"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast"(Ephesians2:8-9)
This is a bible verse often used when emphasizing that we are saved through faith. It's not an act, it's a grace. The grace is the explanation of how the salvation of God, already accomplished through the Lord Jesus Christ, is made available to us.
If we divide the grace into the three stages, it is the fact that he made us alive, who were dead in transgressions and sins (Eph.2:1), and the fact that he raised us up with Christ and seated us in heaven.(Eph.2:6)
In Ephesians 1:20, he explains that the power working in Christ, raising him from the dead, made you alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.(Eph.2:1) This word is repeated in Ephesians 2:5.
We, who were dead in our trespssses and sins, made us alive together with Christ. In order to become a person who has realized the true gospel, we must know the difference between the resurrection of Christ from the grave and the resurrection of us from the dead in Adam.
Only then will you believe that you have been seated at the right hand of God. Only then will we understand the total amount of God's grace.
"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. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the craving of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.(Eph.2:2-3)
This was life outside of Christ.
Christians must have clear boundaries of their faith.
Death and life, darkness and light, the devil and God, curses and blessings, yesterday and today, past and present must be clear. Even so, God's wrath rests on those who reject the gospel of Christ while still using coercive logic.(Rom.1:18, John 3:36b)
Why? Because it is death, darkness, and Satan's world. The Lord is still calling with a merciful voice to those who are there , those who are outside of the sheep pen.
Our salvation is because of the great (abundant) love that God has for us, who is constantly rich in mercy. (Eph.2:4) By His love, we who were dead in our trespasses were raised to life together with Christ.
"He made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in trespasses"(Eph.2:5)
These words are a confession of faith in the resurrection that will be repeated hundreds of times a day.
We have never touched the work of raising us to life with Christ. It is the total grace of God.
Then raised together means that those who have new life in Christ are raised with Him to resurrection life. When the head rises, the body rises with it.
And then we are seated together in the heaven in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6), the heaven in Jesus Christ. It is the three-story heaven that Paul ascended. It is right before the throne of God.
So far we haven't done anything. It is the grace of God, who is rich in mercy and love.
In what principle do all these graces become our salvation? By hearing the word of the gospel in Jesus Christ, believing and being baptized, we become one with the Lord.(Rom.6:3-4)
It's like Peter's sermon. Repentance, baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, forgiveness of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, by the Holy Spirit, we become one spirit snd one body with Christ.(Acts 2 38) The saints are destined to become one with Jesus Christ by the grace of Christ's atonement.
If you fall from Christ, you are like a branch cut off from the vine.(John 15) It is the grace of God that He grafted a brach of a wild olive tree into a true olive tree.(Rom.11:17) The book of Ephesians clearly explains this principle of God's grace.
Therefore we must not allow our faith to be swayed by our emotions. Those who have ears to hear may hear...
The purpose of God's one-sided grace is that through His abundant mercy in Christ Jesus, the message of His exceedingly abundant grace may be revealed to the generations to come.
If salvation is not the grace of God, but the wages of our work, will His mercy and abundant grace be revealed through us? Salvation is not obtained by our works, but is 100% a gift from God.
The bigger the gift, the more proud and exalted the God who gave it. Never have we ever borrowed any works of the flesh for this salvation, that we have been raised up in Jesus Christ and have sat with Him in heaven.
When we say faith, we mean the opposite of the works of the flesh. Therefore, the faith itself cannot be said to be an action. Moreover, even that faith is a gift from God. So no body can boast. It is only the grace of God.
Hundreds of times a day, we must repeat the confession that I died to sin in Christ and lived to God through righteousness.(Romans 6:11) It is because there, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the life of the Lord is at work, so that we can ascend like an eagle, waiting for the Lord.
We must always believe in the total amount of God's grace with our heart and never cease to confess with our lips.
Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.
Translated by Nancy Chung
COME AND SEE WORLD MISSION