EPHESIANS 2

Ephesians 2:1-10 is one of the clearest and most concise presentations of the gospel in the entire Bible.  

You are a Sinner

EPHESIANS 2:1-3 (NIV)

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

By our nature we are all sinners.  We have thoughts and actions, which rebel against God. It's not that we are sinners because we are sin.  We are sinners and therefore we sin.  This is because our very nature is broken and inclines us towards sin.

The hard truth is that we are all deserving of God's wraith.  We have sinned and the consequence of our sin is separation from God.  

God's Love & Mercy

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

BUT GOD!  That's my favorite "but" in the Bible.  

We earned God's wraith.  We deserved punishment, but God, as an act of love, decided to have mercy on us.   

By itself that would be amazing news, but that isn't the entire story.  Not only do we not get God's wrath, but we get a relationship with God.  It tells us in Ephesians 1 that He adopts us into His family.  God wants me as a family member.  

It's not just that we don't get what we DO deserve; we get something we DON'T deserve, GOD HIMSELF!

• MERCY = When we don't get what we DO deserve.
• GRACE = When we get what we DON'T deserve.

What do we do to receive God's grace and mercy?

Salvation By Grace Through Faith

8 For 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. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Our salvation is based on Jesus alone.  We are saved not by our works,  but by faith in Jesus.  If our salvation was based off of our works, it would be earned.  We could claim we deserve our salvation, and we would have reason to brag to others.  Our salvation has never been about what we DO. It's always been about what HE DID!  We were dead in sin, and He made us alive!

• He lived the life we couldn't live.  
• He died and we are saved not by our works; but by faith in Jesus.  If our salvation was based off of our works, it would be earned.  We could claim we deserve our salvation, and we would have reason to brag to others.  But we didn't do anything in our salvation.

It is by GRACE alone by FAITH alone that we are saved! 

  Sean Chandler | Associate Pastor

Sean has been a part of the association of Hill Country Bible Churches for over twenty years. He received Christ as a youth while attending Hill Country Bible Church Austin. He attended Hill Country Bible Church NW from 1989 to 2002. At that time he began attending HCBC Pflugerville. He served as a student ministry intern there for two years. In 2008, Sean graduated from Columbia International University with a double major in Bible and Bible teaching. Sean married his wife, Jennifer, in 2006. Their first child, Liam, was born in 2012, and their second, Chloe, was born in 2014.

He blogs regularly at seanchandler.net.