"But God". Two of the most precious words found in the whole Bible!
Did you know that, "you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh... But God, being rich in mercy, [and]because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (Ephesians 2:1-6)?
That really is a LOT to grab onto all at once, isn't it?
We were dead!? Yes, that's what His word says. (I once did a study on God's view of death and I'll add the link here if you're curious to understand His view.) Dead to God, and separated from Him because of our sins. We all were at one time running hard after our own passions and the courses of this world. The truth is, not one of us was running hard after Him!
But God!
And because of HIS great love for us, even while we were running the other way, He offered us the gift of LIFE!
These two verses here tell us almost everything we need to know about salvation.
- What are we saved from? Death. "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
- What will not save us? Our own efforts. We'll never be good enough. Titus 3:5 tells us that it was "not by works of righteousness (good works) we have done but according to His mercy He saved us."
- If our efforts won't save us. If we were separated from God and running away, how then do we become saved? These verses above in Ephesians 2:8-9 clearly tell us that salvation is a gift! A gift offered to everyone.
Every Gift Has To Have Three Things
- A Giver - Salvation is "the gift of God" (Eph 2:9)
- A Cost - It has to be paid for. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10) Jesus paid the price we couldn't pay on the cross.
- A Receiver- receiving His gift is as simple as admitting you need it! That you cannot save yourself and you are trusting Jesus and making Him Lord of your life! (No more running from God, you're running towards Him) And taking Him at His word when He says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he that believes [has faith] in Me has eternal life." (John 6:47)
It's as simple as that! And for everyone who accepted His gift, "He made us alive in Christ Jesus and seated us with Him in heaven. (v.6) Do you know what that means? It's a done deal... according to God. He counts you as one of His own and has already seated you at the table.
It's the greatest transformation ever! Death to Life - eternal life! Seated in heaven with Jesus! Not because of anything we did to deserve it, but because of all He did for each one of us!
To God be the glory, great things He has done!
Blessings,
sue
