“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. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10 NASB1995)
If you are used to hearing Ephesians 2:8-9 taught
independent of verse 10, please start reading it with verse 10 included, for
verse 10 is a continuation of the same conversation, and it helps combat many
misconceptions which are being taught by removing verse 10 from the mix. For
leaving verse 10 out of the conversation would be like someone pulling a
sentence out of one of my writings, which is critical to what is being
communicated. And without it, it can give an entirely different message, perhaps
one not intended at all!
Only, in the case of the Scriptures, removing contextual
Scriptures which are necessary to correct biblical interpretation from the
intended context can lead to misinterpretations and to false doctrines of
salvation, resulting in false professions of faith in Jesus Christ. And that is
exactly what has been happening for many years now by removing verse 10, which
is critical, not only to correct doctrinal teaching, but to people having
sincere biblical faith in Jesus Christ resulting in salvation from sin and
eternal life with God.
How so? Well, let’s start at the beginning and work our way
down.
“For by grace..” “For the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly
desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking
for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and
Savior, Christ Jesus, who 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” (Titus 2:11-14).
“Through faith.. not of yourselves..” For by God-gifted
faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with
Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in
him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks
of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our
mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it
results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in
sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).
“You have been saved..” For Jesus Christ taught that to come
to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and
follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will
lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the
Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power,
then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will
enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see
Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
“It is the gift of God..” “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the
author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2). “No one can come to Me unless
the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day”
(John 6:44). “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become
children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of
blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John
1:12-13). “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal
life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
“Not as a result of works..” This needs to be read in
context. For we are saved by grace, through faith, and not of ourselves, but it
is the gift of God. Basically we are all born with sin natures, in the image of
Adam, and incapable in our own flesh to be acceptable to God. So there is not
anything that we can do in our own flesh to earn or to deserve our own salvation.
It all originates with God, it is gifted to us by God, but it is also persuaded
of God (the meaning of faith) to die with him to sin and to obey his commands.
“Created in Christ Jesus for good works..” This is what we
can’t leave out. Yes, not one of us can do anything in our own flesh to be
approved by God. But Christ Jesus 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. And we are created by God, in Christ Jesus, for good
works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk (in conduct, in
practice) in them. So God has works he wants us to do which give evidence that
our faith is of him and it is genuine biblical faith (Ephesians 2:10; Titus
2:14).
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians
4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13;
Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1
John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]
As the Deer
By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1
As the deer panteth
for the water
So my soul longeth
after You
You alone are my
heart's desire
And I long to
worship You
You alone are my
strength, my shield
To You alone may my
spirit yield
You alone are my
heart's desire
And I long to
worship You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70
Caution: This link
may contain ads
Created in Christ
Jesus For Good Works
No comments:
Post a Comment