4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."
This section of Ephesians is SUPER popular, especially verse 8. Unfortunately, people cite verse 8 and just stop there, without finishing the thought with verses 9 and 10. But we'll get there! =) The truth Paul conveys here in the beginning is crazy to think about, but so true. Without Jesus, we're all dead! We were dead, objects of God's anger because of our actions, yet somehow He still loved us enough to send Jesus to save us! In verse 2, Paul makes an interesting connection, saying that the devil is the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He also says that he is the spirit that's working in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. It's crazy to think about that. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit at work in those who obey God and belong to Christ, and the devil is the spirit at work in those who don't. I can't help but think about Jesus' teaching in Matthew 12 and Mark 3.
26 "And if Satan is divided and fights against himself, how can he stand? He would never survive. 27 Let me illustrate this further. Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.
28 “I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, 29 but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences.”"
26 "And if Satan is divided and fights against himself, how can he stand? He would never survive. 27 Let me illustrate this further. Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.
28 “I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, 29 but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences.”"
These were some strong words Jesus spoke to these guys. They were saying that the Spirit inside of Him was the devil, which was blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. That's a major issue, as you could probably guess, haha. But the imagery here that Jesus gives, is that the devil is the spirit inside of you when you're not a believer, and you are subject to and serve him. Your only hope is for Jesus and His Spirit, who is stronger, to enter in, tie him up, and free you! This also makes sense to me in how we are 'born again/from above' to a new life. The devil is bound, we are liberated from our old life, which is then put to death, and we are given a new life through Christ! AMAZING! It's cool how Paul even says in verse 7 that he knows he and the believers in Ephesus are going to be seen as examples and testimonies for those who come after.
In verse 8, Paul explains that salvation wasn't given to us based upon what we do or anything that we've done. It's a gift. A gift isn't given as payment. It's given because someone cares about/loves someone else. If it weren't a gift and was based upon our works, can you imagine how much boasting would be happening? People's tendency to have a 'holier-than-thou' attitude would be SO MUCH MORE rampant than it already is. I don't know about you, but I don't think I could stand that, haha. As I mentioned earlier, so many people just stop here. But Paul doesn't finish his thought here. He concludes his thought with verse 10, not verse 9!! What does he say? He says we were saved TO DO GOOD WORKS!!! CRAZY HUH!?!?! We weren't saved because of good works, but we were saved to do good works! It's important that we don't forget that and that we don't flip those! He had amazing plans for us to be a part of and sin ruined that, or so it seemed. But thanks be to Jesus, through whom we are created ANEW, born to a new life from above, and we are able to once again be a part of the awesome things that God has planned! =) Kind of puts a bigger importance and role on how we live as Christians doesn't it? =) We truly don't live our lives for ourselves but for God! What are your thoughts? =)
"Father, thank You for Jesus! May we never forsake You and may we never live our lives in a way that doesn't take your love and Jesus' sacrifice for granted! I pray that you give us the wisdom to see things how You do and to align our lives with the plans that you have in store. We love You! It's in Jesus' name that I pray, amen!"
Eph 2:10 is one of my favorite verses. It says that we are God's master piece, His workmanship. God made us just the way He wanted! In his eyes we are beautiful. Far too often we think that we're worthless, that we're junk. The thing is, God doesn't make junk, we are his masterpieces!!!! No matter what we think of ourselves or want other people think of us it doesn't matter, because God made us the way He wanted us to be and through us He can do awesome things!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt is quite refreshing to thank about the fact that God views us as His masterpiece isn't it? =) It reminds me of my value to God, while at the same time helping me see just how devastating my sin is, something that seeks to destroy God's masterpiece!
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