Trusting God

Ephesians 2

Today we are going to continue in the book of Ephesians. Last week, I hope we became more aware of the incredible blessings that God has given us as believers and I hope we each took some time to give Him thanks. Please take a few moments to quiet yourself and prepare to hear from God. 

Today we are going to look a little deeper into God’s gift of grace. 

Take a minute to read Ephesians 2:1-10. 

Again, I will be quoting from the NKJV. 

How long has it been since God saved you? Maybe you’re a new Christian, maybe you’ve known the Lord for a few years, maybe it’s been decades since you’ve accepted him into your heart. Regardless of how long it’s been since we’ve made the decision to follow Jesus, sometimes we forget where he’s brought us from. We look at others around us (unbelievers) and judge them by God’s standards. We expect them to behave like us and have the same morals and values. We expect them to see the world through our redeemed eyes. We forget that we’ve been given Grace and we continue to receive it everyday. We forget we were once just like them.

Ephesians 2:1-5 reads, 

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),”

You see, before Christ we were all dead. Dead spiritually and destined to an eternal death after our physical death. “But God” those are powerful words because without Him we have only death. 

(v.4) “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses” 

(v.1) “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,”

John 5:24 tells us, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” 

He goes on in Ephesians 2:8-10 to say, “For by Grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

These words should humble us. Sometimes we forget that we did nothing to deserve the redeemed life we have, it’s a free, undeserving gift that we are to share with others. So here is my challenge for us today. How do we see a lost and dying world? Do we recognize that they are dead without Christ? Do we see that we were once like them and that it is only through the grace of God that we’ve been made alive? Do we have a burning desire to see them come to life? Ask God to place someone in your path today that you can humbly share Life with.

If you have time to dig a little deeper, here are a few more Scriptures to read and meditate on. 

Colossians 3:6-7, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 1:7

Here are the links to read other posts in this series Part 1, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7.