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SERIES: EPHESIANS: THE CALL AN CONDUCT OF THE CHURCH, WEEK 13

TITLE:  THE WAY WE WERE

 TEXT:  EPHESIANS 2:2-4A

INTRODUCTION: (1) IN 1973 A MOVIE CIRCULATED IN AMERICAN THEATERS ENTITLED, “THE WAY WE WERE”.

* I DIDN’T SEE THE MOVIE, NOR AM I RECOMMENDING IT, BUT HAVE HEARD THE SONG TAKEN FROM THE MOVIE TITLED “THE WAY WE WERE” SUNG BY BARBARA STREISAND, WHO STARRED IN THE MOVIE WITH ROBERT REDFORD.

** IN SUMMARY, WE ARE TOLD THAT THIS MOVIE WAS A NOSTALGIC LOOK AT THE PAST, WHICH IS THE WAY MOST WANT TO REMEMBER EARLIER YEARS.

*** FOR WE HAVE A TENDENCY THE OLDER WE GET, TO BE VERY NOSTALGIC, TO REMEMBER THE “GOOD OLD DAYS” AND WANT TO RETURN TO THE WAY THINGS WERE.

**** WELL, IN EPHESIANS 2:1-3, PAUL LOOKS AT OUR PAST, B.C. BEFORE CHRIST, BEFORE WE BECAME CHRISTIANS.

(2) ONLY HIS VIEW IS NOT NOSTALGIC.

* IN FACT, THE WAY WE WERE WITHOUT CHRIST WAS PRETTY BAD, IT WAS A STATE OF DEPRAVITY AND WE WERE NOT GOOD.

** AND THERE IS NOTHING THAT I WANT TO RETURN TO BEFORE CHRIST RAISED ME FROM MY DEAD STATE.

*** I AM NOT NOSTALGIC ABOUT MY PAST, BUT ASHAMED OF MY PAST.

**** AND I AM THANKFUL TODAY, THAT BY GOD’S GRACE, I AM NOT WHAT I WAS.

(3) CHRIST CHANGED US AT CONVERSION AND IS IN THE PROCESS OF CHANGING US, II CORINTHIANS 5:17 SAYS (READ IT).

* NOW UNDERSTAND THIS, AND THIS IS BAD ENGLISH BUT CAPTURES A BIBLICAL TRUTH, IF YOU ARE WHAT YOU WERE, YOU ISN’T.

** MEANING IF YOU LIVE A PATTERN OF LIFE, THE WAY YOU WERE BEFORE CHRIST, YOU ARE NOT A CHRISTIAN.

*** FOR YOU SEE THE SCRIPTURE SPEAKS OF OUR PAST TENSE LIFE AS SOMETHING THAT WAS, NOT WHAT IS.

**** FOR EXAMPLE, ROMANS 6:17 SAYS: (READ)

(4) ALSO READ I CORINTHIANS 6:9-11, EPHESIANS 5:8 AND JOHN 8:12.

* NOW CLEARLY IF YOU ARE WHAT WERE, YOU ISN’T.

** AND IN OUR TEXT TODAY, PAUL TALKS ABOUT WHAT WE WERE.

*** IN FACT AS WE CONSIDER EPHESIANS 2:1-7, PAUL PRESENTS THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE CHRISTIAN.

**** IN VV. 1-3, WHAT HE WAS, IN VV. 4-6, WHAT HE IS AND IN V. 7 WHAT HE WILL BE.

(5) AND IF WE EXPAND THIS PASSAGE OUT TO V. 10 OF EPHESIANS 2, PAUL GIVES 6 ASPECTS OF SALVATION.

* IT IS FROM SIN (VV. 1-3), BY LOVE (V. 4), INTO LIFE

(V. 5), WITH A PURPOSE (VV 6&7), THROUGH FAITH

(VV. 8&9) AND UNTO GOOD WORKS (V. 10).

** AND THE FIRST ASPECT IS IN THE PAST, THE NEXT FOUR ASPECTS (EXCEPT FOR THE SECOND PART OF “PURPOSE”, V. 7) PERTAIN TO THE PRESENT AND THE LAST ASPECT (INCLUDING V. 7) IS IN THE FUTURE.

*** AND TODAY I WANT TO FINISH THE PAST ASPECT OF OUR LIVES, B.C., BEFORE CHRIST AS WE’RE DEAD TO GOD AND DEPRAVED.

**** SO I’VE TITLED THE MESSAGE TODAY, “THE WAY WE WERE.”

(6) AND WE’LL LOOK AT TWO THINGS TODAY UNDER THE WAY WE WERE. NO. 1 OUR WALK, V. 1; AND NO. 2 OUR WORKS, V. 3.

* BUT I DON’T WANT TO STOP THERE TODAY WITH ALL THIS BAD NEWS, I WANT TO IN OUR CONCLUSION LOOK AT THE BEGINNING OF SOME GOOD NEWS BY LOOKING AT TWO WORDS IN THE BEGINNING OF V. 4, “BUT GOD”.

** SO WE’LL START OFF PRETTY NEGATIVE AS WE LOOK AT OUR CONDITION IN THE PAST BEFORE CONVERSION, BUT END WITH THE SPOTLIGHT ON OUR GREAT MERCIFUL GOD AND HIS GRACE.

*** AND WITH THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS TEXT IN MIND, LET’S MOVE TO OUR FIRST POINT TODAY, OUR WALK, LOOK AT EPHESIANS 2:2 PLEASE.

I. OUR WALK, (READ V. 2)

A. NOW THE TWO WORDS “IN WHICH” IN MOST TRANSLATIONS AND THE WORD “WHEREIN” IN THE KJV TAKE US BACK TO V. 1 TO THE WORDS TRESPASSES AND SINS.

* AND THE IDEA IS “IN WHICH” TRESPASSES AND SINS YOU WALKED.

** IN OTHER WORDS, BEFORE CHRIST, IN TIMES PAST, FORMERLY, THIS IS THE WAY YOU USED TO LIVE.

*** FOR THE GREEK VERB TRANSLATED WALKED IS USED 8 TIMES IN THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS AND METAPHORICALLY TALKS ABOUT OUR MANNER OF LIFE, THE WAY WE LIVE, OUR CONDUCT, OUR BEHAVIOR.

**** AND SO UNSAVED PEOPLE ORDER THEIR BEHAVIOR, REGULATE THEIR LIVES WITHIN THE SPHERE OF TRESPASSES AND SINS.

1. AND WE’LL SEE IN V. 3, THAT WAS OUR NATURE. BUT YOU MIGHT BE THINKING RAY, I WAS GENUINELY CONVERTED AT 10 AND NEVER LIVED A LIFE OF SIN BEFORE I WAS CONVERTED.

* WELL, YOU HAD A SINFUL NATURE AND LOVED TO SIN BUT IT WAS RESTRICTED BY THE DISCIPLINE AND CONTROL OF YOUR PARENTS.

** BUT YOU STILL SINNED AND WANTED TO. I MEAN ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS GO BACK TO THE TODDLERS AND WATCH YOUNG CHILDREN FIGHT OVER A TOY THEY BOTH WANT.

*** NOW THEIR PARENTS DIDN’T TEACH THEM TO DO THAT, THEY DO THAT BECAUSE THEY ARE SELFISH BY NATURE. PEOPLE NATURALLY THINK OF THEMSELVES FIRST AND YES THEY CAN BE TRAINED TO THINK OF OTHERS FIRST, BUT STILL THEY MUST WRESTLE THEIR OWN NATURE TO DO THAT.

**** YOU FORMERLY WALKED IN YOUR TRESPASSES AND SINS TO SOME DEGREE. WHY? BECAUSE YOU WERE DEAD TO GOD AND ALIVE TO YOUR SINFUL NATURE.

2. AND AS WE MOVE ON IN V. 2 IT SAYS, FORMERLY, B.C., WE WALKED ACCORDING TO THE COURSE OF THIS WORLD.

* NOW THE WORD WORLD HERE IS KOSMOS, AND IN THIS CONTEXT DOES NOT MEAN THE PHYSICAL CREATION, BUT THE WORLD ORDER, THE WORLD SYSTEM, THE WORLD’S SYSTEM OF VALUES AND WAY OF DOING THINGS THAT IS IN OPPOSITION TO GOD’S WILL.

** MEANING THOSE WITHOUT CHRIST ARE CAPTIVE TO THE SOCIAL AND VALUE SYSTEM OF THE PRESENT EVIL AGE WHICH IS HOSTILE TO CHRIST. THEY ARE WORLDLY!

*** AND THAT’S WHY WE ARE TOLD IN I JOHN 2:15-17, NOT TO LOVE THE WORLD SYSTEM, NOT TO BE DECEIVED AND CAUGHT UP IN TEMPORARY PLEASURES AND DESIRES.

**** WE CAN BE DECEIVED AND SEDUCED BY THE WORLD IN LIVING FOR THE MOMENT, LIVING FOR THE TEMPORARY, LIVING FOR FUN AND ENTERTAINMENT AS CHRISTIANS.

3. BUT, IF THE PATTERN, THE NORM, OUR WALK IS LOVING THE WORLD, THE LOVE OF THE FATHER IS NOT IN US, WE ARE WHAT WE WERE, SO WE ARE NOT BELIVERS, READ I JOHN 2:15-17.

* ALSO READ I JOHN 5:4&5 AND ROMANS 12:2.

** AND BELOVED THE REALITY OF THE MATTER IS, A TRUE BELIEVER IS A WORLD CONQUEROR BY MEANS OF HIS FAITH IN CHRIST.

*** AND YES THE WORLD SYSTEM IS LIKE A MAGNET, BUT IF WE LOVE IT AS THE NORM, THE PATTERN OF OUR LIVES, THE LOVE OF THE FATHER DOES NOT DWELL IN US.

**** AND THAT IS SOMETHING TO EXAMINE YOUR LIFE IN LIGHT OF TODAY, AND AGAIN WE HAVE ALL BEEN DECEIVED AND BEEN SUCKED INTO THE VACUUM OF THIS WORLD SYSTEM AND IT’S PLEASURES, BUT WE COME OUT, WE PULL AWAY, AND THE MORE WE GROW IN GRACE, THE MORE WE HAVE ANOTHER WORLDLINESS, THE WORLD TO COME.

4. AND MORE AND MORE WE SET OUR AFFECTIONS ON THINGS ABOVE, NOT THE THINGS OF THIS EARTH OR WORLD, READ COLOSSIANS 3:1-4.

* NOW WITH THOSE TRUTHS IN MIND, AS WE GO BACK TO V. 2, WHAT WAS OUR WALK AS UNBELIEVERS ACCORDING TO THE COURSE OF THIS WORLD SYSTEM?

** AND WHO LEADS AND DIRECTS AND GUIDES THIS FALLEN WORLD SYSTEM THAT IS IN OPPOSITION TO GOD’S WILL?

*** WELL, LOOK BACK TO V. 2, “THE PRINCE AND POWER OF THE AIR, THE SPIRIT THAT IS NOW WORKING IN THE SONS OF DISOBEDIENCE.”

**** AND OF COURSE THIS IS MAKING REFERENCE AS HIS SONS – UNSAVED BEFORE.

5. FOR YOU SEE BEFORE CONVERSION, SATAN WAS OUR FATHER, WE WERE NOT CHILDREN OF GOD, AS JOHN 8:44 SAYS, WE WERE OF OUR FATHER THE DEVIL.

* AND SATAN, THE DEVIL, IS THE ARCHENEMY OF GOD, A CREATED BEING, A CHERUBIM WHO REBELLED AGAINST GOD AT SOME POINT IN THE PAST, WAS CAST TO EARTH, AND NOW IS THE GOD OF THIS WORLD, READ II CORINTHIANS 4:3&4.

** BUT SATAN IS NOT ONLY THE GOD OF THIS WORLD, THE ADVERSARY OF CHRISTIANS, I PETER 5:8, THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD IN JOHN 12:31 AND THE PRINCE OR RULER OF THE DEMONS IN MATTHEW 9:34.

*** AND HERE IN EPHESIANS 2:2 HE IS CALLED THE “PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR”.

**** AND THE WORD PRINCE HERE IS THE GREEK WORD AR-KONE WHICH YOU SEE ON THE SCREEN AND IT LIT. MEANS A RULER, A COMMANDER, A CHIEF, A LEADER.

6. IT REFERS TO THE FIRST IN AN ORDER OF PERSONS OR THINGS. AND SPEAKS HERE OF SATAN WHO IS THE FIRST ONE IN POWER AND AUTHORITY IN HIS KINGDOM.

* SATAN IS THE PRINCE OVER THIS WORLD SYSTEM.

** HE HAS POWER, BUT HE IS NOT ALL POWERFUL. HE HAS AUTHORITY, BUT NOT ALL AUTHORITY, HE HAS KNOWLEDGE BUT IS NOT ALL KNOWING, HE HAS PRESENCE, BUT HE IS NOT ALL PRESENT OR OMNIPRESENT. FOR HE IS A CREATED BEING, HE IS NOT GOD.

*** AND WE NEED TO BE REMINDED OF I JOHN 4:4 WHERE IT SAYS: (READ IT).

**** NOW SATAN HAS AUTHORITY, BUT GREATER IS THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO INDWELLS US THAT HE WHO IS IN AND OVER THE WORLD SYSTEM.

7. BUT MOVING ON, ALSO NOTICE THAT SATAN IS THE PRINCE AND POWER OF THE AIR.

* AND AS WITH THE WORLD, THE AIR OVER WHICH SATAN HAS CONTROLLING POWER REPRESENTS THE SPHERE WHERE DEMONS MOVE.

** THE AIR COULD BE USED METAPHORICALLY AS WHEN WE SPEAK OF AN “AIR OF EXPECTANCY”.

*** AND IN THIS CONTEXT WORLD AND AIR WOULD BE ALMOST SYNONYMOUS, BOTH OF THEM REPRESENTING A REALM OR SPHERE OF INFLUENCE.

**** IN THAT CASE IT WOULD BE A REFERENCE TO THE REALM OF IDEAS, BELIEFS AND CONVICTIONS OVER WHICH SATAN NOW OPERATES AS PRINCE AND AS I SAID EARLIER, HE DEFINITELY IS OVER THE WORLD SYSTEM THAT WAY.

8. BUT I PREFER THAT THE WORD AIR HAS TO DO WITH THE HEAVENLY SPHERE AROUND THE EARTH.

* AND SATAN RULES THE POWER (THE DEMONS) WHO OCCUPY THE AIR, THE HEAVENLY SPHERE AROUND THE EARTH.

** SO AIR IS JUST ANOTHER WAY OF INDICATING THE HEAVENLY REALM, THE ABODE OF DEMONS UNTIL THEY POSSESS SOMEONE, THAT IS THEIR DWELLING PLACE, THE REGION ABOVE THE EARTH, THE AIR IN CONTRAST TO HEAVEN WHERE GOD DWELLS.

*** BUT ALSO NOTICE IN V. 2 THAT SATAN IS NOT ONLY THE PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR, HE IS ALSO THE PRINCE OF THE SPIRIT THAT NOW WORKS IN THE CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE.

**** AND IT APPEARS TO ME THAT THE WORD SPIRIT IS USED HERE AS AN EXPRESSION, NOT THAT SATAN IS A SPIRIT THAT INDWELLS ALL UNBELIEVERS, FOR HE DOES NOT AND CANNOT, HE IS ONE POWERFUL EVIL SPIRIT.

9. BUT SPIRIT HERE APPEARS TO ME TO REFER TO ONE’S WAY OF THINKING AND ACTING. WE MIGHT SAY THE SPIRIT OF SO AND SO IS BEAUTIFUL, THEY HAVE A GOOD SPIRIT.

* WELL, HERE, WE’RE NOT TALKING ABOUT HAVING A GOOD SPIRIT, BUT A BAD ONE, AN EVIL TENDENCY, A WAY OF LIVING, A CHARACTERISTIC OF THE UNSAVED, THE SPIRIT OF THE UNSAVED.

** AND SATAN IS THE ONE WHO DOMINATES THIS SPIRIT IN UNSAVED PEOPLE.

*** FOR THIS SPIRIT OR DISPOSITION IS SAID TO WORK IN THE SONS OR CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE, THIS SPIRIT, THIS ATTITUDE, THIS TENDENCY IS OPERATIVE, AT WORK IN UNSAVED PEOPLE WHOSE PATTERN IS DISOBEDIENCE, THEY ACT LIKE THEIR FATHER, SATAN.

**** AND BELOVED, THAT WAS OUR WALK BEFORE SALVATION, WE WERE SONS OF DISOBEDIENCE, THAT IS THE WAY WE WERE.

10. AND PAUL GETS A LITTLE MORE SPECIFIC IN V. 3 IN TALKING ABOUT THE WAY WE WERE, AND WE MOVE FROM OUR FORMER WALK TO OUR FORMER WORKS.

* LOOK AT V. 3 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, OUR WORKS.

II. OUR WORKS, (READ V. 3)

A. NOW PAUL’S PRIMARY PURPOSE IN V. 3 IS NOT TO SHOW HOW UNSAVED PEOPLE NOW LIVE, THOUGH THE TEACHING IS VALUABLE FOR THAT PURPOSE, BUT TO REMIND BELIEVERS HOW THEY THEMSELVES FORMERLY LIVED.

* FOR ALL OF US ONCE LIVED IN THE LUSTS OF OUR FLESH, INDULGING THE DESIRES OF THE FLESH AND OF THE MIND.

** NOW LET ME TRY TO UNPACK THIS. THE GREEK WORD FOR LUSTS REFERS TO STRONG INCLINATIONS AND STRONG DESIRES OF EVERY SORT, NOT SIMPLY TO SEXUAL LUST.

*** THE WORD LUST GENERALLY REFERS TO A DESIRE, A CRAVING, A LONGING FOR WHAT IS FORBIDDEN AND GOES BEYOND IMMORAL SEXUAL DESIRE.

**** NEXT THE WORD FLESH IS USED, THE GREEK WORD SARX, AND IN THIS CONTEXT IT LIT. REFERS TO THE DISSIPATION OF LIFE THAT COMES WHEN ONE IS ABANDONED TO DOING WHATEVER FEELS GOOD.

1. FLESH REFERS NOT TO OUR SKIN, BUT SINFUL CRAVINGS WE ARE ALWAYS AT WORK TO GRATIFY, THE PASSIONS OF THE FLESH, THE SPHERE IN WHICH A PERSON IS UNABLE TO PLEASE GOD, OUR UNREDEEMED HUMANNESS, READ ROMANS 8:8 AND GALATIANS 5:16.

* NOW THE NEXT WORD I WANT TO LOOK AT IS INDULGING IN THE NAS, FULFILLING IN THE KJV AND NKJV AND GRATIFYING IN THE NIV.

** AND THIS VERB LIT. MEANS TO DO, TO PERFORM, TO ACCOMPLISH, AND IS A PRESENT ACTIVE PARTICIPLE AND SPEAKS OF THE HABITUAL PERFORMING OF ACTS THAT SATISFY THE DESIRES OF THE FLESH, FULFILLING WRONG DESIRES.

*** FOR THE NEXT WORD “DESIRES” EMPHASIZES STRONG WILLFULNESS, WANTING AND SEEKING SOMETHING WITH GREAT DILIGENCE.

**** AND COMBINED WITH THE WORD LUSTS, THEY ARE USED SYNONYMOUSLY TO REPRESENT FALLEN MAN’S COMPLETE ORIENTATION TO HIS OWN SELFISH WAYS.

2. I MEAN BY NATURE, UNSAVED PEOPLE ARE DRIVEN TO FULFILL THE LUSTS AND DESIRES OF HIS SINFUL FLESH AND MIND.

* AND MIND HERE INDICATES THE DELIBERATE CHOICES THAT DEFY THE WILL OF GOD.

** THE MIND HERE IS THE SOURCE, A FACULTY OF UNDERSTANDING, FEELINGS, DESIRES; AND WHEN USED IN THE PLURAL AS IT IS HERE, IT REFERS TO THE THOUGHTS AND CONTEXTUALLY TO EVIL THOUGHTS.

*** NOW BECAUSE OF THESE THINGS, RATHER THAN ALL PEOPLE BEING CHILDREN OF GOD, AS MOST OF THE WORLD LIKES TO THINK, THOSE WHO HAVE NOT RECEIVED SALVATION ARE BY NATURE CHILDREN OF WRATH!

**** FOR UNDERSTAND THAT APART FROM RECONCILIATION THROUGH CHIRST, EVERY PERSON BY NATURE (THROUGH HUMAN BIRTH) IS THE OBJECT OF GOD’S WRATH, OBJECTS OF GOD’S CONDEMNING JUDGMENT.

3. BELOVED, OUR TOTALLY DEPRAVED CONDITION BEFORE WAS A CONTINUOUS ONE, FROM BIRTH ON AND OUR END WOULD HAVE BEEN DIVINE JUDGMENT.

* GOD’S HOLY FURY, HIS HOLY ANGER, HIS HOLY INDIGNATION WAS OUR LOT. TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, EPHESIANS 2:1-3 PRESENTS A HOPELESS PICTURE OF AN UNREGENERATE PERSON WHO DESERVES NOTHING BUT GOD’S WRATH.

** OBJECTS OF GOD’S CONDEMNING JUDGMENT, READ JOHN 3:36, ROMANS 1:18 AND ROMANS 5:9.

*** AND YOU KNOW WHAT BELIEVER? BY GOD’S GRACE WE WERE RESCUED FROM GOD’S WRATH. FOR B.C. WE WERE CHILDREN OF WRATH, EVEN AS THE REST AS IT SAYS AT THE END OF V. 3.

**** AND EVEN AS THE REST SIGNIFIES THAT THE WHOLE OF HUMANITY OUTSIDE OF CHRIST LIES IN THIS SINFUL CONDITION WITH ITS CONSEQUENCES.

4. AND THAT IS THE WAY WE WERE. WE WALKED AND LIVED TO GRATIFY THE LUSTS OF THE FLESH AND THE WORLD.

* IN FACT, CLEARLY OUR 3 FOLD ENDING IS COMMUNICATED CLEARLY IN VV. 2&3. IN V. 2 THE WORLD, IN V. 2, SATAN AND IN V. 3, THE FLESH.

** THE WORLD, THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL ARE OUR 3 FOLD ENEMIES.

*** AND THOSE DEAD TO GOD, WITHOUT CHRIST, ARE DOMINATED BY THE WORLD, THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL.

**** AND THE WORLD DOMINATES FROM WITHOUT, THE FLESH FROM WITHIN, AND THE DEVIL FROM BEYOND.

5. AND WE WERE SLAVES OF SIN, CHILDREN OF WRATH IN THAT STATE.

* BUT THANKS BE UNTO OUR GOD OF GRACE AND MERCY FOR WE WON’T CONCLUDE AT THE END OF V. 3 TODAY, BUT WITH THE FIRST TWO WORDS OF V. 4 WE’LL CONCLUDE, BUT GOD!

** AS GRIM AS THIS PICTURE IS OF MAN’S FALLENESSS, BUT GOD.

*** AND R.C. SPROUL SAID THAT THE FIRST WORD IN V. 4 IS HIS FAVORITE WORD IN ALL THE BIBLE, BUT.

**** AND BELIEVER TODAY WE WERE OUTSIDE OF CHRIST, THE OBJECTS OF DIVINE WRATH, BUT GOD, HAD MERCY ON US.

6. WE WERE DEAD, BUT GOD HAS MADE US ALIVE IN CHRIST.

* WE WERE IN BONDAGE TO EVIL POWERS, BUT GOD HAS SEATED US WITH CHRIST IN THE HEAVENLY REALMS.

** BUT GOD, WHAT HOPE KINDLING WORDS. WE GO FROM DEPRAVITY AND DESPAIR AND DEADNESS AND DESPERATION TO LIFE, HOPE AND HEAVEN.

*** BUT GOD. JAMES BOICE IN HIS COMMENTARY ON EPHESIANS QUOTED D. MARTIN LLOYD JONES IN SAYING, “THESE TWO WORDS IN AND OF THEMSELVES, IN A SENSE CONTAIN THE WHOLE OF THE GOSPEL.”

**** AND I HUMBLY AGREE. THESE TWO WORDS TURN IT ALL AROUND. WHAT BLESSED WORDS.

7. I CLOSE WITH A FEW THOUGHTS FROM R.C. SPROUL ABOUT THESE WORDS.

* “THE GRACE THAT BRINGS US LIFE COMES TO US AT THE VERY TIME WE ARE DEAD IN SIN AND TRESPASSES. IT IS THE ACT OF GOD.

** THINK OF IT IN THESE TERMS. IF YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN, ASK YOURSELF: WHY ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?

*** IS IT BECAUSE YOU ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS? BECAUSE YOU WERE MORE INTELLIGENT? IF THAT IS THE REASON, THEN CERTAINLY YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO BOAST.

**** BUT THE N.T. TEACHES THAT YOU HAVE NOTHING OF WHICH TO BOAST. YOU WERE A DEBTOR WHO COULDN’T PAY YOUR DEBT AND WHILE YOU WERE DEAD IN YOUR SIN AND IN YOUR TRESPASSES, IT WAS GOD WHO QUICKENED YOU FROM SPIRITUAL DEATH.

8. YOU COULD NO MORE HAVE DONE THAT YOURSELF THAN LAZARUS COULD HAVE RAISED HIMSELF FROM THE TOMB. IT IS BY GRACE YOU ARE SAVED.

* GRACE IS DEFINED SIMPLY AS UNMERITED FAVOR OR UNDESERVED BENEFIT. CHRISTIANS SHOULD NEVER LOOK AT NON-CHRISTIANS WITH A SPIRIT OF CONTEMPT.

** THEIR ATTITUDE MUST REFLECT THE CLASSIC SAYING, THERE, BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD, GO I. THEY HAVE NOTHING OF WHICH TO BOAST. THEY ARE REDEEMED NOT BECAUSE OF MERIT OR GOOD WORKS BUT BY GRACE AND BY GRACE ALONE.” (END QUOTE)

*** NOW WITH THAT IN MIND, WHAT DO THE TWO WORDS “BUT GOD” COMMUNICATE?

**** THEY COMMUNICATE GRACE AND MERCY TO UNDESERVING SINNERS, READ EPHESIANS 2:4&5 WHICH WE’LL STUDY LORD WILLING NEXT SUNDAY.

9. AND BELOVED, THAT GRACE AND MERCY ARE THE MOTIVATION, THE MEANS, THE BATTLE CRY FOR US TO BE “LIVING SACRIFICES”.

* AND WE COME BACK TO THE TRUTHS IN ROMANS 12:1&2 OFTEN. BUT IF WE ARE NOT LIVING THESE TRUTHS, NOT OFTEN ENOUGH.

** READ EPHESIANS 2:2-4A, CONCLUDING WITH “BUT GOD”.