By Faith through Grace

Ephesians 2:1-10
By: Alexander Rico

As we continue our study here through the book of Ephesians, we see here a continuation of what we had studied last week; the power of God, the power to save. I think this is something that we have all been faced with from time to time, the question of our salvation and faith. I more recently have had to hear a person close to me question me on how they have come across their salvation. In fact, when I was preparing this study, my ex-girlfriend instant messaged me. She began to talk to me about my walk with the Lord; then, suddenly the conversation slowly began to change and dramatically took a quick turn for the worse. See, she told me that she felt her boyfriend, Matt, was her Messiah; her savior. She said that Christ had done nothing for her, and that he died, and remains dead. This deeply troubled me, and I began to speak with her about Jesus Christ. She felt that I was pushing a religion, and when I began to explain that I wasn’t; but, in fact introducing her to a relationship with our Lord and Savior, she left.

Today, we each know people who feel that their salvation can simply be obtained through religious works, routines, and through the priests/pastors. This we can see from what Paul has written that this is not the case. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NKJV)

Salvation today cannot be obtained through our own works, or our own actions; salvation can only be found in Jesus Christ. We tend to think that if we are good people here on earth, we will automatically be accepted into heaven. However, God does not judge one on a merit system, he looks at the persons heart, and if they have accepted His Son’s sacrifice on the cross; the death of Jesus Christ, His bodily resurrection, and His ascension into heaven. In Acts 4:12 the writer tells us (speaking of Jesus), “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (NKJV)

Many times, we can see people working in ministries; we see them pushing along, getting so involved that we think they are going to be saved, and be taken up into heaven. We think, “How can God not allow them in? Look at the work they are doing!” We need to remember, Christ is our only means of salvation, and works are only an offspring of our salvation and belief in Christ. We do works not because we think it saves us, but because we are grateful and want to share our gifts and our talents that God has given to us, to further God’s ministry here on earth. After all, we each have a special duty and calling within the body of Christ. There within Cornerstone Christian club leadership team, each leader has a unique gift and quality that God has given to them. Outside the club leadership team, we have great members that have each supplied numerous help to further God’s kingdom. However, I must, as well as each leader and member within the club today, be careful not to get so entangled into the carnal thinking that the works that each person does makes them any better or higher in God’s book. Nor, saved through works.

Jesus Christ came into this world to die for our sins, and give us that hope of Heaven, not to judge us by our own works. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16, NKJV) Anywhere within that passage did you hear anything about God sending his Son to collect those who work and do great deeds for the others? Nope. Christ died for us all, but we must accept his sacrifice in order to be saved.

Paul tells us, we are saved by faith through grace. What is this faith? Well, the Berlitz Dictionary of American English states that it is, “to believe in,” or better yet, “belief in a favorable result with no factual proof.“

The book of Hebrews says that faith is, “[…] the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1, NKJV) Faith in the Strong’s concordance is translated as, “pis’tis” which can be considered, “persuasion, that is, credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly constancy in such profession; by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself: – assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.” We are saved by believing. These two words, grace and faith go together nicely in this passage. The word Grace can be translated, “charis” meaning, “favor, or gift” We must see salvation as a gift from God through his unending grace. A gift bestowed upon us at the time that we accept Christ, and believes in his sacrifice wholeheartedly. Please do not misinterpret this as being God who believes for man, but that man must now make up his mind and believe in God; and, exercise faith. It is hard at times to truly exercise faith; after all, we are a generation that likes to do things on our own; to work for those promotions, to make things, and to create things.

I see it all the time at home; my dad loves to do things by himself. He loves to work with his hands and build objects that we could normally buy. He gets a pleasure out of creating something; then, standing back admiring the work he had done (that had sometimes taking extensive periods of time). I saw this when he made my pulpit for the children’s ministry. He worked long and hard on it, and he loves to see it in the classroom.

By works we are not saved! We are saved through the grace of God, and that alone. We can try hard to work our way into heaven, but that will get us no where.

Today, believe in the redemption, spoken in the previous passages in Ephesians chapter 1 verses 1-14, that God has given to us through His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, and him alone. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13, NKJV) When you accept the sacrifice that Jesus made for you and me, you become an adopted child of the living God. Sure, I am not going to lie, the road ahead will be bumpy; however, it will be a great blessing that you nor anyone else could ever experience on this world. If you’d like to accept Christ today; then, by all means please join me in this simple prayer asking Jesus into your heart, mind, and soul. Repeat after me,

” Lord Jesus, I ask you to forgive me of all my sins. Come into my heart and cleanse me of all unrighteousness. Lord, I ask that you help me to be that witness, that light in my community for you from now on. Help me to turn away from the ways of the world, and get my focus directly on you. In your precious name I pray, Amen.”

If you prayed that prayer along with me, I’d like to announce that today, the moment you accepted Christ into your life the Bible says, “[…] there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner represents.” (Luke 15:10) Just like that, you are forgiven and are adopted into God’s family. Though, there are steps to continue in maintaining your relationship with the Lord. These being:

Read the Bible – This is God’s love letter to you. It also provides us with a foundation for relationships with others, and tells us about attitudes, motivation and truth. It is important to know, and enlist the principles in the Bible into your life, they keep you on the right way and allow us to make sound judgments concerning people and doctrine.
Pray – In any relationship communication is important, priority factor. God desires to communicate with each of us. Prayer is not just a forum for requests. God wants to hear our feelings, hurts, ambitions and joys. Through this he is able to change and refine those parts of us that need it.
Fellowship – Get plugged into a church or local group that studies the bible. As we begin to share with others what we have learned from the Bible and prayer, we encourage others to grow and ourselves. Fellowship as God planned it is not a clique or special club designed for gossip. We must be careful to keep our conversations with others honest. It’s best described as a fire. One coal alone dies down quickly, but a mound of coals burn white hot, just as one Christian alone will struggle to stay ‘on fire’, while a group together keeps each other hot.
Witness – “Go into the world and preach the good news to all creation.” (Mark 16:15). Jesus gave this as a command, not an option. God has chosen all Christians to be agents of His gospel. We are either missionaries or mission fields. That does not mean that everyone should travel to different countries, but it does mean that no matter where go we should be prepared in life and in word to be ambassadors for Christ. “Pray for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given to me so I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.” (Ephesians 6:19)

God bless, and may you be blessed as you continue to search out the scriptures to learn more about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!