Grace
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Grace Through Faith
Grace Through Faith
Today we’re going to look through the 2nd book of Ephesians which is one of the most joyous and books in the NT. Paul is in jail and he is writing to the gentile believers of Ephesus and letting them know that they are not inferior to Jewish believers and that they are saved by the grace of God. He’s also basically letting them know that God is in love with them and because of this, they should live differently them the rest of the world. Now we’re going to take you through a few verses so turn to Ephesian Ch 2 and let me know when you are there.
New Living Translation Chapter 2
Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.*
Paul explains to his readers that they were spiritually dead. They may have had it all by the worlds standards but their souls were dead. They were completely unable to know and respond to God.
Does anyone remember when they were like this? When they were a slave to sin. When they couldn’t control themselves?
For me, There was a scene in the movie Matrix with Keeanu Reeves. He was in a car with trying to be convinced that there was something better. She asked him to look down the alley was and said that you know where that leads.
I noticed that the word follow is mentioned twice. In the world of instagraham and all of these other things competing for our attention, I think its important to pay attention to who and what we follow. Are they doing or saying things that oppose the faith? Are they a Godly influence? These are questions we have to ask ourselves because in the end, we don't want these things to testify against us.
New Living Translation Chapter 2
3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
Look at how hopeless our situation once was without the spirit of the living God. We would have destroyed ourselves
However, the wrath of God is not the entire story as we can see in verse for which reads...
New Living Translation Chapter 2
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
Doesn't that sound exciting. The word of God says in
9 But this is precisely what is written: God has prepared things for those who love him that no eye has seen, or ear has heard, or that haven’t crossed the mind of any human being.
He's done things for us that we can't even imagine and in todays negative world, We can’t forget the good news of Jesus Christ. We cannot forget that there is an end game and that he is coming back. Just look around and if you think we are not living in the last days you should check the scripture and watch the news. Let move on to the next verse
Common English Bible Chapter 2
8 You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith.d This salvation is God’s gift. It’s not something you possessed. 9 It’s not something you did that you can be proud of.
We are saved by God’ grace. But we hear this word grace all the time but what does it mean? Let me read a definition to you by theologian Joshua Mathews...
charis - is grace, good will, favor. Conveys the sense of a gift of kindness and favor given to a person or persons.
This noun is related to the verb (harizamai), which conveys the concept of giving generously or forgiving a debt or a wrong. The noun charis can identify charm or the quality of being delightful in the eyes of others (e.g., ). At times it describes an act that is characterized as kind or generous (e.g., , ). Sometimes this term highlights the undeserved nature of the gift of salvation, given not because of the righteousness of the recipient but because of God’s gracious kindness in Christ (e.g., ). The blessing of salvation is given freely.
Joshua G. Mathews
The next verse reads...
New Living Translation Chapter 2
10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Isn't it great how God sees us. He sees us a conquers, his children, and as art.
But what if we could start seeing each other in this way? What if we could start seeing each other as children of God?
I remember working for Lt Col Kat Colby and she was making rank in the AF so fast that they did a case study on here and are still doing that at the AF academy. She kept trying to find the right admin assistant but our unit feared working with her because she demanded excellence and any failure would have career impacting results. However, they asked me to become here admin assistant it it was tough but what got me through is that I started to see her though the eyes of God. I started seeing her as a child of the most high. In other words, I did not loose sight of the big picture which made me better at the job and compassionate towards a person that displayed no compassion. I offered her grace. Now I don’t know if my action had an effect on her but I do know that today, she is a Christian.
Now we have to ask ourselves…are we realizing God’s grace and are we showing grace to each other? Or are we abusing God’s grace?
Let us pray?