Amazing Grace1
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May 17, 2009)
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May 17, 2009 - Ephesians 2:1-10
Open It
When have you shown mercy to a person who deserved to be punished?
What is the best gift you've ever received?
Explore It
Before conversion, what was the spiritual position of the Ephesians? (2:1)
What three characteristics mark the condition of a person without Christ? (2:2-3)
How are both Jew and Gentile alike? (2:3)
Why did God make those who were dead alive with Christ? (2:4-5)
What describes God's action in making us alive? (2:5)
What position has God given Christians in Christ by His divine power? (2:6)
What will God show in the future eternal state? (2:7)
What is the means of salvation? (2:8)
Where does salvation come from? (2:8)
Why can no one boast in his own salvation? (2:8-9)
How is the believer God's work of art? (2:10)
What is the purpose of God's workmanship? (2:10)
Get It
What were you like before you became a Christian?
Why was your position hopeless before becoming a Christian?
When did you receive the gift of new life?
How would you describe God's grace to you?
Why hasn't anyone deserved God's grace, mercy, or riches?
How do you see God's creative workmanship operating in your life?
Apply It
With whom can you share the news of God's mercy? How?
Empowered by the Holy Spirit, what good work for the kingdom of God can you do this week
Notes for Chapter 2:1-10
2:1, 2 Immediately after his prayer, Paul reminds the Ephesians of the reality of personal sin. Like them, we must never forget our past, the condition from which Jesus saved us. Those memories are the best fuel for our gratitude to Christ for all he has done in our behalf.
2:2 Paul describes Satan, the devil, as "the commander of the powers in the unseen world." Paul's readers believed that Satan and the evil spiritual forces inhabited the region between earth and sky. Satan is thus pictured as ruling an evil spiritual kingdom--the demons and those who are against Christ. In the resurrection, Christ was victorious over the devil and his power. Therefore, Jesus Christ is the permanent ruler of the whole world; the devil is only the temporary ruler of the part of the world that chooses to follow him.
2:3 The fact that all people, without exception, commit sin proves that without Christ we have a sinful nature. We are lost in sin and cannot save ourselves. Does this mean only Christians do good? Of course not--many people do good to others. On a relative scale, many are moral, kind, and law abiding. Comparing these people to criminals, we would say that they are very good indeed. But on God's absolute scale, no one is good enough to earn salvation ("dead because of your disobedience and your many sins," 2:1). Only through being united with Christ's perfect life can we become good in God's sight. "Subject to God's anger" refers to those who are to receive God's wrath because of their rejection of Christ.
2:4 We were dead in our sins, but God... We were rebels against him, but God... We were enslaved by the devil and our sinful natures, but God... These may be the two most welcome words in all of Scripture: "but God." God could have left us spiritually dead, in rebellion against him and in bondage to our sins. But he didn't. He did not save us because of, but rather in spite of, what he saw in us. In addition to thanking him for what he has done for us, we should also show humble patience and tolerance for others who seem unworthy or undeserving of our love and compassion. They may be spiritually dull, rebellious, and even antagonistic toward God. So were we; but God loved us anyway. Can we do less for fellow sinners?
2:4, 5 In the previous verses Paul wrote about our old sinful nature (2:1-3). Here Paul emphasizes that we do not need to live any longer under sin's power. The penalty of sin and its power over us were miraculously destroyed by Christ on the cross. Through faith in Christ we stand acquitted, or not guilty, before God (Romans 3:21, 22). God does not take us out of the world or make us robots--we will still feel like sinning, and sometimes we will sin. The difference is that before we became Christians, we were dead in sin and were slaves to our sinful nature. But now we are alive with Christ (see also Galatians 2:20).
2:6 Because of Christ's resurrection, we know that our body will also be raised from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:2-23) and that we have been given the power to live as Christians now (1:19). These ideas are combined in Paul's image of sitting with Christ in "the heavenly realms" (see the note on 1:3). Our eternal life with Christ is certain because we are united in his powerful victory.
2:8, 9 When someone gives you a gift, do you say, "That's very nice--now how much do I owe you?" No, the appropriate response to a gift is "Thank you." Yet how often Christians, even after they have been given the gift of salvation, feel obligated to try to work their way to God. Because our salvation and even our faith are gifts, we should respond with gratitude, praise, and joy.
2:8-10 We become Christians through God's unmerited favor, not as the result of any effort, ability, intelligent choice, or act of service on our part. However, out of gratitude for this free gift, we will seek to help and serve others with kindness, love, and gentleness, and not merely to please ourselves. While no action or work we do can help us obtain salvation, God's intention is that our salvation will result in acts of service. We are not saved merely for our own benefit but to serve Christ and build up the church (4:12).
2:10 We are God's masterpiece (work of art, workmanship). Our salvation is something only God can do. It is his powerful, creative work in us. If God considers us his masterpieces, we dare not treat ourselves or others with disrespect or as inferior work.
1Adult Questions for LESSONMaker, (Austin, TX: Wordsearch, 1992), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "Made Alive in Christ - Ephesians 2:1-10"
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