A Study of Ephesians

The Relationship of God and His Saints

Many folks who read this lesson from the blog or email will miss a great deal of context simply because time does not allow me to fill in a lot of the material I will be discussing during our class. If you have questions please let me know I will be glad to answer you via email. Jesse

Ephesians 2:1-10

Lesson #4

Goal of the Lesson:

• To show that the saints of God have a relationship with God that begins at salvation and that it can never be broken

• To show that salvation is a work of God and not a work of man.

• To show that God's original purpose in creation was to make us like Christ.

This Lesson will help us:

• To see that as saints we have a new identity; in Christ

• To be joyful, because of what God has done for us; in Christ

• To have confidence and hope; in Christ

• To know that we have security; in Christ.

Ever heard the words; “understand who you are” or “be the person you want to be” or other self identifying words that are designed to promote a good self image? But if we are honest with our heart, we often come away from those encounters feeling a little disappointed.

Basically this is because our self image is like that of Adam's race. Genesis 5: 3. When Adam sinned against God, he lost his likeness of God. Genesis 5:1. It should not take a lot of understanding to see that the unsaved person has no chance to resemble God at anytime. But those who have been saved, the life of that person is restored to the image of God once again. 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Romans 5:12-21

So we have this past – before we were saved. In Adam all die

In our present salvation – we are placed by faith; in Christ and we live by faith

Romans 6:1-14

And we now have a future – of life; in Christ.

Well lets see what all of this looks like in Ephesians 2.

Verse 1-3: A simple but humbling statement that all of us need to identify with. Before we we were saved, we were DEAD in sins of trespass. Some might want to say that they do not understand what a trespass is. Written in the soul of every human being are the ten commandments. Ever lie or steal, ever thought about murder. Ever decide to not worship God, ever had an idol. Trespass means to go beyond the Law of God. Romans 2:14 and Galatians 3:19. So all are dead in sin at birth because all are born into Adam who cannot live in accordance with the commandments of God.

Theology has explained this by saying that there is an original sin, or mortal sin of Adam and then there are venial sins, sins that are common to man. That the mortal sin carries the death penalty imposed on Adam in garden to all mankind and that common sins do not carry the death penalty. Sin by definition means to miss the mark of righteousness and the scripture says: Romans 3:23 All sin carries the penalty of death and all are guilty, Jesus Christ came to restore us to God and to His righteousness. 1 John 2:28-29.

So before we came to faith in God, we were kept by the power of Satan in darkness. We were controlled by the god of this age and kept from the light of the gospel. 2 Corinthians 4:4. But God has shown us grace, or favor in that while we were born into this world with the sin of Adam, God has provided an escape from this death through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus. 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, John 3:36 and Romans 1:18

Verses 4-6 Before understanding the Resurrection our position in a relationship with God was hopeless. We were surrounded by death and controlled in that death by the god of this world. Ephesians 2:1-2, but when God who is rich in mercy presented the risen Savior to us and we believed; then by His power to raise Christ from the dead, He also raised us up together with Him. This same power that began working in the crucified Son of God while He was dead in the grave, who was covered in all of the trespass of mankind, God reached in with His eternal power of life and raised Him up out of the grave. In doing so; He also raised us up together with Him and seated us in the heavenly places with Him. Your salvation and mine was sealed in Christ on that Sunday morning one thousand nine hundred seventy seven years ago, next Sunday. The only thing that prevents people from having resurrection life is faith. The grace is provided by God the Father, the faith to believe is assisted by God the Holy Spirit and the Risen Life is proved in God the Son, John 14:1-6.

So Paul to this point has explained our past and present condition concerning our relationship with God. Now he will explain our future life; in Christ.

Verse 7: The riches of God's grace do not end with salvation. The truth is that grace, has been active and working in our life even while we were dead in sin, we were just not able to see it. We move from the common grace of God for all mankind, to the saving grace of God by faith in Christ to the greater grace of God. This is the explanation of Ephesians 2:7. So grace by definition is really the working favor of God to extend to all mankind the opportunity of living in the Resurrection Power of the Living Christ. Ephesians 1:3.

Verses 8 – 9: There is no who deserves to be saved, so to say that people are pre-destined to salvation is the lie of religion. From, Abel to the apostles, and advancing through time to you and me, all have been saved by the marvelous grace of God. Salvation is offered to all, by faith salvation is believed on in the world and those who believe are raised up to glory just like Christ. 1 Timothy 3:16. All of this is a gift of God, not of any works of man. To say that one is pre-destined to have salvation is to say that some have done something to deserve it and this is an error of interpretation. If salvation were only to those predestined then salvation would not be offered freely to all. Romans 6:23. So there is no wiggle room for anyone to boost about how God saved them because the somehow deserved it.

Verse 10: Salvation is designed and crafted by God. So God who is rich in mercy takes each one who comes to faith and prepares us for good works. One: He points us to the cross and the resurrection of His Son. Two: He seals us in the Holy Spirit and blesses us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places; in Christ. The predestination of this work God prepared in eternity past for us to be like Christ. The first Adam failed, the second Adam, who is Christ did not fail and what was prepared in eternity past is restored to all who believe by grace through faith. 1 Corinthians 15:47

Conclusion: For those saved, God is conforming us into the likeness of His Son. He is restoring us to His original design; in Christ all shall be made alive. Romans 8:28-29 and 8:37-39; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.