Ephesians 2:1-10

Ephesians 2:1-10

This evening, we’re going to be talking about grace. Because you can’t understand Christianity if you don’t understand the gospel, and you can’t understand the gospel if you don’t understand grace. Grace may be a small word, with only five letters and one syllable, but I can’t think of a word that’s more central to Christianity. And not only is it perhaps the most important thing for people to grasp, but I also believe it’s one of the most misunderstood things. Most people don’t really understand grace.

You know, before the Copernican Revolution, everyone thought that the sun and the planets all revolved around the earth. That’s what everyone thought, and countless other scientific theories were all based on that basic premise. People took it for granted that that’s the way things were. And so, when Copernicus studied science and astronomy and used mathematics to come to the conclusion that everything revolved not around the earth but around the sun, everyone thought he was crazy. They simply couldn’t conceive of a universe in which everything revolved around the sun. And so it actually took about a hundred years for Copernicus’s theory to become widely accepted. It was such a radical change. That’s why it’s called the Copernican Revolution. It was revolutionary. And I think Copernicus’s ideas about the universe are a lot like grace. It’s so different from the way our minds naturally think that it’s difficult for us to grasp it. It’s like a foreign language to us. And even if we do grasp it, it’s hard for us to accept it. But like I said, you can’t understand the gospel if you don’t understand grace.

So please turn with me to Ephesians 2. If you’re using the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 811. This passage is about grace, and I believe that if people began to really grasp what this text says about grace, a modern-day Copernican Revolution would take place in the way many people think about spiritual matters. 

Ephesians 2:1-10: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 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—among 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. 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—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 coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

So like I mentioned, this passage is all about grace. It shows us how we can’t understand the gospel until we understand this concept of grace. And, specifically, it teaches us three ways that grace turns conventional thinking inside out—three ways that grace shatters our preconceived notions about salvation, much like the Copernican Revolution. 

Grace Addresses a Desperate Need

The first thing it teaches us about grace is that grace addresses a desperate need. Grace addresses a desperate need. And really, the first three verses go into detail about this desperate need, the condition we were in before salvation, but notice especially that phrase in verse 1: “dead in trespasses and sins.” That was our condition before we met Jesus. We were entirely dead in our sin—spiritual corpses with no spiritual life whatsoever. It was that bad. That’s why I say that grace addresses a desperate need. A lot of people think that grace just addresses an average need. They think that people aren’t really that bad before salvation—that most people are pretty good overall and just need God to help them realize their full potential. I mean, isn’t that our problem in America, that people just don’t have enough self-esteem? We need to learn to think better about ourselves, to think more positive thoughts about ourselves. Enough with these negative thoughts that are dragging us down. The main thing we all need to do is just think positive thoughts. If we could just do that, we’d have higher self-esteem and all of our problems would be solved. That’s the gospel according to Joel Osteen—that basic philosophy with a little bit of Jesus thrown in there for good measure. The gospel according to the Bible and according to Ephesians 2 is a lot different than that. In fact, it’s the opposite. 

Now, understand that I’m not categorically rejecting the ideas of self-esteem and self-worth. The Bible does say that human beings were created in God’s image, which gives us inherent value and dignity and worth. Not only that, but we’re loved by God, which also gives us worth. But that’s not the whole picture. It’s only part of the picture. Ephesians 2 tells us the rest of what we need to know. Verse 1 says, “you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked.” Not exactly the positive thinking that our society tells us we have to have. Before salvation, people are walking in various trespasses and sins. We’re committing trespasses against God in the sense that we’re stepping over the boundaries he’s set for us. We’re violating his laws and rebelling against his will. And that’s practically synonymous with the word “sin” that’s also used. And not only that, but we’re “dead” in these things it says, meaning that we’re powerless to change ourselves or fix ourselves or rescue ourselves. 

Then in verse 2, it says that we were “following the course of this world”—that is, the overall direction of this world system as it continues its course of rebellion against God. And we were also “following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” That’s talking about Satan. He’s the one directing things down here to a limited extent. And under his influence, verse 3 explains how we “once lived in the passions of our flesh” or you could say the cravings of our unredeemed selves. And then it says that we “were by nature children of wrath.” You see that towards the end of verse 3? That’s pretty strong. “Children of wrath.” People who stand in the shadow of God’s wrath as it’s in the process of falling down on top of them. People whose necks are in the guillotine of divine judgment with everything prepared for that blade to come down. It’s right here in the Bible.

And you wonder, why would Paul go into so much detail about sin? I mean, didn’t we say this passage was about grace? Where’s the grace here? Well, it’s coming. But in order to understand grace, we first have to understand sin and judgment and wrath. In order to appreciate the cure, we first have to understand the sickness. If I came up to you and told you that I just took out a $5,000 loan in your name to obtain the cure for your sickness, and you didn’t think you had a sickness, you’re probably not going to be very happy with me. You’re probably going to press charges. But if I showed you evidence that you were sick, and not just a little sick but desperately sick and could expect to die within the next 24 hours, you’re attitude would go from being angry with me to being thrilled with me. I’ve saved your life. You might ask me to check with your health insurance next time, but overall you’re grateful that you get to live another day. But in order to appreciate the cure, you first have to understand the sickness. 

And in the same way, in order to appreciate God’s grace, we first have to understand how desperately we needed that grace. And only then will it become grace that’s truly amazing. I’m sure you’re familiar with that hymn, “Amazing Grace.” “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.” Those words were written by a man who understood the depth of his former sin and, because of that, was able to speak of amazing grace. But if we view things the way most people in our society view them, we can’t sing about amazing grace. We can only sing about ordinary grace, if we can even sing about that. “Ordinary grace, how relatively enjoyable the sound that saved and okay person like me. I once was on a minor detour but now I’m doing better, was a bit nearsighted but now I see.” It just doesn’t have the same ring to it. But if we realize that we’re not okay people but are in fat wretched and sinful people, “children of wrath” even, that’ll make God’s grace shine with a radiance and a beauty that we never could have noticed before. 

Grace Is God’s Work, Not Ours

Now, if verses 1-3 have led you to despair over your situation apart from Jesus and hopelessly admit that you’re way too messed up to possibly fix yourself, good, because that’s the whole point. That’s exactly how you’re supposed to feel. Before coming to Jesus, we really are in a pit that’s way too deep for us to climb out of on our own. That’s why we need to look beyond ourselves for the answer and turn our gaze towards God. If you remember, I said that there were three ways that grace turns conventional thinking inside out. The first way is that grace addresses a desperate need, like we just talked about. The second way is that grace is God’s work, not ours. Grace is God’s work, not ours. 

Now, most people don’t think that way. That’s not the way it’s natural for us to think. We instinctively want to do something to somehow help God with our salvation and make some kind of contribution. God does his part, and we do ours. That’s what conventional wisdom says. But look at what this passage says. Verses 4-9: “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 [that’s an action in which we were entirely passive, it was done to us]—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 coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 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.”

So what did we contribute to our salvation? Nothing. Zero. As we see in verse 4, our salvation came because of God, specifically because of the rich mercy of God and the great love of God, as it says. Then, notice in verse 5 how Paul emphasizes again how “we were dead in our trespasses.” Whenever something’s repeated like that, you want to pay close attention to it. Paul’s emphasizing how we didn’t contribute anything to our salvation. How could we? We were dead! Dead people can’t move, they can’t walk, they can’t do anything. 

But when we were in that dead condition, it describes how God “made us alive.” He saved us and raised us to spiritual life. And as verse 6 says, he’s given us a place in heaven. 

And then in verse 8 we find what’s arguably the most important line in the entire passage: “for by grace you have been saved.” Our salvation was simply by grace. It was entirely a free gift from God, as it says. “Not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” It wasn’t 99% God and 1% us. It was 100% God and 0% us. Now, if you notice in verse 8, it says that we were saved “through faith.” God does require faith on our part as we actively put our trust in Jesus for salvation. But faith isn’t the reason we were saved. Jesus is the reason. Faith is best thought of as the instrument God uses to save us. We were saved “through faith” it says. Kind of like if it’s your birthday, and someone writes you a check as a gift. I remember as a child every year, we’d receive this envelope in the mail from my grandmother, and it would be addressed to me, “Mr. Josh Tancordo.” And I always used to wait with eager anticipation for when I’d get to open that envelope. And of course there would be a card inside. And there may have been one or two occasions on which I actually read the card, but—let’s be honest—most of the time I just quickly opened the card so I could get to the check that I knew would be waiting inside. And there it was: a check that I could take to the bank, deposit in my account…and save it. I was kind of a weird kid. But here’s the point: I didn’t earn that money by cashing the check or by doing anything. Rather, cashing the check was the means by which I received it.  And that’s how it is with faith. We’re not earning anything. We’re not contributing anything. Faith is simply the means or the instrument through which we receive God’s grace as a gift.

Grace Has a Purpose That’s Bigger than Us

And finally the third way in which grace turns conventional thinking inside out is that grace has a purpose that’s bigger than us. Grace has a purpose that’s bigger than us. Look at verse 10: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” The word “workmanship” is also translated “masterpiece.” And just like one of Michelangelo’s masterpieces reflects the rare talents of Michelangelo, God’s masterpieces—the people he has saved—reflect his own beauty and power and grace. That’s our function. To glorify God as trophies of his grace. And according to verse 10, the way we do that is by doing the “good works” we were “created” to do, “which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” So you see, it’s all about God. We were saved to do good works, and those good works bring glory to God. 

You know, my three-year-old son Caleb sometimes thinks that the reason Mommy and Daddy exist is to make him happy. Overall, he’s a really sweet kid, as those of you know who’ve met him, but sometimes he gets that way. He thinks the universe revolves around him. Whatever he wants to play with, whatever he wants to eat, however he wants to be served—it’s all about him. And as we get older, we might learn to express that in more socially appropriate ways, but that basic mindset stays with us. God’s all about me, church is all about me, relationships are all about me. But the Bible gives us a different picture. In Isaiah 43:7, God refers to “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory.” In Romans 11:36, Paul praises God with these words: “For from him and through him and to him are all things.” Let me tell you something: God loves you. He loves you more than you could ever imagine. But that doesn’t mean it’s all about you—because it’s not. It’s ultimately all about God. 

And if you’re a Christian here today, you exist as a trophy of God’s grace, as his masterpiece, his workmanship. In reality, you probably shine brighter for the glory of God than anything else he’s made. All of the mountains and the oceans and the stars are marvelous creations and display God’s glory in marvelous ways. But you display God’s glory in a unique way because you display God’s redeeming glory—the salvation and the grace that he offers through the gospel. You’re his masterpiece, his workmanship. As one theologian famously said, “The whole world is a theater for the display of God’s goodness, wisdom, justice, and power, but the church is the orchestra, as it were—the most conspicuous part of it.” And looking back at verse 10, the way you display God’s glory more and more is by doing “good works”—works that display God’s grace and goodness in your life. So you can see how grace has a purpose that’s bigger than us.

Conclusion

So those are three ways grace turns conventional thinking inside out. It’s counterintuitive. It’s totally opposite from what we would naturally think. So ask yourself, “Which misunderstanding do I have the greatest tendency to fall into? Which truth about grace do I need to be reminded of the most?”

Maybe it’s that grace addresses a desperate need. Maybe you like to think that people are basically good folks who just need God’s help to realize their full potential. Maybe you’re regularly involved with religious activities but you’ve never actually come face-to-face with your sin and repented. Maybe you have repented of your sin and you’re a growing Christian but you’ve sort of…forgotten all that you’ve been saved from. That’s probably why your worship is flat and why you don’t have the gratitude and the joy you used to have. You’ve forgotten what you’ve been saved from. Remember who you were. Remember who you were.

Or maybe, you struggle with the second main point. You don’t yet fully grasp that grace is God’s work, not ours. You think that God does his part and we do our part. And so you’re trying to perform well enough for God. You’re striving and straining and working yourself to the point of exhaustion to somehow make yourself acceptable in God’s sight apart from Jesus. Perhaps you’re doing that in order to obtain salvation or perhaps you’re trying to keep your salvation. Either way, why don’t you simply rest in the finished work of Jesus? That’s the only way you can every be right with God. 

Or maybe, you struggle the most with the third main point, that grace has a purpose that’s bigger than us. You think that God’s a genie who just exists to grant you your wishes or maybe a cosmic vending machine where you push the button and out comes a blessing. And you approach church that way too, where it’s all about you being blessed and your needs being met rather than about how you can serve others. Remember that you are God’s workmanship and that God has a purpose for your life that’s a whole lot bigger than just you.

If any of that describes you, you won’t be able to understand Christianity until you understand the gospel, and you won’t be able to understand the gospel until you understand grace. Let’s pray for a Copernican Revolution.