God’s grace is sufficient

Ephesians 2:8,9,10

“For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” 

When we read the Bible we need to interpret it accurately.  We need to know why it was written, to whom it was written, etc.  We need to dig deeper than just the surface or we will miss many of truths that are in God’s Word.  If we don’t go deeper, then we will end up shallow Christians.  In our passage Ephesians 2:8,9, many if not most Christians have read it, heard it, or memorized it.   But how many have dug into the text deep enough to get the full meaning of it? 

Ephesians was written by Paul around 61 A.D.  Paul was most likely in prison at the time he wrote this under Divine Inspiration from God.  The theme of Ephesians is God’s Sovereign and Divine purpose in the completion of the body of Christ.  There are 3 main points of the book:  1. Security of Believers.  2.  Life of Believers.  3.  Armament and Defense of Believers.    The book of Ephesians was written to believers.  Ephesians 1:1,2 and 2:1.   Now that we have the background of our passage we are better able to understand what is meant by the passage.

As with any passage of the Bible, we must keep the passage in context.  The second chapter of Ephesians brings out the grace of God.  The focal point being Ephesians 2:8,9.  Charles Spurgeon states about grace in his sermon delivered on August 4, 1872, “Every man by nature fights against salvation by grace, though we have nothing good in ourselves, we all think we have; though we all have broken the law, and have lost all claim upon divine regard, yet we are all proud enough to fancy that we are not quite as bad as others; that there are some mitigating circumstances in our offenses, and that we can, in some measure, appeal to the justice as well as to the compassion of God.”  In other words, we think we are something when we are nothing.  We are all dead in our trespasses and sins prior to salvation.  Ephesians 2:5  Prior to salvation we are dead, we are totally depraved!  We are totally unable to do anything to save ourselves or merit salvation. We are all guilty before God. We are not worthy of salvation.

Ephesians 2:8  “For by grace”  Grace is God’s unmerited favor.  Even though we are unworthy, He gives us salvation anyway.    As we dig into the Word, we need to go back to the original languages to get the most out of the passage.   In Greek the word, charis is translated grace.  Charis is the root word for our word charity.  When a charity worker gives food at a soup kitchen, he or she doesn’t ask the recipient for any money.  The same is true of God, He doesn’t ask us to earn our salvation, but gives it to us free of charge.  God gives us salvation freely not based on what we have done, but based on what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross of Calvary.  We didn’t have anything to buy ourselves with from the slave market of sin.  Jesus paid the price for us.  He gave His life, so that we might live.  Salvation is free, not because we deserve it, but in spite of ourselves.  Salvation is God’s gift to us.

God’s grace is infinite.  There isn’t any sin too big or too small for God to forgive.  Psalms 51 was King David’s repentance after committing lust, adultery, and murder.  God forgave him and used him for the Kingdom.  Paul who wrote Ephesians murdered many Christians prior to becoming a Christ, and God used him to write many books in the New Testament.  Just because we are sinners doesn’t mean that God won’t save us.  Jesus came to save sinners.  There isn’t any sin that God can not forgive.  Grace means God will not limit His forgiveness of us, because our salvation isn’t based on our good deeds and it isn’t limited by our bad ones either.  Salvation is completely from God.

“are ye saved”  The Greek word, sozo, means made safe, kept sound, delivered from.  It is the noun form for the Greek words Soterios and Soteria.  Soteriology (Study of salvation) The doctrine of salvation.  Ology study of and Soterios which is translated salvation.  By God’s grace (unmerited favor) are ye saved (made safe, kept sound, and delivered from the bondage and penalty of sin).  When we receive salvation, we are delivered from sin and its curse.  We no longer will burn in hell when we die, but now we have an eternal home in heaven.  We no longer are enslaved to sin.  We now have a new nature.  We are new creatures in Christ Jesus.  In heaven, we will be totally delivered from our sin natures.  After, we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we now are able to serve God.  “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”  We are now able to live for God and we are freed from the enslavement to sin.

“through faith”   The Greek word, pistis means a steadfast conviction based on hearing.  Romans 10:17  Hebrews 11:1  defines faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  We can not see our salvation, be we are sure of it based on faith in Jesus Christ.  How many people came to church and sat down by faith?  Well, how many of you checked out the chair you are sitting in before you sat in it?  Did you look to make sure it had the power to hold you up off the floor?  No?  Well if you will trust an inanimate object such as a chair without checking it and place your faith in its ability to hold you up, isn’t it better to place your faith in God Who is able to save you from your sins?

Faith is a steadfast unmovable conviction.  We know in our hearts beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ is Lord God.  We place our faith in Him.  By the way, faith is a gift from God.  Galatians states faith is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.   We are saved by God’s grace through faith.  Our faith is in Jesus Christ and Him alone, we place no trust in ourselves.  All of our salvation is based totally on Jesus Christ.

“and that not of ourselves”  Salvation hinges completely on God not on us.  Arminianism and Pelagianism both teach otherwise.  These heresies teach that salvation is based on man’s action instead of God’s providence.  The Bible teaches that salvation is a gift from God and that not of ourselves.  Salvation hinges completely on what Jesus Christ did on the cross and not our actions.  ‘All our righteousness is as filthy rags.’  The best we have to offer is worthless in God’s eyes. 

“it is a gift of God”  Salvation is a free gift of God.  The Greek word, Doron means gift or present.  At Christmas what do we have to do to earn a present?  Nothing, it wouldn’t be a present if we had to earn it.  A wage is something that is earned.  A gift is something that isn’t earned, but given free of charge.  Romans 6:23  We by our actions earn eternal death in hell, but God out of His love for us offers the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Salvation is a gift and as such can never be earned.  A gift must be received and used.  If you were to get a gift at Christmas, but leave it in the box wrapped up, then what good would it do you?  If you never accepted and used it, then what good is it?  The same is true of salvation, you can know about salvation, but unless you take Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior by faith, then you are still lost and headed for hell.  You must do more than have head knowledge of Jesus Christ.  You must repent of your sins and take Jesus Christ as your own personal Lord and Savior.  A gift must be open and used to be of value.  In order to be saved you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.  You must take and use God’s free gift.  We do not earn salvation, we accept as a gift free of charge.

“not of works”  Salvation is not of works.  The Greek word translated works is ergon; the root word for ergonomics.  It means a work or a deed.  In this case, it specifically refers to a work of the law.  The Roman Catholics teach that faith plus works saves.  Ephesians 2:8,9 prove the fallacy of the Catholic teaching.  Salvation is by grace through faith, not of works.  Our works have no bearing on our salvation.  No good deed we have done, are doing, or will ever do will make us good enough to go to heaven.  The only deed that makes us eligible for heaven is the deed that Jesus Christ did for us on the cross of Calvary.  He died in our place!  Matthew 7:21-23  When confronted on why they should be kept out of hell, they relied on their works.  These people had a head knowledge of Christ, but their faith was in themselves and not Jesus Christ.  They trusted their works to get into heaven.  The only way to do the will of God in heaven is to accept Jesus Christ as your own Lord and Savior by faith.  The Bible teaches that salvation is by faith and not of works.  Works will never save us only faith in Jesus Christ will.

Even as by our works we can not earn our salvation, by our works we can not lose our salvation.  The Pelagians and Arminians teach that you can lose your salvation based on your works.  Ephesians 2:8,9 throws out these heresies.  Our salvation is not one of works.  Our salvation does not hinge on us, but on Jesus Christ.  Philippians 1:6  He Who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it.  Who began the work in us?  God did! Who is faithful?  God is!  Who will complete it us or God?  God will!  We need to stick to the truths of the Bible and discard the fallacies of men.  Our salvation hinges totally on God and not ourselves.  We are eternally secure in Christ Jesus.  Ephesian 1:13,14  We are sealed by the Holy Spirit till the day of redemption meaning we are guaranteed to be in the rapture if we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.   We have everlasting life just like John 3:16 promises.  Our salvation is based from beginning to end on God and not us.  Thank God it is otherwise we would never be able to be at peace with God and sure that our sins are truly forgiven.  The peace that comes with being eternally secure in Christ is beyond words.  God is so awesome!  He gives us our salvation free of charge and then keeps us secure in it based on Jesus Christ and not ourselves.  He knows that we would never be able to keep our salvation on our own.  God’s love for us knows no bounds.  When we are born into the family of God, He will never kick us out and force us to be reborn again and again and again.   The Bible says that there isn’t anything that can snatch us out of His hand.  We are eternally secure in Jesus!

Since, we are eternally secure in Christ and our salvation is not based on our works we cannot boast.  “lest any man should boast.”  Why were verses 8 & 9 written to show that we have no basis for pride or boasting.  I have heard people get up and brag that they haven’t sinned in x number of years or for the holiness groups that they have sinned since they were saved x number of years ago.  Well, all that make those claims just sinned, because they number one lied and two that is pride, both of which are sins.  If you believe Pelagianism and Arminianism, then you think your salvation hinges on you and you demote God from being God and take upon yourselves His Authority.  Woe unto you hypocrites!  God will judge!  If your salvation hinges on you, then you will burn in hell forever!  But, if you repent of your sins and ask God to save you, then your salvation will hinge on Him and He will forgive you of your sins.  The reason our salvation hinges on Jesus Christ and not us is because we would become full of pride and boast.  The sin of pride is what got Satan AKA Lucifer kicked out of heaven.  The sin of pride was the first sin.  So guess where the Pelagian heresy comes from.  ‘Salvation is by grace through faith and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not works lest any man should boast.’  We can not boast of ourselves all the glory belongs to God.  We are eternally secure in Christ, so that we can not take any of the credit.  To Him belongs all the honor, glory and praise! 

John Calvin stated of I John 1:9 that is “a remedy for sin, not a license to sin.”  The same is true of being eternally secure in Christ.  Just because once we are truly saved we cannot lose our salvation, we never should use that as a license to sin.  Romans 6:1,2  We are dead to sin.  Our lives belong to God and we must live for Him.

Ephesians 2:10  We are the workmanship of God.  We aren’t the product of man’s ideas, but the new birth that God gives us through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Notice, we are created in Christ Jesus unto good works.  We are not saved by our works, we are not kept saved by our works, but our new life in Christ produces good works.  Faith produces works, but works never produce faith.  The Holy Spirit produces the fruit in our lives Galatians 5:22,23  We are the workmanship of God created in Jesus Christ unto good works.  We are new creatures in Christ Jesus.  Now our new nature is to what God wants us to.  Our love for God translates into obedience to Him.  John 14:15  “Faith works by love.” And “perfect love casts out fear.”  Faith is the cure for fear.  Fear of losing our salvation isn’t what the Bible says produces obedience.  Our love for God is what produces obedience to Him, because He took away our fears and nailed them to the cross of Calvary!

Our love for God motivates us to do good works.  The Holy Spirit flows through us to show Jesus Christ to this lost and dying world.  Even the good works we do are not our own, but they are an out production of the Holy Spirit.  So once again we can not boast, but God deserves the glory. 

We are predestinated as Christians to produce fruit.  We will by nature being doing good works and not as a condition of keeping our salvation.  We do good works, because it is a part of who we are as children of God.  Matthew 25  We will be walking in good works as part of our new nature in Christ Jesus.

Today, the question is which camp do you fall in?  Are you in God’s camp or are you in the Pelagian’s camp of try to earn your salvation or keep your salvation based on your deeds?  Is your trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation or in yourself?  Is your trust in God to keep you saved or are you living a life of fear to motivate you to obey God?  Are you applying Ephesians 2:8,9 to your life and living a life of grace or are you cutting these verses out and living a life of fear?  Where are you in God’s camp or the Pelagian camp?  Once you are truly saved, it is impossible to become unborn.  The question today is; are you truly saved?  Who does your salvation hinge upon you or Jesus Christ?