Ephesians 2:8-10 NKV
“8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Grace
What is God’s grace to us? God’s grace sent Jesus Christ,
the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – to the
cross to put our sins to death with him, and then to rise from the dead
victorious over sin, death, hell, and Satan, on our behalf, in order that by
faith in Jesus Christ we will now die to sin and obey God and his commands. For
God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce
ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and
godly lives in Christ Jesus.
Salvation
And what are we saved from? We are saved from ourselves, from
our own selfish wills and desires. And we are saved out from our addiction to
sin and from living for self and for ungodly pleasures. We are rescued from the
control (power) of sin and Satan over our lives so we can now, by the grace of
God, live for our Lord, in obedience to his commands, in holy living. And what
are we saved to? To do the will of God, to follow our Lord wherever he leads us
in doing whatever he has called us to do, all for the glory of God.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John
6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Ephesians
2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24]
Faith
And what is faith? It is divine persuasion of God as to his
holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to die with
Christ to sin so we might live for Christ in obedience to his commands. But
this faith is not of our own doing, of the will of the flesh of humans. But we
are saved as we are drawn by God to follow Jesus with our lives. For this faith
is authored and perfected by Jesus Christ, and it comes from God, and so it is
aligned biblically with the teachings of Christ on what it means to have faith.
[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44;
Acts 26:18; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10;
Ephesians 4:17-32; Hebrews 12:1-2; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Peter 2:24]
Works
Don’t leave out verse 10, which is what so many people do.
So they teach that faith is absent of all works, including they exclude the
need to obey God’s commands, to do his will, and to forsake our sins. But if we
include verse 10 we learn that by faith in Jesus we are now his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus “for good works” which God prepared beforehand that we
should walk in them. So we are not saved by our own fleshly works, but we are
saved by God to do the works God has prepared for us to do.
[Titus 2:11-14; Titus 3:8; Ephesians 2:10; Ephesians
4:20-24; 1 Corinthians 15:58; 2 Corinthians 9:8; Galatians 5:22-24; Philippians
2:12-13; James 2:14-26; Colossians 1:9-14; 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12; 2 Timothy
2:21]
By Your Grace
An Original Work / June 27, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Speak Your words to my heart,
Let Your grace and love impart.
Be to me all I need
To love and serve Christ my King;
To love and serve Christ my King.
Change my heart; be like You;
Let me love and serve in truth.
Guide my steps ev’ry day,
As I bow my knees and pray;
As I bow my knees and pray.
Love You, Lord. You love me.
You died so that I’d go free
From my sin; pure within;
By Your grace I’m saved from sin;
By Your grace I’m saved from sin.
Invite You in my heart;
Now I have a brand new start.
Repented of my sin,
So that I’d be cleansed within;
So that I’d be cleansed within.
Live for You ev’ry day,
List’ning to the words you say.
Make You Lord of my heart;
Be Your witness, grace impart;
Be Your witness, grace impart.
Obey Your ev’ry word;
Do the things I’ve seen and heard.
Your word, Lord, in me burns,
While I wait for Your return;
While I wait for Your return.
Grace, Salvation,
Faith, Works
No comments:
Post a Comment