Complimentary Story
March 2023“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.”
How does Paul describe God’s grace for us? Jesus appeared to Paul, when Paul was dead in his sins, and following the devil. (Ephesians 2).
Ephesians 1: 3-14, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He favored us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our wrongdoings, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He set forth in Him, regarding His plan of the fullness of the times, to bring all things together in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him we also have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things in accordance with the plan of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in the Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise, who is a first installment of our inheritance, regarding the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”
Grace is the gift of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to save mankind from what Adam did when he sinned and doubted God. Paul says in Romans that God’s grace is a gift from God, not something we could ever do, so that no one could boast. And in Ephesians 2:10, we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which is our sanctification. Paul said, “by the grace of God I am who I am.” Paul recognized that even the good works he was doing was by God’s grace through the Holy Spirit, not something he could ever muster up in his own strength. Otherwise Paul would have something to boast about before God and Jesus. And when is there a time we are not in the presence of God?
God’s grace to people is His plan to save us from our sins by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ alone. Read the book of Hebrews — it is all about the death and resurrection of Christ, Who He is, what He did, what He will do in the future. And what Jesus is doing every day. What Jesus said to the disciples, you can do on your own. And that is still true today and tomorrow. Proverbs 16:9, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” Lamentations 3:37, “Who can speak and have it happen if the LORD has not decreed it?”
We as evangelicals know our Bible which is a good thing, because it is the truth we can live by. But Jesus Christ reminded the people in His days here on earth, you search the Scriptures, but all the Scriptures are about Me! And why is that? Because it is all about God’s grace.
