. We will call his name. He will not respond. He may hold his favorite food up to his nose. He will not smell it. That’s why the greatest brains of this world, they may have discovered, invented wonderful things in this world. The greatest brains of this world who are unsaved, saying, cannot fathom the greatness of God. They may have discovered great things, and that discoveries are wonderful and marvelous. They seem to be so in the living. Can’t they know God? No.
To them, any talk of God is foolishness. Even the most religious people on this earth, who have proper moral upbringing, who have good moral values, even they are dead to the reality of the true and the living God. All that they have is a false notion of the true and the big of the truth and the living God. We see here that Paul uses two words, two words: your transgression or offense and sin. A transgression is a willful violation of a sanction law, is trespassing the boundaries of the law, and a sin here means missing the mark. So this transgression and sin characterizes our nature. That is a fundamental nature. No matter what good you do in this life, we always transgress God’s laws.
We always miss the mark. No matter how good you try to live in this world, we will miss the mark. We will never measure up to God’s standards. It’s impossible. We have a faulty nature which is contrary to God’s nature. Sinful nature, we can never please God with our sinful nature. Other humans can be pleased, other humans can praise you, but God cannot be pleased. We will always fall short of God’s standards. Paul says in Romans chapter 8 verse 8 and
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. I wanted to focus on the word “cannot.” The work in law speak about our inability. It’s our inability to please God in our unconverted state. And we do not have the capacity to know God, we do not have the capacity to please God, and that is theologically called as the total depravity. Total depravity doesn’t mean that we cannot do any good. Doesn’t mean that we cannot help other people. It doesn’t mean that we cannot be moved with compassion when others are suffering. It doesn’t mean that.
Total depravity means we are totally cut off from the life of God. We cannot know God. We cannot comprehend the greatness of God, the mercies of God. We cannot come into any relationship with God. In relation to God we are completely lifeless. That is total depravity. And the following verses we see there it three, the three evils that controlled our lives. That explains the total depravity. Number one, verse two, we see that we walked according to the course of this world.
The course of this world is a reference to the worldly system. if you know what John chapter 2 verses 15 and 16 John says do not love the world nor the things in the world if anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him for all that is in the world what's in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life are not from the father but from the well it is talking about the system of this world the course of this world has influenced all by nature we are part of that system that's it we are raised in that system in other
words that system raised us. The system trained us. You know, the Greek or Roman world was a narcissistic society, which means self-loving, and also a pluralistic society, which means choosing our own way to God. Don’t you think that the post-modern world is also the same or not? So sustained, not so sustained, which means we are self-loving and we have our own ways to live. Some say there is God, some say there is no God. And many say that all ways lead to God.
Right? Everything exists to please ourselves. Everything exists to please ourselves. Whatever is right in your heart, you do it. You have the freedom to do it. You have freedom to express it. Our education, money, sex, pleasure, career, family, religion, everything is there to satisfy us. We all are raised in that system, and and we have no, we see those efforts even now, even as believers we see those, we are still self-serving. If something is not comfortable we don’t want to do it, even if it is right. David Wells says, “You can recognize the ways of this world wherever sin seems acceptable and righteousness seems strange.” Every age has its own culture and we are trained and shaped by
our culture. Number two, we walk according to the prince of the power of the air. We still in the worst to. Who is the prince of the power of the air? Paul in Ephesians chapter 6, it says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” The word “air” there is used figuratively to refer to everything in between heaven and hell, the realm where spiritual forces operate, according to Ephesians chapter 6 verse 2 — sorry, verse 12. And Jesus often
in his God in the gospel of John especially the gospel of John chapter 12 chapter 40 chapter 16 we see that Jesus often refers to Satan as the ruler of this world the entire world under the sway of the enemy at one John chapter 5 verse 19 says the whole world lies in the power of the evil one and watch the trouble the evil one what he has been doing from the beginning from the garden in the garden of Eden what he has been doing he has been deceiving he has been lying he has been distorted yes he was trying to bring humanity under the
John 8:44 says, Jesus said, speaking of the Pharisees, he says, “You are of your father devil and he wanted to the desires of the father. He was a murderer from the beginning,” and he says, “and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie he speaks from his own nature, for he’s a liar and the father of lies.” Revelation chapter 12 verse 9 says, “And the great dragon was thrown down, the called the devil and Satan, would deceive the whole world.” It deceived the whole world. Is that the senior is
a deceiver and he’s a liar. The whole world is in script is under his deception. All the philosophies of this world are is deception. All out, everything outside Christ is a lie. Every philosophy that does not lead to the truth and the living God, that is not exalt the glory of God, is a lie. And entire humanity is under the sway of the. And these lies are primarily about God and morality. And this doesn’t mean that all humans who are outside of Christ are possessed by evil spirits. No, it
means that they are under the deception caused by the enemy. And the phrase here the literally means no, the word disobedience is not personal way, which can mean unbelief. There is the natural unbelief in all of God’s, all of people who are outside of God, there is a natural by blindness to God. And apart from that there is also a continuous feeling of lies from the enemy, that obstinacy or business prevents. Don’t be surprised that the people of this world reject the notion of a biblical God. We must, we must not be mainly shocked or bitterly vengeful when a colleague
of yours or a religious extremist or some or garment official, you know, who is hostile to a lovely law abiding Christian or who rejects the beautiful glorious powerful gospel. Paul's point is that we were once like that. We were once like that until gospel in us. Point number three, we live in the lusts of the flesh. Verse 3, we do all previously lived in the lusts of the flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind. The word flesh, it's a synonymous work for a sinful human nature. Our life, our conduct, you know, the conduct of a life were driven
by the desires of the flesh, which is sinful in nature, and this nature dominated us, this nature controlled us, and all sin flows from our nature, from our heart. That's what Jesus said in Mark chapter 7 verse 20 onwards. And he was saying, “that which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.” And verse 21 he says, “for from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness, all these things proceed from within and defile the man.”
Every sin has its root in our sinful nature. And even as Christians if you are sinning, that means that we are yielded us to that sinful nature and we live according to the will of the flesh, and it's in plot and it impulses no, let us to walking in transgressions and sins. And this doesn't mean all people outside Christ have done all possible evil. It doesn't mean that all people in this world are crooked. It doesn't mean that there are people in the world who live good moral lives. But we all — it means that we all humans have the potential to do the greatest sins. We all have the potential to become the
worst offenders of God in this world. We have the capability to carry out the worst evils. Christians, as Christians, as believers, we will never be completely free from these three systems of this world, influence, the lusts of the flesh, no, we — until we are resurrected into the new creation, because our human nature remains. Until then, we are not under the control of the human nature, our sin nature. We are delivered from that power, but there is still, as long as we live in this mortal frame sinning, we will struggle with sin. And all these things will naturally lead to something. What's that? Verse 3, the last part, that is, we deserve God's wrath. It says, verse 3, and we were by nature — we have a sinful nature, and by nature we were by nature children of wrath, just as the
rest. We are not different. We all are, have been corrupted by sin, raised by sin, children by sin, contaminated by sin, affected by sin. And by nature we are children of wrath. Not I like what we're all about, they're not women. He said, he said something. What do you do to go to hell? What do you do to go to hell? He said, “nothing, just do nothing, that's all.” You don't have to thumb your nose at God, you don't have to blaspheme the name of Jesus, you don't have to be an adulterer. Just goes on, for the greatest sin in the world is not adultery.
The greatest in the world is, “I can manage my life without God.” That is the greatest sin. You can be living a perfect — not a perfect — a good moral life in this as well, and still you will end up in hell, because our nature is corrupted. God's only response to sin, his rightful response to a sin, is to demonstrate his anger, his wrath. If you are outside of Christ, this is your state. This was our state.
We all are the recipients of God's anger. God's anger abides on us by nature. We are the children of wrath. And God's wrath is his pure anger towards which is evil and sinful, sinful. And when God pours out that anger, his anger is justified. And this state of man is not conditioned by the culture around us, it is conditioned by our nature, which is sinful. The whole world, including the Jews and the Gentiles, stand condemned before God, all according to Romans chapter 3. All are under sin, both Jews and Gentiles. All are under sin, all have become corrupt, all have become unrighteous, all have become useless and worthless to God, all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God. And this reveals to us something. It is the humbling truth
of what you perceive of yourself. What do you think about yourself? This is the humbling truth from the Scriptures, and that is, I am naturally not a good person. I naturally not a good person. This is the estimate of God about us. Without God, I am spiritually dead, enslaved to the worldly cultures, Satan's influence and fleshly desires, and I should now be facing an eternity in hell. Hell. We all are, we all desperately needed a Savior, because we were dead by nature. We need a Savior who can rescue us from this state. And how often do we have an inflated view of ourselves. We
say that, at least to ourselves, I'm not that bad. Or at least I'm not like that person. The point is, in our opinion, we are always somewhat better than others. Are we better than others? Why do we compare with others? Us, we do not always carry the notion of God's view of all mankind. You know what that view — we are all dead in our offenses and sins, we are all lost, we are hopeless, we are all worthless, this, we're all unrighteous. That is God's estimate of ourselves. You know what God thinks of us when he looks at every human being without sin is Christ, no one. He thinks what he thought about us. Mark chapter 7 verse 21, out of the heart flows what? I don't please, that's slander, gossip, sensuality, murders, always flow from the heart, no, wicked. I and you cannot see our sinful
nature. I get when I do that. You cannot see your heart, but when God looks at us, he looks at a heart, and this is what he sees. He sees the sexuality in our heart, the sexually murder in our heart, the thefts, the murder, the anger, the pride in our hearts. He can see all that clearly. We can, we can hide all that by the fabric of good works, a good behavior, or a broad smile. But before God nothing works. We're all dead, we're all corrupt. We can never come to his throne and say, “oh Lord, see my good works.” How could I
We can never say that. And what is our new condition in Christ, or new situation in Christ? Verses 4 to 10. How can we alter this condition of being dead? How can this condition or situation be ever changed? Can we do something about it?
We cannot. Nothing can change this condition. Dead humans cannot act. We are dead to the true and the living God. We are in our natural state, cannot know God. This is our desperate situation. We cannot help ourselves. This world and all the knowledge in it cannot help us.
We need more. We need someone bigger, greater than man to deal with this condition. We need someone who is not contaminated, who is, who’s untouched by sin, and that is God himself, and someone who can give us life, because we are dead. This pathetic state is shattered by two. Look at verse 4. It says, “But God.” But God — this changes everything. But God. We were dead in our sins, but God. We were under the sway of the lies of the enemy, but God. We lived in the lusts of the flesh, but God. We were the objects of God’s anger, but God. He
reversed it all was for. But God, being enriched, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us. Why did God do something to save some who are hell-bound sinners? Did he see any moral good? Was he pleased by something in us that he had decided to save? God’s motivation for reaching down to deliver hell-bound sinners is not found in any of the human beings. Scripture is clear: we were the children of his anger, children of his wrath. That’s what we rightfully deserve from God. But
we fear it was this mercy, according to his great love for us. God’s mercy is the reason. God’s mercy is in withholding his anger, anger which we deserve, and he retains it because of his great love towards us. Why did God have mercy on us?
Because he chose to love us. Why did God choose to love us, or when did God choose to love us? Not when we have become good and pleasing to God. We can never do that. Verse 5 says, “even when we were dead in our wrongdoings.” We were doing evil. God set his heart upon helpless, worthless humans. He has set his heart to love us from the beginning. It was not a decision he had made over time. He has not made decision after observing us for a while, “Okay, this man seems to be good, that woman seems to be good.” No, he is not
a decision which he has made over time. If we have seen that in Ephesians 1 verse 11, we see that God works everything from creation in redemption and consummation. God works everything according to the counsel of his will. They call those eternal decrees. It’s not because of us. It was even before the foundations of this earth, the world, God set his heart upon his people. Because God loved us, he had mercy on us by withholding this anger, his anger which our sins rightfully deserved. We deserve his anger, but because of this mercy he withheld. How did he withhold that
anger. Already withhold that anger, because Jesus Christ interposed for us. He came in between, and the wrath burning hot against us, it was upon us. God can set loose that anger, and if he did that, we all because you. But it was Jesus who came in between, and that because he took our sins. Our sins were that anger which would have been fallen on us. It fell on Jesus Christ on the cross, and the Bible says it pleased the Father to crush his own Son. He, that anger crushed Jesus on the cross. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.
God offered his Son in our place, to punish for our sins, and that way God also satisfied his justice. God is not simply forgiving us. God is not randomly forgiving us. God cannot forgive because he is just God. He cannot forgive unrighteous people. He can rightly forgive because Jesus took our place, and only in Christ there is forgiveness. You understand now why there is salvation only in Christ? Because it’s only Christ Jesus who went up to the cross bearing our sins and took that rod brought for us. He suffered and died in our place, and because he died in our place, because God’s anger which
was burning against us the cross fully, God can now freely, rightfully forgive us. If you are thinking in your mind that there are many other ways to God, no, there are no many other ways. There is only one way. There is only one person who can save you, and that is Jesus Christ. God’s act of saving us is demonstrated in three ways. Verse 5, he made us alive with Christ. We come to life from our dead state to God by the same power which worked in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through faith in Jesus we share in his representative death and resurrection as our King. The power which God exerted in the resurrection of Christ Jesus, that’s the power which is in operation in our lives. The same power is at work. That resurrection power is at work in us through the gospel.
Paul says in Romans chapter 1 verse 16, “the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.” That resurrection power is the regenerating power which makes us alive unto God by His grace. We are resurrected to life into the kingdom of God, and the original reading says we are made alive together with Christ. The word “together” here is an important word in this passage. It's a repeat, it's repeated quite often, yes you. It says we are made alive together with Christ because of Christ's suffering on our behalf, that veil, the curtain which separated us from God has been, now is now torn apart. We are now no longer dead or separated from the knowledge of God. That veil has been taken away, there, that separation has been taken away because of
Christ Jesus, we are no longer dead to the knowledge of God, we are no longer dead to the life of God. In Christ, because of Him, we are now made alive. We now have come into true life, knowing God and His purposes. We can know God personally, we can experience His grace and His love, we can understand His word, we can understand His purposes, His promises are for us, we are in Him, we are brought into a relationship with God, is now our Father. Number two, verses six and seven, He raised us up with Him and
seated us with. In other words, as I said, the word “together” is an important word. We are raised as up together with Him and seated together with. We have co-raised, co-seated together with Christ Jesus. The Paul, writing to the Colossians, he says, “you have been raised up with Christ.” Being raised with Christ has an implication in this life, and what is it? Elsewhere Paul says in Romans chapter 6 verse 4, Paul says that Christ was raised from the dead to the glory of the Father so that we too might walk in the newness of life. And Romans chapter 6 verse 14 says
that sin shall not master over you that means we are free from the power of sin by our union with christ how that co-raised course seated with christ looks like in this world in the sight of eternity any it is not being under the control of sin cannot dominate our lives it looks like you know walking in the newness of life we are freed from the power of sin and Romans chapter 6 verse 18 Paul says we are now slaves of righteousness in Romans have a six was that in he says that we are called to present our members as instruments of righteousness
We no longer offer ourselves as instruments of sin, but now we offer our, the members of our body and our soul, as instruments of righteousness. And this also means that one day when we die physically we will be resurrected to life again. No, we are raised within, but we are also seated with. We are already positioned in Christ, we are in Christ, we are seated with Him. Being seated with Christ in the heavenly realm is yet to be part of the experience of believers, but that is a proper position, that is, that is our hope. And true hope is where Christ is. And you
see that all these are indicators, these are divine indicators: made us alive together, raised us with Him, seated us with Him. These are all divine indicators. This means these are the statements about what God has done, which are true, which are true for every believer, not a specific believer but all believers. This is true in our life, this is what God has done or will be doing. This new life by the Holy Spirit mysteriously brings the believer into the union of the risen Savior, and it is mysterious and a, and a monotheistic divine operation. What do I mean by monotheistic? God alone
does this work. God alone can accomplish this work, not our faith, not our ability. God alone can make us alive, life. God alone can raises up. God alone can seat us with Christ. God alone will make this happen. It is possible by God alone. And what is the, what is the purpose of a salvation? What is the purpose of a salvation really? No, wait, you see that all these things are leading to verse 7: so that in the ages to come He might show the boundless riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ
Jesus. Here the ages to come refers to all eternity or on future time from now to the future, which means God will display His boundless riches to access, the riches of His grace. God will display boundless riches of His grace to access. What I ask this is, how do we understand grace? Yet we miss, we sang the song “Amazing Grace.” Why did we sing that song? Because we know that we tasted their grace, because we received something which we do not deserve, and we praise God for that. We receive forgiveness, we receive new life
right, we are positioned in Christ, God now is our Father. All this is grace. And we see that God will continue to display the riches of His grace towards us. This boundless grace of God is directed towards us continuously, God is not going to stop it. We are going to be the receipt, we are the recipients of His grace continuously. We tasted grace here as a people of God in our salvation, and we are tasting His grace in our sanctity, is grace in our sanctification. But in the coming ages we will see far more riches of His grace, the treasures of His grace which
are, which will be lavished upon us, upon those who are in Christ Jesus. How does that look like? We haven't experienced that, but Bible is clear. In 1 John chapter 2 it says that, “Beloved, now you are the children of God,” but there will come a time, you know, we will see just as He is and we will be like Him. By the grace of God we have now become the children of God, and in the future, as God continues to lavish His grace upon us, we will also be conformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. That is the richness of His grace
God is not just content by mere saving us, merely saving us, but we should understand the purpose of his salvation. He wants to save us to be conformed into the image of his Son, and God is working towards that. And throughout eternity God will be lavishing his grace continuously upon our lives. You know, it's important that we observe this contrast here. Once you were dead, separated from God's grace and mercy, once we were the objects of God's anger, but now we are forever the objects of his grace. He showered his grace at salvation, he pours out his grace daily to that
that will enable us to walk in the newness of life, and he will shower his grace at the revelation of Jesus, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he will forever and shower his grace in eternity. The next you see that Paul addresses how God accomplishes his salvation in us, verses 8 and 9. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, this is not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, so that no one can make, no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we
will walk in them.” This is the salvation equation. You know equations, right? This is a salvation equation. We are saved by grace through faith for good works. We are saved by grace through faith for good works. You know, the, the prepositions involved in the formula are very important: by grace, through faith, for salvation, so for good works. And the basis of a salvation is God's grace alone, nothing else, not our merit. The phrase here you see that this is not of yourself, it is not by ourselves, it conveys that and convention important truth. The pronoun this here is a demonstrative pronoun in, and it
means that the whole, it refers to the whole process of salvation, none of it is our doing. This means that even the believer's act of believing comes from God. God has to work on us, God has to make us alive. God should make a helper see the glory of God and let me see the glory of God. When our eyes are open to the truth, the marvelous glory and the grace of God, we cannot resist his grace. The reason that the unbelievers are resisting the gospel is that because their souls, their eyes, the spiritual eyes are not awakened to this glory, the glory and the
grace of God, that's the reason they're resisting. We haven't resisted because we are awakened to the glory and the grace of God, because in that awakening we also see our depravity, our fallenness. Philippians chapter 1 verse 29 says, “For you it has been granted for Christ's sake not only to believe it in but also to suffer for his sake.” The key to this understanding is a context. Before God's gracious intervention, believers were hopelessly dead, with their wills imprisoned by nature, sinful nature, in acts that led to only transgression and sins. And God designed our salvation in such a way that no one may
boast. We cannot, cause we cannot take credit. You cannot say because I prayed so much, because I read Bible, because I went to church, because I had godly parents. No one can boast. All this refers, this refers to people conceivably making a claim on God as a reward for their efforts. We cannot make any claims on God. That's why Paul uses a word in verse 10, we are the workmanship of God, we are God's workmanship. No, originally the word poiema, from which we get poem, you know, poems, right? Which means we are God's poem. Every redeemed believer is God's poetry. It
describes, expresses God's work. When you look at a true believer with all the shortcomings and is no growth, you can only glorify God's grace, you only sing of God's grace. And what is the purpose of God's work in us? We stand, we are created in Christ Jesus for good works. We are not saved by good works, we are saved for good works. We've been, no, where did God plan would be saved for good works? Was then again, good works were not an afterthought, God prepared them beforehand, which means we have been recreated by God's Spirit through the gospel for good works. The focus
is not on the good works in this sentence. The focus is on the works that God prepared for us to walk in them, that's the focus. God has beforehand plan these good works for us. And let's not misunderstand the word, the phrase good works here. Good works here are not charitable works, he's not talking about a charitable, okay, now I'm saying now I'll go and do good works and help the poor, no, it's not talking about that. It's not that we should go and start our families and all that, it's not talking about that. We may do that, but he's not talking about
that here, that would be misleading. God already preordains these good works according to verse 10, you already decided, it is not something you think to be good. Good works are the necessary outcome of our election to holiness and blamelessness. Is your life in that course of holiness and blamelessness?
God chose us with a purpose to be holy and blameless before him. That is the purpose. And the work we would walk in them is an active voice, this imperative is something we ought to do, and this show active voice shows reality that are walking in the good works, or this new where life is not an option, this should be a reality in the life of a believer. It is a proof that you're a believer, and they are the necessary outcome of their, of our election to holiness and blamelessness. We are walking in that pathway of holiness, obeying his will, doing his will, confirm anything that conforms us to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you claim to be a
Believer, do you see this, these spiritual realities in your life? Are you growing in these graces? Are you walking in the newness of life? Do you see the gospel working in your life? Are you living a holy life, a life set for God, his ways, set — a life set apart for God and his ways? Remember, the desire and the ability to do some, to do so, come only from the relationship with a loving God who breathes new life into those who are spiritually dead. And we are now slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart.
If you call yourself a believer, you must be on the pathway of holiness. If you're not, if your affections are not changing, then you are not yet saved. It doesn't matter what you believe. If your affections are not changing — I'm not talking about struggles. Believers will have struggles. But if your affections are not changing, if you're not already on that pathway of holiness, maybe you're not saved. And there is good news for you. You too can experience the rich grace of God only. Thank you.