The sixth in a new series looking at several of the ‘This is Truth’ (ἀμήν) statements that Jesus makes throughout the Gospels. Phill Marsh examines the meaning of the sacrament of communion.

Continuing in this series examining holiness, Andy Evans looks at how, as believers, we are made holy through justification and transformation.

The fifth in a new series looking at several of the ‘This is Truth’ (ἀμήν) statements that Jesus makes throughout the Gospels. Ronnie Evans examines Jesus’ seemingly harsh words to the Pharisees.

These are the notes of the sermon preached by Andy Evans on the morning of the 17 January 2010. Click here to download or stream the sermon audio.

Ephesians 2:1-10

¹ And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

1. GRACE

a. A Gracious God

The glorious grace of God is the central preoccupation of the Apostle Paul and the great theme of his letter to the church in Ephesus.

In Chapter 1 Paul unpacks the glory of God’s grace. God acts, God intervenes and God saves. This is ultimate reality and this is the truth of the universe and world in which we live. Science purports that the universe began with a big bang and that this world, life and everything are but ripples, consequences, of that cataclysmic event. Scripture teaches that creation has a Creator who is at work and active in his creation.

Paul wants believers to see the hand of God at work in all things and, particularly, in the great story of salvation. This is why Paul reminds believers that this God, our God, blesses (Ephesians 1:3), chooses, predestines (Ephesians 1:4-5) and, in and through Christ, redeems and rescues us (Ephesians 1:7). Moreover, in the fullness of time, this mighty God will bring all things into conformity under the dominion and sovereign rule of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:10).

God is at work, working all things in accordance with ‘the purpose of his will’ (Ephesians 1:5) and ‘to the praise of his glorious grace’ (Ephesians 1:6).

Last week, Paul went further and we saw that this great God who works so graciously towards men and women acts in perfect accordance with his character, for this God is ‘rich in mercy’ and abounding in great love (Ephesians 2:4).

The mercy of God is the great grounding of our salvation. Paul explains,

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

b. Grace is…

Paul begins by setting out the foundation upon which our salvation is grounded: salvation is a grace-gift from a God who is ‘rich in mercy’ (Ephesians 2:4),

For by grace you have been saved… it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8)

We are saved because God chooses to do so and God chooses to do so because he is gracious, merciful and kind. This truth is massively important and reminds us that the character and nature of God, his goodness, his great love and his merciful kindness, is demonstrated and displayed in salvation and in his church.

Moreover, this gift is freely given, irrespective of any merit or worth within ourselves. Paul shows us this by setting out clearly what grace is not. Paul writes that salvation,

…is not your own doing (v. 8 )

And,

not a result of works (v. 9)

This is fundamental to understanding the Gospel of Grace. Paul wants us to understand that our salvation is a free grace gift from God, given irrespective of anything we might do and any good works we might have undertaken. We do not deserve this gift and it cannot be earned.

The truth that this gift is unmerited and undeserved magnifies the glory of grace and the generosity of the Giver. In truth, all of us instinctively understand this to be true.

Imagine with me that, in the middle of the summer, we determine to purchase the Christmas Gift of Gifts for our beloved. Over a prolonged period of time we surreptitiously watch and listen attentively, searching for the most subtle and inadvertent of hints as to what this much wanted gift might be. As the summer wanes into autumn, it clicks, the hint is dropped, the perfect gift is identified and then the search for that ‘thing’ begins. We search and scour the high street and the internet and then, finally, find the much in demand ‘thing’, the perfect gift, order it and wait.

Finally, with just a few days to go, the thing arrives.

Imagine now that it is Christmas day and you hand him or her this perfect gift, immaculately wrapped. Imagine the look of wonder as they open the thing and the special, much-wanted and much sought gift is finally revealed.

Now imagine that they thank you and reach for their wallet or purse. Imagine that they are now writing out a cheque for the full amount and are passing it to you.

We all immediately understand why this is a problem. You see, the moment the cheque is received the gift is no longer a gift. Payment nullifies grace.

Paul makes this very point in his letter to the church in Rome,

But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. (Romans 11:6)

Paul resists all such attempts to belittle and nullify the grace of God. Salvation is a gift that we do not deserve and are incapable of earning.

2. FAITH

a. Through Faith

But this leaves a huge question unanswered. If God is ‘rich in mercy’ and, as the Apostle John puts it, ‘God is love’ (1 John 4:8), why is it that not everybody is saved? If Christ’s work on the cross (the embodiment and culmination of God’s gracious activity) is universal in its provision (meaning that the grace of God and the effects of the cross are expansive enough to cover all people at all times everywhere), why is it that some perish and some remain ‘children of wrath’?

It is true that the love and grace of God is expansive and that the grace-gift of salvation is free, unmerited, undeserved and predicated upon his goodness irrespective of our own worth and yet there is further crucial element to this equation. Consider,

For by grace you have been saved through faith. (Ephesians 2:8)

We are saved by grace and through faith. Salvation is a grace gift which must be received ‘through faith’.

In this context, the word ‘faith’ (pisteos) basically means to trust or believe in something or someone. Paul’s usage here goes further and suggests that the state of believing is based upon the reliability and trustworthiness of the one trusted.[1]

There is a grave warning in all of this for believers and unbelievers alike.

It is not enough to rely on the truth that ‘God is love’ (which he most assuredly is) and it is not enough to hope that everything will work out for us simply because God is ‘rich in mercy’ (which, again, he is). Such vague and abstract notions lead to inactivity and unresponsiveness. God requires a faith response. And this faith response has substance and depth. It is more than a simple crossing of the fingers and hoping for the best. It is more than a clicking of the heels and a hope that we will ‘find that happy place, find that happy place, find that happy place’.

The faith that Paul talks about has an object and has weight.

Paul is talking about more than a simple intellectual assent to a series of propositional truths: yes, I believe there is a God, yes, I believe he is rich in mercy, yes, I believe Jesus lived and, yes, I believe he died to save sinners? Elsewhere, Scripture cautions against mere intellectual assent,

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! (James 2:19)

This should cause holy fear to shake our very souls. The demons intellectually assent to the truths of Scripture.

To have faith takes us further.

b. Faith: Past

The ‘through faith’ demands so much more than intellectual assent or vague hopefully feelings that everything will turn out okay. The clue to this is in the ‘For’. Paul writes,

For by grace you have been saved through faith. (Ephesians 2:8)

The word ‘For’ links this unit of thought with that which goes before. Paul is referring back.

As we have considered over the past two weeks, Paul begins by describing the situation of men and women outside of the grace and salvation presented in verse 8. We were lost, blind, enslaved and ultimately dead (Ephesians 2:1-3). A supernatural and miraculous intervention was necessary and, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God made those of us who are his alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:4-6). Salvation is nothing less that resurrection.

Moreover, this work (described throughout Chapter 1 and in Chapter 2, verses 4, 5 and 6, is a sheer grace gift from a God who is ‘rich in mercy’. This explains the jarring interjection in verse 5,

by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:5)

The ‘For’ points back to verses 4 to 6 and verse 5 points forward to verses 8 and 9. Paul exhorts us to believe, trust and put our faith in the God who thus works so graciously towards us.

This changes the way that we see everything.

Formerly, we refused to acknowledge the hand and grace of God at work in creation and throughout history. Formerly, we regarded the events described in the gospels as either fantasy, happenstance or cold, irrelevant history.

To receive salvation by grace and through faith radically changes our perspective. Now we see the hand of God at work in everything.

Paul deals with this in what is perhaps the most important passage in Scripture,

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21–26)

Note that Paul’s thinking here is in perfect accord with Ephesians 2:1-10.

In Romans, Paul states that ‘all have sinned’ (v. 23) and, in Ephesians, he explains that we were ‘children of wrath, like the rest of mankind’ (v. 3). In both passages, salvation (or in the language of Romans 3, justification) comes ‘by his grace as a gift’ (Romans 3:23 and Ephesians 2:8) and, in both, there is an emphasis upon the necessity of faith:

the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe (Romans 3:22)

[We] are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. (Romans 3:24-25)

And,

that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

It is not enough to agree with the propositional truths of Scripture, faith is required.

Those of us who believe have experienced the truth of this.

At one time, we looked upon Jesus as a charlatan; good, but deluded… perhaps even insane. We believed a historical figure, Jesus of Nazareth, lived. We believed that the facts of his life loosely (or perhaps we believed, closely) accorded with the gospel accounts. We accepted that he was a good, maybe even an exceptional, man. We perhaps believed he was a prophet, a mystic or a great teacher. Some of us may even have believed that he lived an exemplary life and accepted that he died an exemplary death. It just may be that some of us even accepted that he was raised from the dead.

We now know, however, that this alone is not enough. Paul understands that more is required.

Now, as we look at Jesus we see more than a good man; we see God’s righteousness, his standards, his holiness, his character and the embodiment and fulfilment of all that is set out in the Old Testament. Jesus is the God-Man, the Word made flesh. We have faith in him knowing that he is indeed the righteousness of God and, in trusting and seeing this, we receive and depend on his righteousness. We say to ourselves that in Christ Jesus we see God and, consequently, his heart, his will and his glory. We accept this as truth and this changes everything and we now live and seek to know, love, follow and honour him.

This is what it means to receive the gospel through faith.

And now, as we gaze upon the cross, we see more than a horrendous miscarriage of justice and so much more than an ignominious death (although the cross is still both of these things). Instead we see the righteousness of a holy God who must deal with sin and we see the grace of this same God extended towards sinners.

Moreover, now we understand that the cross is designed for us; that this is the way that God is able to justify us and maintain his holiness and glorious reputation.

Now, as we look at the cross, we see not only Christ’s sufferings, but we also see his glory as he pays for our sins and strikes the decisive blow against sin and death. Now, as we behold his beaten and bruised body we see mercy and receive forgiveness.

This is what it means to receive the gospel through faith.

And this is Paul’s intention in Ephesians 2:8,

For by grace you have been saved through faith. (Ephesians 2:8)

God extends grace and we trust in his grace and his goodness. God sends forth his Son and we trust in him, believe in him and place our faith in him. Christ suffers and dies and we cling to the cross as the means by which we are justified and the font from which forgiveness flows. We look to the empty tomb and believe that he rose from the dead; that he lives still and we hope in this and cling to this truth as our source of life and the strength by which we are able to live for him.

This is what it means to be saved by grace through faith.

c. Faith: Present and Future

Before we move on, there is something further to note which will prove crucial next week.

The phrase ‘you have been saved’ (in both verses 5 and 8 ) in grammatically ambiguous in that Paul chooses to use the perfect tense which connotes both completed action, ‘you have been saved’ as we have discussed, and continuing results, ‘you are saved’.

Why does Paul so choose to write? Is this an accident or simple lack of clarity?

Rather, I would argue that Paul intends this statement to refer both back and forward. The declaration, that ‘by grace you have been saved’ points back to the finished work of Christ and the realisation of this in our lives as we are supernaturally brought back to life. We have considered this at length above.

But this statement, ‘by grace you are saved’ also points to the present and beyond because the effects of the cross continue to resound and work in our lives.

And so, even now, God is still at work pouring out ‘every spiritual blessing’ (Ephesians 1:3) upon those who are his. God is still at work supplying the grace we need to live the life he calls us to.

This will become crucial next week when we think about verse 10,

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

But for now, Paul wants us to feel secure. His grace worked towards us was not in vain. We responded in faith and the result is that we are (present tense) saved.

d. Faith as a Grace Gift

But Paul’s emphasis upon the necessity of faith raises a perplexing question.

God offers grace and we respond with faith. What then does this do to Paul’s assertion that salvation is a result of the sheer unmerited and undeserved grace of God? Is salvation somehow contingent upon us having or exercising faith and if this is the case, what does it do to grace?

Consider again Paul’s formulation of God’s work in salvation,

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8)

The question is this: What is ‘the gift of God’? Paul cannot be referring to grace because he would simply be repeating himself: ‘the grace-gift is a gift’ is plainly unnecessary. It is unlikely that he is talking about salvation because grace and faith as the means of salvation, rather than salvation itself, is the subject of the sentence.

Paul is talking about faith. Faith is the gift from God.

Consider now the implications of this: God extents his hand of grace and men and women respond in saving faith. But it is God who bestows upon them the saving faith.

And this is necessary. Too often we draw on unhelpful analogies: Without God we are sick and dying, he holds the cure and we just need to open our mouths, then swallow. Or, we are lost at sea moments from drowning when he stretches out a hand and we just need to take hold of him.

Now, I accept there may be an element of truth in all of this, but we must remember that none of these analogies correspond with the picture Paul presents.

We were dead. Dead people do not open their mouths. Dead people do not swallow. Dead people never, ever stretch out their hands. Dead people are dead.

God displays his grace everywhere, but we are dead and do not see him and are unable to respond to him. This is the miracle of salvation: in grace he acts, supernaturally imparts the faith we need to respond and we are saved.

The result of this is profound.

3. BOASTING

There are three profound implications in this for both believers and unbelievers alike.

a. Faith vs. Works

When, in verse 9, Paul talks about works he is warning against an instinct that is hard-wired into all of us.

We all instinctively push back against grace. Try buying a coffee for a friend and it will invariably result in a race to the till and an argument over who is going to pay for the bill. A loved one buys us an unexpected and extravagant gift and we inevitably respond, ‘You shouldn’t have’.

There is something within all of us that pushes back against grace.

This impulse is so destructive because it leads us a bad kind of working; the kind of working that either seeks to win favour with God or somehow pay him back. This bad kind of working nullifies grace and eventually will blind us to grace.

We will find ourselves looking at the cross and thinking: foolishness. We will find ourselves responding to the exhortations to simply believe, trust and rely and instead argue: it cannot be that easy.

b. The Necessity of Grace

This is lethal for believer and unbeliever alike. You and I need grace for our salvation and continuing sanctification. There is then a continual requirement to have faith in his goodness.

We see the grace of God displayed and extended to us through the cross and we respond in faith: Jesus you died for me, and we are saved.

By grace through faith we are saved.

But our dependency on grace is continuing. We are called to walk, we are called to obey, we are called to live out the gospel and none of this is possible without his grace. We must continue to believe that he will supply all we need.

By grace through faith we are saved.

And we fail. Pitifully and miserably fail. We still depend upon his grace for continuing forgiveness. We know that we may stumble, but we will never fall irrevocably. We know this because we believe that he is gracious. We stumble and are dismayed, but we never despair for we know he is gracious. We slip into sin and we run to him, not from him, for we know that he is enough and his grace is sufficient.

By grace through faith we are saved.

c. We Boast

And the end of all this is that we boast and do not boast.

Paul understands that salvation is set up in such a way that we might receive none of the glory. We are saved, but there is no place for self-aggrandisement or self-glory,

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Boasting in our own goodness and our own worthiness is deadly to the soul. ‘Boasting perverts human autonomy by making it the object of trust’.[2] And ultimately such self-trust and self-reliance is idolatry.

Grace excludes such godless boasting.

But, in the same moment, grace compels us towards Godly boasting,

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26–31)

A right view of ourselves, our weakness, our failure and our sin magnifies grace and results in praise. A right view of God and our utter dependency upon him results in praise.

By grace, sheer grace, we have been saved, through faith. Let us now boast in him

[2] Andrew Lincoln, WBC, pp.112-113

Closing date: 8th March 2010, 12:00pm.

Reference: FC/220210

This is a key role developed in response to specific opportunities identified in the community, namely
the need for relational outreach work with children and families in the Westwood and wider Oldham
area with a particular focus on children under and approaching high school age. This role will involve
building on the existing youth provision and developing new projects under the direction of the Eden
Team Leader.

How to apply:

To download the Job Descripton click here

To download the Personal Specification click here

To download an application form click here

Continuing in this series examining holiness, Andy Evans moves through Luke’s Gospel to display the holiness of Jesus Christ.

The fourth in a new series looking at several of the ‘This is Truth’ (ἀμήν) statements that Jesus makes throughout the Gospels. In this fourth sermon, Ronnie Evans talks about how we can only enter the kingdom of God through faith in Christ and not by our own efforts.

A new series examining holiness. Isaiah had a vision of God on His throne, surrounded by seraphim declaring “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts”. What does it mean for God to be declared ‘holy’? Andy Evans examines this cry of the seraphim.

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The third in a new series looking at several of the ‘This is Truth’ (ἀμήν) statements that Jesus makes throughout the Gospels. In this third sermon, Phill Marsh examines the infallibility and permanency of God’s Word.

These are the notes of the sermon preached by Andy Evans on the morning of the 10 January 2010. Click here to download or stream the sermon audio.

Ephesians 2:1-10

¹ And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

1. THE EXTENT OF OUR DEADNESS

As we considered last week, verses 1 through to 3 were all about highlighting the extent of our deadness. The Apostle Paul references this again in verse 5,

even when we were dead in our trespasses (Ephesians 2:5)

Despite the presumptions of unbelievers, Biblical Christianity is not mere wishful thinking or optimistic positivism; the gospel is grounded upon objective reality.

It is important that we remember this principle. There is a trend in evangelicalism which has seeped into the church from the self-help culture of the world. This philosophy encourages us to embrace the champion within us, to release our inner super-hero and to love ourselves just a little more.

This is all at odds with the way in which Scripture presents us and, in verses 1 through to 3, Paul presents us with the ultimate wake-up call which pushes back hard against all such therapeutic deism. Paul provides us with a sharp reality check,

And you were dead in the trespasses and sin in which you once walked     (Ephesians 2:1-2)

following the course of this world (Ephesians 2:2)

following Satan ['the prince of the power of the air'] and the spirit of disobedience [we were, in fact, sons of disobedience] (Ephesians 2:2)

living in the passions of our flesh (Ephesians 2:3)

carrying out the desires of the body and the mind (Ephesians 2:3)

and were under the right and just condemnation of God [we were 'by nature children of wrath] (Ephesians 2:3)

Paul explains the extent of our deadness, enslaved to our sin, our passions and our flesh; enslaved to the Satanically inspired philosophies of this world, duped by Satan himself and because of all of this we lived under the holy and just death sentence issued by God against all disobedient, God-belittling sinners.

All of this limited our capacity to live and experience life in all its fullness; it is Jesus alone who bestows abundant life (John 10:10). All of this blinded us to the truth of God, the goodness of God and the things of God.

The death Paul describes is spiritual, experiential and, ultimately, judicial.

This is the great reality check. This is a call for believers to think clearly and unbelievers to see clearly.

Christians are the ultimate realists, we see the world as it is (subject to futility, Romans 8:20) and ourselves as we were, dead, blind and enslaved.

2. GOD

a. But God

This matters because Paul wants us to feel the astonishing force of verse 4,

But God, being rich in mercy… (Ephesians 2:4)

Think about the hopelessness of our former state when we were but sons of disobedience and children of wrath. Think about the extent of our blindness, perhaps we ridiculed the gospel and mocked Christians. Think about the depth of our former depravity, some of us were very bad whatever measure of morality we compared ourselves against. Think about the totality of our bondage; some of us felt this acutely in our addiction to drink or drugs.

But God…

This is the gospel-truth that Paul has spent much of chapter one unpacking for us. God acts. God intervenes. God saves. And all of this is necessary because we are utterly incapable of helping ourselves. At the risk of stating the obvious: dead people are dead and are of little use to anyone, much less themselves.

But God…

The gospel begins with a God who acts, a God who intervenes. Paul is about to unpack this further.

b. This Merciful God

Paul begins by focusing in on the character of God.

Considering the extent of our deadness and the depth of our depravity, we might well find ourselves asking why God would bother to intervene. Now, there are many answers to this question, and Paul has already unfolded a number throughout chapter one, but here Paul focuses on just one,

But God, being rich in mercy… (Ephesians 2:4)

This God, our God, the God who intervenes in history is rich in mercy.

It is worth dwelling on this phrase for a moment.

Repeatedly throughout the Old Testament, God reveals himself to men and women. We see a dramatic example of this in Exodus 34. Earlier, in chapter thirty-three, Moses asked God to show him his glory (Exodus 33:18). God agrees and takes Moses up the mountain and, shielding him with his hand in the cleft of a rock, passes before him declaring,

… “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6–7)

The Lord reveals himself to Moses and declares something of his nature: this God, our God, is merciful, gracious, patient, loving and faithful. The word, hesed, here translated, ’steadfast love’, is particularly significant as it is translated in Greek as eleos, a word that Paul uses to describe the mercy of God. The mercy Paul has in mind is steadfast.

Moreover, eleos, the word Paul uses to describe the mercy of God is generally used to refer to generosity or mercy demonstrated towards an undeserving party. This is why the passage from Exodus is illuminating.

We may remember that Moses went up the mountain a first time to receive the law and, while he was up there, the people of Israel rebelled and persuaded Aaron to make them an idol in the form of a golden calf. The people then indulged in idolatry and debauchery (Exodus 32:1-6).

God rightly and justly responded to this disobedience with holy anger. Scripture tells us that the wrath of God burned against the people (Exodus 32:10) and yet, in mercy, he relented.

God’s self-disclosure as the epitome of ‘mercy’ and ’steadfast love’ is grounded upon the demonstration of his mercy towards a rebellious, fickle and unfaithful people. The unworthiness of the object of his affections (Israel and now us) serves to cement the truth that this God, our God, is steadfastly loving while emphasising the extent and, in doing so, the sheer beauty and glory of this mercy

This truth maps into Paul’s understanding of the character of God in his letter to the Ephesians. They, and we, were formerly idolaters, God-belittlers and God-haters and yet God intervened and showed mercy, because he is merciful, loving and kind. Paul’s point is that this is the kind of God we serve.

Feel then the weight of this truth. Marvel at his glorious grace.

But God, being rich in mercy… even when we were dead in our trespasses (Ephesians 2:4a-5)

You see, our deadness has a moral component. It is something for which we are wholly responsible. We were dead because of our choices, our lifestyle and our wholesale rejection of God. And, yet, in his mercy, he stepped in and everything changed.

c. This Loving God

This God, our God, thus feels in accordance with his nature,

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us

This prepositional phrase expands upon the first. Our God is, as the Apostle John states so emphatically, characterised by his love,

…God is love. (1 John 4:8)

Let’s just pause for a moment to clarify this.

The truth of God’s loving nature and this passage from the Apostle John’s first Epistle, is perhaps the most abused and misquoted truth in Scripture. Often times the love of God is placed over and against the truth of God’s justice and is used to negate the idea that there will be any reckoning or judgement over sin. This is a gross distortion of the gospel and completely out of step with Paul’s thinking.[1] Last week Paul emphasised our state outside of Christ,

[we were] by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind (Ephesians 2:3)

God feels just and righteous anger towards sinners and sin. For those who refuse to repent there is only the fearful expectation of judgement and wrath. We must never underplay this. God is holy and feels a focused, just and righteous anger towards sin and rebellious sinners. And yet this same God is characterised by his rich mercy and his great love. Yes, God is holy and pure. Yes, God is just. And, yes, God responds in righteous anger towards rebellion, idolatry and God-belittling men and women. And yet his default position is love.

This God ‘is rich in mercy’ and, as such, he feels and, as we will see, acts in accordance with his nature.

Consider the way in which Paul loads expansive clauses one on top of another,

But God,

being rich in mercy,

because of the great love

with which he loved us (Ephesians 2:4)

God is rich in mercy and possesses, or feels, great love. But this is not an abstract emotionalism, rather it is directed towards us. We are the object of his affections and his affection for us is great.

The Scriptures return to this monumental truth again and again and it is clear that the Apostle Paul never got over his wonder at the glory of God’s extravagant grace and he returns to this great theme again and again,

…God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:5–8)

As in Ephesians, the greatness of God’s mercy is demonstrated in the unworthiness of the objects of this same mercy. God steps in at the right time when we were enemies of God, hostile to the things of God and living in active rebellion.

God steps in at the right time, when we were sinners, that he might show his love for us.

This is precisely Paul’s point in Ephesians chapter two. Paul wants us to see the greatness of the mercy of God and the glory of his grace and understands that in order to do this we must understand the hopelessness of our former state that we might see the richness of his mercy and the greatness of his love. We were dead and utterly blameworthy for that death and yet God sent rescue, not because he must, but because this is the kind of God he is.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38–39)

Herein we find a further application. The point of this passage is that our assurance is grounded upon the truth that his mercy and love is vast and expansive. This is why we do ourselves great harm in diminishing the depth of our depravity. To pretend that we are not that bad really minimises the necessity for grace. But what do we do when we stumble more greatly than we imagined we could? What do we do when we finally glimpse how wicked our heart actually is?

In all likelihood this will lead us to despair. We have previously shunned the grace of God and, in all truth, depended upon our own righteousness. When the illusion of this is stripped away, well, what then?

Understanding our true state before a holy God opens our eyes to his extravagant mercy and love and in this there is great assurance. In Christ, in the cross, in our salvation, in him transforming us into increasing conformity with Christ we see the greatness of his love. In this there is great security. This great love will never let us go. This great love will never let us fall.

Paul wants us to see and this is why he reminds the saints in Ephesus,

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us (Ephesians 2:4)

d. This Resurrecting God

This God who is characterised by his rich mercy and great love acts in accordance with his very nature,

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:4-5)

This is the full force behind ‘But God’ in verse 4. This mercifully loving God acts miraculously, gloriously and in great power. While we were dead he made us alive.

Understand this, unbeliever, your situation is grave, self-discipline, self-help and self-improvement will not remedy the problem: you are dead.

And know this, believer, your salvation was a glorious and miraculous thing in which God displayed his glory. You were dead and he has made you alive.

Scripture talks about salvation in dramatic terms because the truth of it is earth-shaking. We were lost, blind, imprisoned, condemned. To all extents and purposes we were dead. And yet God, because he is merciful and because he is loving, chose to act and rescue those who so scorned and belittled him. This rescue was utterly miraculous and we do well to exult in the truth of this.

Dead men and women made alive.

With Christ.

Christ is our reference point and this should cause us to reflect on Paul’s earlier celebration of God’s resurrection power gloriously displayed in Christ and now at work towards those of us who believe (Ephesians 1:19). Jesus Christ was physically raised from the dead and this same resurrection power has bestowed spiritual life upon men and women who were spiritually dead.

Paul, however, goes further here and returns to the central truth he expounded throughout chapter one. Christ is the sphere in which all of God’s mercy, grace and blessings are made available.

There are two implications here.

The first is obvious (I would hope) and fundamental. There is no resurrection, and there is no being made alive, outside of Christ. Because of the cross and the resurrection of the Son of God, eternal life is made available to all who call upon his name and trust and believe in him. Apart from Christ there is only wrath.

The second implication which, in truth, is Paul’s primary concern here, is that this rescue, this salvation and this life entails unity with Christ. We were raised with and in Christ.

Paul now proceeds to cement the implications of this truth.

3. ALIVE

In verses 1 to 3, Paul unfolds the extent of the deadness experienced by all unbelievers. Paul now explains the glorious implications of the new life we receive in Christ.

a. Raised up with Christ

Paul writes,

even when we were dead in our trespasses, 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 (Ephesians 2:5-6)

Paul begins by examining our former state: we were dead, lost, powerless and enslaved. Paul now examines what it means to be made alive in Christ Jesus. God made us alive with Christ and, in so doing, raised us up with him.

There is an intentional parallel here with Ephesians 1:20. Paul prays that we would know,

…what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1:19–21)

Here Christ is the object of God’s great activity. Paul understands that in the resurrection and ascension we see the exaltation of the Son of God. Paul further understands that this exaltation, and his supremacy, is absolute. Christ has been raised ‘far above every rule, authority and power and dominion’ (v. 21).

Clearly Ephesians 2:5-6 cannot mean the same thing for believers.

For believers, there is a ‘raising up’ and this is intended to contrast with their former state. Formerly we were of the grave. Formerly we were in bondage to our flesh, the Christless culture around us and, ultimately, Satan himself. We were dead and utterly enslaved.

Now we are made alive, now we are raised up and now we are seated with Christ.

This is not a matter of authority, but rather an issue of position. Because of God’s mercy, our ignominy has been replaced by a privilege, honour and, ultimately, glory.

For the church in Ephesus, this change in position would have felt both immediate and profound. Many of these believers came out of a background of occult practices and idol worship. We know that this particular church faced fierce opposition and was under a great attack from false teachers and counterfeit gospels. Paul later reminds them that believers are engage in a savage spiritual battle,

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

In truth, I suspect that we do not feel this as intently as saints who have gone before us. We live in an incredibly materialistic world and we tend to focus our attention on material obstacles. Paul wants us to see that beneath all of this, satanic forces are at work. The course of this world is influence by the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:3).

This is why there is great comfort and encouragement in the truth that we are raised and seated with Christ. Some of you still wrestle with specific and dark sins; perhaps you are still struggling to overcome anger-issues, lust and all consuming greed.

Some of you still live with the legacy of substance abuse and may still be wrestling with addictions of one kind or another.

Paul wants you to know that, on the one hand, your struggle is real. Your struggle is a struggle and you should expect to experience the sense of exertion which comes with this.

But Paul also wants you to know that your struggle has a spiritual root and, whereas formerly you were in bondage, you are now raised and seated with Christ in the ‘heavenly places’ (Ephesians 2:6). This is why the location is so important. In Ephesians 1:3, Paul writes,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3)

Paul wants believers to see that, at this very moment, Christ is seated in the most exalted position in the universe and that this position enables him to pour out extravagant blessings upon those who are his. Moreover, Paul wants us to understand that it is not simply that we are ‘down here’ and he is ‘up there’ dropping love bombs from some remote and detached place. Paul wants us to know that we are with him and we are in him and, as such, we have access to him and in him there is every spiritual blessing.

b. Truly Alive

There are three earth shattering implications in all of this.

a. Right Living

As we move through this letter we will find that there are weighty exhortations for those of us who believe,

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1–2)

Feel the weight of this. Paul says that believers should imitate God and should seek to pattern their lives in accordance with the character of God. Paul says that believers should walk like Christ and love like Christ and to do this is to walk the way of the cross.

How is this possible?

Paul understands that God’s resurrection power towards those of us who believe is incredibly purposeful. We are saved for his great purposes. We are saved that we might follow after him, that we might pursue righteous and that we might grow in increasing conformity with the Son of God who loves us and gave himself for us. All of this brings pleasure to God.

Formerly God responded in wrath. Now God looks upon those of us who are his, those of us who are beloved children, with rich mercy and great love. Paul calls us to walk in this and live in the light of this great truth.

b. Right thinking

We will consider this more carefully next week, but we have skipped over a central thought in this passage. It would be good for us to meditate upon and think deeply about this over the coming week,

by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:5)

One outcome of us understanding and seeing the depth of our depravity is that we might see and depend upon his lavish grace. Our ‘being made alive’ and our being ‘raised up’ are dependent upon grace. He chose, in the richness of his mercy to fix his great love upon unworthy and undeserving sinners. It is important we feel this so that we might live in the truth of this. By grace we have been saved.

c. The Right Response

Salvation begins with God and the end of salvation is the glory of God,

so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:7)

This is mysterious and profound. Paul understands, and wants us to see, that our individual salvation is bigger than anyone of us and bigger than Firwood Church. Paul wants us to see that the glory of God and the glory of Christ is the main focus of this action.

We were saved so that ‘the immeasurable riches of his grace’ might be displayed and made to look altogether glorious.

Our salvation is bigger than us.

We were saved so that we would be vessels of his mercy shining forth the glory of his grace now and in the coming ages.

Our salvation is bigger than us.

You and I will live out our lives and eventually die, but the glory of his grace will shine on. The saints who follow us will remember his grace at work in our lives. Our children will remember the way in which Mom and Dad shared the good news of the gospel and lived the thing out. They will remember the grace of God at work in us and towards us and, by God’s grace, at work toward them.

And on that day, when he returns, and, as the saints gather round his throne, we will remember and we will glory in the Lamb who was slain and his glorious grace. This song will never end and the glory of God’s immeasurable grace will continue to reverberate and resound throughout all eternity.

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