We faced a
major dilemma: We were “dead in our trespasses and sins.” Major dilemmas require major resolutions.
In these verses
(Eph. 2:4-6) Paul assured the Ephesians—and us—that God provides a salvation
that fully resolves our spiritual dilemma.
Our Assurance Rests on the Foundation of Our Deliverance.
Verse 4 tells
us our deliverance is founded upon the love of God, “the great love with which
he loves us.”
Paul never
ceases to marvel at the wonder and wealth of God’s love. He knows God doesn’t love us because we are
loveable (remember those “trespasses and sins”); God loves us because he is “so
very rich in mercy.”
The love of God
should never be treated with casual nonchalance, as though it were something we
have a right to expect. When we take
seriously the charge that “we all were by nature children of wrath” (2:3), we
will be very hesitant to speak of anyone being beyond the love of God. God’s
love is surprising and unexpected.
God’s love is not some abstract feeling or inclination toward humanity. God put his love into action to meet the
needs of unworthy humanity. Anyone
tempted to doubt the love of God should look at the cross. Indeed, when Paul mentions our salvation the
cross looms in the background.
The love of God
overruled the wrath of God in an act of grace; “by grace you have been saved,”
Paul tells the Ephesians. We who were
most unworthy have been most clearly loved. The love of God cannot be purchased
and it cannot be denied. That should
inspire devotion and assurance.
Our Assurance Rests on the Fullness of Our Deliverance.
The Biblical
pictures of what God has done for us through Christ are varied. Paul uses two here.
He enlivened us. God, “even though we were dead in our
trespasses, made us alive.” Did you get
that? The only antidote for death is
life. Our problem was death; the
solution was life.
Spiritually we share in the resurrection of
Christ. Life comes through union with
Christ. That’s why we urge people to
seek this relationship with him.
As a result of
God’s saving action you are more alive now than you have ever been. Where once you had no capacity for the
spiritual in life, you do now. Paul’s
words recall Jesus description of his mission found in John 10:10—“I’ve come
that they may have life and have it abundantly.” In the words of the Common English Bible,
Jesus came so we “could live life to the fullest.”
At the same
time, He enthroned us. The
Ephesians were familiar with thrones.
They were literally seats of power; those who sat on thrones had power. Now, Paul tells us that believers are “seated
with Christ in the heavenly reams.” It
seems strange until we recall what Paul said a few verses before. He spoke of our being under the influence of
“the ruler of the power of the air.” This ruler is Satan—the malevolent one who
seeks only our ruin.
Now, Paul tells
us that seated with Christ we have the power to overcome “the world, the flesh,
and the devil,” the three forces enslaved us when we had no relationship with
Christ. We moderns have sometimes
scoffed at such talk but we unconsciously recognize our vulnerability to being
controlled. Take a psychology or
sociology class and you’ll learn how varied forces, inside us and outside us,
pressure us to behave in one way or another.
We sometimes argue our bad, even self-destructive behavior is to be laid
off on these influences. Remember Hank
Williams, Junior’s excuse for his drinking; he was “keeping up an old family
tradition.”
Paul is telling
us that the Christian does not have to give in to
--peers who
would lead us into hurtful lifestyles, who would urge us to be indifferent to
spiritual matters;
--a flawed
culture that would fill us with hatred for other races and cultures, a culture that
believes the accumulation of wealth is all that matters;
--the inner
promptings of an “addictive personality.”
Indeed, our new
life in Christ even allows us to say “No” to Satan.
That’s how full
our deliverance is.
Conclusion:
You ought to be
confident the salvation God provides will meet your deepest spiritual needs. If you’ve trusted Christ, don’t allow
anything to shake your confidence.
If you’ve yet
to commit yourself to him, allow me to encourage you.
Escape your state
of spiritual death and let God give you life.
Escape from
your powerlessness and let God give you power to live the life he give syou.
