Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV
“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.”
The first two verses of this passage of Scripture are some of the most misquoted and misinterpreted Scriptures in our day and time. And many people are building their doctrine of salvation off these first two verses without even looking into what these words mean biblically. And they do have biblical meanings. And many people are doing this while ignoring verse 10 and the rest of the book of Ephesians and the whole of the rest of the New Testament. And so it is important for us to examine this passage and to look deep into what it is saying so that we don’t just “make it up” as we go.
So, I am going to break this down for us word by word or phrase by phrase, and I will use biblehub.com and their Greek interlinear so that we can look into what these words actually mean. And I will also share some other Scriptures, too, which will help us to understand better what this is teaching us, so that we get a more accurate picture of the lesson here based more off of the Scriptures as a whole, as I am being led by the Holy Spirit.
God’s Grace to Us
Okay, so what is biblical grace? It is God’s kindness to us, it is a gift of God to us, and it is his favor towards us, so this has nothing to do with us or with what we have done prior to this grace being imparted to us. But it has to do with Jesus Christ’s death on that cross whereby, in his death, he put our sins to death with him so that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness (1 Peter 2:24). Then let’s look at this:
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-14 ESV).
And this really is the essence of the gospel message. For when we believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith, we die with him to sin that we might live to his righteousness. We are crucified with Christ in death to sin and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So, we aren’t supposed to let sin continue to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its passions, but now we are to walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit of God and no longer according to the flesh.
[see 1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Ephesians 4:17-24]
Saved by Grace
The word “save” has to do with a rescue. It means “to deliver out of danger and into safety,” and it is used primarily of God rescuing true believers in him out of their lives of slavery to sin so that they can now live to him and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to the Lord Jesus, and in walks of holiness and righteousness, and no longer in sin (same verses as above plus Luke 9:23-26, 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; and 1 John 3:4-10). And this includes deliverance from the penalty of sin, forgiveness of sins, and the hope of eternal life with God for the true follower of Jesus Christ.
“And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels’.” (Luke 9:23-26 ESV)
So, what’s this saying? If we want Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior, we have to deny self, die daily to sin and to self, and follow him in obedience to his ways and to his commands, under the New Covenant. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we die with him to sin so that we can now live to him and to his righteousness, then we have eternal life. But if we are ashamed of Jesus and his words, which is evident by our lifestyles, by how we live, then he will be ashamed of us and he will deny us when he returns.
[Matt 10:33; Lu 9:26; 2 Tim 2:12; 2 Tim 3:5; Tit 1:16; 2 Pet 2:1; Jude 1:4]
By Grace Through Faith
This word faith means to “be persuaded.” “It is always a gift from God,” and it is “God’s divine persuasion.” So, this is “the persuasion of His will.” And what is the will of God for us? It is that we would die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, in walks of obedience to him, and in surrender to his will, and in walks of holiness and righteousness. And this faith is not of our own doing, so we can’t create it in our own minds. Faith means that we are persuaded of God to die with him to sin, to leave our lives of sin behind us, and to now follow him in obedience to his ways.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Not of Works
Now, what works is this talking about? It isn’t talking about the works of God which he prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So they must be our own fleshly works which we may do hoping to earn favor with God, which can never happen. So, please don’t get this idea that works are not a part of our salvation. They are! It is just that they are the works which God had planned for us to do even before the creation of the world, and that we now, as his workmanship, do in his power and strength, and not in our own strength and wisdom.
No Less
An Original Work / March 19, 2012
I can do no less than praise You,
Lord, for all You’ve done for me.
You died for my sins to save me,
So I would be set free.
I adore You! Lord, I praise You!
Jesus, Savior, King of kings!
You provided my redemption.
Your grace has pardoned me.
I can do no less than serve You.
Lord, Your witness I would be,
Telling others of Your love,
And why You died on that tree.
Tell of how You gave of Your life,
So from sin we’d be set free,
So we could worship You forever,
And live eternally.
I can do no less than love You,
Lord, for You have first loved me.
You gave of Your life so willing,
Because You cared for me.
Turn from my sin! Obey freely!
Live for You each passing day.
Read Your word, and follow Your lead,
Lord, as I humbly pray.
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