Sunday, August 13, 2017, 2:30 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Full Release.” Speak, Lord, your words
to my heart. I read Ephesians 2:1-10
(NASB).
Dead in Sins
(vv. 1-3)
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in
which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to
the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the
sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our
flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, even as the rest.
The Bible teaches us that ALL
have sinned and have come up short of attaining God’s divine approval (Ro.
3:23). Not one of us is righteous before God in our own merit. We can never be
good enough to gain eternal life with God. In fact, we cannot even come to faith
in Jesus Christ unless God the Father first draws us to His Son (Jn. 6:44). Without
Christ we are spiritually dead, without hope, and without God. Our destiny is
eternal damnation in the fires of hell, no matter how many good deeds we might do
in this life, or how seemingly kindhearted we may be towards other people.
In our sin natures, we are
drawn towards sin, and towards doing even what we know is wrong. We are under
the control of Satan, not of God. We are of this sinful world, not of the
kingdom of heaven. And, we are under the influence of the world, not conformed
to the image of God. We are bound towards disobedience rather than obedience. We
live and walk (conduct our lives) according to our sinful flesh, and not
according to the Spirit of God. And, we indulge ourselves in the desires of our
flesh, rather than resist Satan, flee temptation and sinful desires, and draw
near to God in full assurance of faith.
This is what an UNSAVED life
looks like. So, if you profess to be a Christian, but this is what your life
looks like, then something is terribly wrong.
By God’s Grace
(vv. 4-9)
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great
love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, 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 ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of
works, so that no one may boast.
But, thanks be to God, he did
not leave us bound in our sins, without hope. He provided the way for us to be
saved from our sins, to be delivered out of slavery to sin, and to become
bondservants of his righteousness. Jesus Christ, the Son of God (and God), came
to earth, took on human flesh, suffered like we suffer, and was tempted in like
manner as we are also tempted, yet without sin. He was despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering (Is. 53). And, those who
hated him saw to it that he was crucified on a cross, thinking that would be
the end of him.
Yet, it was God’s will that
he should suffer and die for our sins. He who knew no sin became sin for us on
that cross in order that we might become the righteousness of God. Jesus died
that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. He died that we might no
longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us. Jesus
Christ “gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and
to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous
for good deeds” (Tit. 2:14; 1 Co. 5:15, 21; 1 Pet. 2:24). Yet, Jesus did not
remain dead. God the Father resurrected him from the dead. And, he rose
victorious over sin, hell, Satan and death on our behalf.
So, by God’s grace to us in
sending his Son to die on a cross for our sins, and to be resurrected back to
life, we can also die to our sins and be given new lives in Christ Jesus, our
Lord, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. When we
believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior of our lives, we repent of (turn
from) our sins, and we turn to God to follow him in his ways. We are forgiven
our sins, and we are given eternal life with God in heaven (See: Acts 26:16-18;
Ro. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24). All this is the working of the Spirit of God in our
lives, and nothing we do in our own flesh to earn or to deserve our own
salvation.
For Good Works
(v. 10)
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Many people who quote this
passage of scripture in Ephesians 2 stop at verse 9, and they assume that good
works are not required at all of us. Yet, although it is true that we are not
saved by our own fleshly works, and that we cannot earn our way into heaven,
our salvation is not absent of good works. We are saved not just FROM
something, but we are saved TO something. In other words, we are saved from
sin, but we are saved to righteousness.
When we become children of
God, it is not just so we can escape hell and go to heaven when we die. When
Jesus died on that cross for our sins, and he put sin to death, on our behalf, he
bought us back for God with his blood, so that when we trust in him to be our
Savior and Lord, we are no longer our own, to do with our lives what we want.
He is now our Lord (owner-master) and we are his bondservants (his workmanship).
And, he has good works which he created us to do, and which he prepared
beforehand that we should walk (in lifestyle) in them.
Some of these good works are
specific to all of us who believe in Jesus, whereas some of them are specific
to each of us as individuals. What I mean by this is Jesus not only has a
purpose for all of our lives, which applies to all his followers, but he also
has individual callings, giftings, and assignments he has for us to do (See:
Ro. 12; 1 Co. 12; Eph. 4). And, we would do well to seek his face concerning
what purpose and calling he has for our individual lives, and then to be about
doing what he had prepared in advance for us to do, and to live the lives he
had marked out for us, all in the power and working of his Spirit now living
within us, and to his glory!
Full Release / An
Original Work / April 15, 2012
Walking daily with my Savior
brings me joy.
Loving Father; precious Jesus;
He’s my Savior and my Lord.
Gently leads me; follow Him.
I’ve invited Him within.
Now abiding in His presence,
oh, what peace.
From my self-life
He has brought me,
By His mercy, full release.
Hope and comfort,
peace and safety Jesus brings
When I daily bow before Him;
Obey freely; do His will.
Follow Him where’er He leads.
Listen to Him; His words heed.
Now obeying his words fully,
oh, what love
That He gives me
through salvation,
By His Spirit, from above.
Loving Father; precious Jesus,
He’s my friend.
With my Savior, by His Spirit,
I will endure to the end.
Share the gospel, tell what’s true.
Witness daily; His will do.
Tell the world of how their Savior
bled and died.
On a cruel cross He suffered
So that we might be alive.
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