Back to Basics - Ephesians 2:1-10

S - Ephesians 2:1-10 Trusting in God
O - We are completely dead from sin.
It is totally God's grace that we can be saved. Because we are dead we cannot respond - it is not our works or our faith that saves ourselves. In God's eyes we are sinners no matter how hard we try on our own.
v1-3 our bondage to sin is caused by three enemies - the world, the devil and the flesh

Hate worldliness, not the world. Worldliness suppresses the truth of God. Life and lifestyles with no reference to God. But not the world that God created.

The devil works on the world and our sinful nature/flesh.
Flesh can mean the worst of our human nature (Romans 1:18-32) - and even the best of our human heritage and achievement (as in Philippians 3:3-6) - ie the greatest human self-confidence.
"Sin can manifest itself in respectable forms" - F.F Bruce
Deceptive disguise of sin...
We are the objects of God's wrath, BUT
God's love, mercy, grace and kindness - the gospel happened to us
We are made alive
v5-7 - "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, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus"

v10 - "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them".


Jesus Christ has the power to save us -
Ephesians 1:19-21 "and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come"


But this is more than showing off God's power. v7 - "so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus"
Only God can do such work.
And God's work is a gift to us - we did not contribute to this - we could not while we were dead. Salvation is God's work from fist to last. Even our faith to believe in Him comes from him, In choosing to believe in God we will realize it was God who chose us first.
If we add to God's work, we take away from it. Our only work is to trust that Jesus has done it and done it perfectly for us.

The proof that we trust in Him? - v10!
We are under Jesus' lordship, no longer under the devil's rule.

Every true believer is a display of God's amazing grace in Christ. The only before-and-after testimonies worth believing is in Jesus Christ.

A/P - Thank you Lord that in Jesus Christ, our salvation is perfect and complete.
That God's power, grace, love and kindness is shown through Jesus.
That we can live as God's workmanship, living in Jesus' rule for good works that God has prepared.