By Grace We Have Been Saved
Text: Ephesians 2:4-10
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us,
5 and while we were dead in transgressions made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved –
6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
7 in order that he may show in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by this grace you have been saved through faith; and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God,
9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are God’s workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them.
Sermon:
An incident that once occurred at my congregation’s communion rail was later related to me. A mother in the congregation attended communion with her confirmed son, while holding her three year old daughter in her arms. At the communion rail the little girl watched others receiving the wafer of bread. She watched first her mother, then her older brother, receive a wafer and eat it. She noted that she herself did not receive one to eat. No doubt feeling left out, she looked from her mother, in whose arm she was, up to and over to her older brother. She then said to him, “Did you say thank you?”
As soon as I heard what she said, I burst out laughing. The timing and place, her age, her feeling passed over, her upbringing that led to her question, all made her question the chuckle of the day for me.
Her question, however, says more than what first meets the eye. Her question was so appropriate. Her brother, like the rest of the communicants at the rail, had just received the body of Christ for the forgiveness of his sins. With it he had also received eternal salvation and life. Should he, and every communicant, not say, “Thank you?” After receiving Holy Communion for the forgiveness of your sins, eternal life and salvation, do you say, “Thank you?”
Having received the gospel in Word and Sacraments during our lives for our salvation, should not we all say, “Thank you?” Indeed we should. “Thank you, dear Lord, for saving me and giving me eternal life.”
The message from God’s Word in this sermon will lead us to say thank you, for it tells us that we have been saved by grace.
We surely have not saved ourselves. Consider what this Word of God tells us. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, and while we were dead in transgressions made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.” What had our condition been? We had been dead in our sins. Obviously this verse does not mean we had been physically dead in our sins. It means we had been spiritually dead in our sins.
This verse has good reasons for saying we had been spiritually dead in our transgressions. Consider what we were when we were conceived and born into this world. Recall what Psalm 51:5 tells us about ourselves: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” We were conceived and born sinful human beings. We were born sinful by nature.
Having been born sinful by nature, was there anything good about us that would have been pleasing to God? What do you think in light of Romans 7:18, which says, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh.” According to this verse, there was nothing good about our sinful nature. It was totally depraved and rotten to the core. Because we are sinful by nature, Genesis 8:21 states that every inclination of our heart is evil from childhood. In other words, we were born with a sinful nature that is inclined only toward doing evil all the time. Is it any wonder, then, that this verse of our text says that we had been spiritually dead in our transgressions?
The Bible’s telling us that we are spiritually dead in sin and inclined by nature only toward evil all the time does not flatter us human beings. This biblical teaching really puts us down. This is why some refuse to accept this truth. We can see the truth of it, however, if we but open our eyes. Take infants, for example. Don’t they become put out and angry when their bottle does not come fast enough or their diaper is not changed soon enough? Did their parents have to teach them to be impatient and angry? No. Consider little toddlers. Put two of them down on the floor to play in a room full of toys and what soon happens? Soon one is trying to take a toy away from the other. In no time they are fighting over a stuffed animal or a block. They start slapping at one another. Now I ask you, did their parents have to teach them to be selfish and to hit? No, they do such things naturally on their own. Consider the rest of us. When someone says something we do not like, or someone frustrates us and blocks our desires, don’t we blurt out some biting words and snap back instinctively, even before we realize what we are saying? Yes, we do. Our sinful behavior, and that of those around us, show we are sinful by nature. Being sinful by nature, we have committed many such sins during our lives. Who can say he has never told a lie, not even a fib? Who can say he has never harbored an evil thought about someone else? Who can say he has never hurt anyone by what he said or did? Who can say he has always put God first in his life and loved God above all? Who can say, “I have been perfect?”
By nature we had been spiritually dead in our sins. We did not have the spiritual nature of God but of sinful Adam. Through Adam’s fall into sin we lost the image of God and took on the likeness of the devil. Our sinful nature was hostile toward God. It was without spiritual understanding, being ignorant and blind. Our sinful nature considered the Word of God foolishness and was opposed to it.
We had been spiritually dead. This having been our condition, how much could we have done toward saving ourselves? Being spiritually dead, how capable were we of bringing ourselves to faith in Jesus so we would be saved? Could any of us have cooperated with the Holy Spirit in bringing ourselves to faith? Spiritually speaking, we were no different than Lazarus had been when he was lying in his grave on the fourth day. Being dead, was Lazarus able to do anything to save himself from the grave? Was he able to do anything to bring himself back to life? Was he able to lift even a little finger toward raising himself from the dead? No way! He was dead. A dead man can do nothing. He did not come to life and rise from the grave until the power of Jesus’ words, “Lazarus, come out,” gave him new life. In the same way, having been spiritually dead ourselves, we were not able to lift a finger to save ourselves and to bring ourselves to faith in Jesus. The Lord God had to give us such spiritual life.
This is how spiritually dead we were: Let’s imagine that we had Jesus standing on our right and the devil on our left. Jesus was holding out his arms to us and was telling us: “Come, follow me. I will give you eternal life in heaven, where you will be blessed and perfectly righteous.” The devil, meanwhile, was telling us: “Come, follow me. I will lead you into evil and the depths of hell, where you will be tormented forever.” Which of the two would we have chosen to follow? Being spiritually dead and sinful by nature, we would have chosen to follow the devil into sin and hell. We would have been opposed to Jesus and would have thought his gospel of taking us to heaven was just plain foolishness.
What we could not do to bring ourselves to faith in Jesus and to save ourselves, God did. Listen to this verse once again: “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, and while we were dead in transgressions made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.”
We have been saved by God’s grace. His love for us was great, desiring to give us, and to do for us, what was in our best interests. Having such a great love for us, and being rich in mercy, he took pity on us. He made us--who were spiritually dead--alive in Christ. He gave us a spiritual life when he brought us to faith in Christ. What God will do to our body on the last day--bring it to life, he has already done to the spirit of us who believe in Christ. He has brought our spirit to life, enabling us to believe in Christ.
Having given us spiritual life in Christ, he has given us so much more with it. “God raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that he may show in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” As God raised Christ to sit at his right hand in heaven, so with Christ God has elevated us and seated us in heaven. In a manner of speaking, we are already seated in heaven. God has given us our place in heaven, so that in the future he may reveal to us the incomparable riches of heaven, which is his gift of grace to us in Christ. Then we will see the beauty of heaven that we cannot see now, even though it is ours already.
By grace we have been saved. The term grace gives us an insight into the heart of God himself. Grace means God’s undeserved love. We were spiritually dead sinners inclined only toward evil all the time. Yet God loved us.
What might we compare God’s grace to? We might compare his grace to a king who is walking down the street. As he walks along, he sees a drunken wretch, who is lying passed out in the gutter. The wretch is filthy. His stench is disgusting. He is utterly helpless and useless. The king says, “I can’t see this wretch being wasted and going to waste. I must save this wretch. I will give him a new life. I will make something of him.” So the king stoops down, picks up the wretch, and carries him in his arms to his palace. There he gives the wretch a new life and makes him a member of his household in his palace.
We were that good for nothing wretch, dead in our sins. Like that wretch we deserved nothing. Yet God loved us, in spite of what we were. He was rich in mercy. He took pity on us. He picked us up, gave us a new life, and made us a new person, a member of his family and kingdom. God’s grace, his undeserved love, saved us.
“For by this grace you have been saved through faith; and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” The faith that we, who believe, have, is God’s gift. Our faith is not our own doing. We ourselves did not work the faith that is in us. Not one of us can boast, “I have been saved, because I brought myself to faith in Jesus Christ.” We who believe are the believers that we are because we are God’s workmanship. He made us what we are. “For we are God’s workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them.”
God made us the believers that we are to save us, and so we would perform the good works he had in mind for us to do. Being the believers that God made us, our faith will respond by doing the good things he desires us to do and that he prepared for us to do. By faith we willingly and freely live by the Lord’s commands and serve him in his kingdom. We do so to express our love for him, who first loved us--the wretches that we were.
By grace we have been saved. God the Father loved us and sent his Son to save us. God the Son became one of us and gave his life to redeem us from the devil, sin, and hell. God the Holy Spirit gave us the faith to believe this, so we would be saved through faith. This being true, what have we done to save ourselves? What have we contributed to our salvation? Nothing. By God’s grace we have been saved.
This salvation by God’s grace in Christ is confirmed to you each time you receive Holy Communion. Picture yourself kneeling at the communion rail. Together with his body and blood Christ Jesus has just given you the forgiveness of your sins, everlasting life, and eternal salvation in heaven. You have been saved by grace. Then that little girl looks up into your eyes and says, “Did you say thank you?” What is your answer?
Amen.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us,
5 and while we were dead in transgressions made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved –
6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
7 in order that he may show in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by this grace you have been saved through faith; and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God,
9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are God’s workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them.
Sermon:
An incident that once occurred at my congregation’s communion rail was later related to me. A mother in the congregation attended communion with her confirmed son, while holding her three year old daughter in her arms. At the communion rail the little girl watched others receiving the wafer of bread. She watched first her mother, then her older brother, receive a wafer and eat it. She noted that she herself did not receive one to eat. No doubt feeling left out, she looked from her mother, in whose arm she was, up to and over to her older brother. She then said to him, “Did you say thank you?”
As soon as I heard what she said, I burst out laughing. The timing and place, her age, her feeling passed over, her upbringing that led to her question, all made her question the chuckle of the day for me.
Her question, however, says more than what first meets the eye. Her question was so appropriate. Her brother, like the rest of the communicants at the rail, had just received the body of Christ for the forgiveness of his sins. With it he had also received eternal salvation and life. Should he, and every communicant, not say, “Thank you?” After receiving Holy Communion for the forgiveness of your sins, eternal life and salvation, do you say, “Thank you?”
Having received the gospel in Word and Sacraments during our lives for our salvation, should not we all say, “Thank you?” Indeed we should. “Thank you, dear Lord, for saving me and giving me eternal life.”
The message from God’s Word in this sermon will lead us to say thank you, for it tells us that we have been saved by grace.
We surely have not saved ourselves. Consider what this Word of God tells us. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, and while we were dead in transgressions made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.” What had our condition been? We had been dead in our sins. Obviously this verse does not mean we had been physically dead in our sins. It means we had been spiritually dead in our sins.
This verse has good reasons for saying we had been spiritually dead in our transgressions. Consider what we were when we were conceived and born into this world. Recall what Psalm 51:5 tells us about ourselves: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” We were conceived and born sinful human beings. We were born sinful by nature.
Having been born sinful by nature, was there anything good about us that would have been pleasing to God? What do you think in light of Romans 7:18, which says, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh.” According to this verse, there was nothing good about our sinful nature. It was totally depraved and rotten to the core. Because we are sinful by nature, Genesis 8:21 states that every inclination of our heart is evil from childhood. In other words, we were born with a sinful nature that is inclined only toward doing evil all the time. Is it any wonder, then, that this verse of our text says that we had been spiritually dead in our transgressions?
The Bible’s telling us that we are spiritually dead in sin and inclined by nature only toward evil all the time does not flatter us human beings. This biblical teaching really puts us down. This is why some refuse to accept this truth. We can see the truth of it, however, if we but open our eyes. Take infants, for example. Don’t they become put out and angry when their bottle does not come fast enough or their diaper is not changed soon enough? Did their parents have to teach them to be impatient and angry? No. Consider little toddlers. Put two of them down on the floor to play in a room full of toys and what soon happens? Soon one is trying to take a toy away from the other. In no time they are fighting over a stuffed animal or a block. They start slapping at one another. Now I ask you, did their parents have to teach them to be selfish and to hit? No, they do such things naturally on their own. Consider the rest of us. When someone says something we do not like, or someone frustrates us and blocks our desires, don’t we blurt out some biting words and snap back instinctively, even before we realize what we are saying? Yes, we do. Our sinful behavior, and that of those around us, show we are sinful by nature. Being sinful by nature, we have committed many such sins during our lives. Who can say he has never told a lie, not even a fib? Who can say he has never harbored an evil thought about someone else? Who can say he has never hurt anyone by what he said or did? Who can say he has always put God first in his life and loved God above all? Who can say, “I have been perfect?”
By nature we had been spiritually dead in our sins. We did not have the spiritual nature of God but of sinful Adam. Through Adam’s fall into sin we lost the image of God and took on the likeness of the devil. Our sinful nature was hostile toward God. It was without spiritual understanding, being ignorant and blind. Our sinful nature considered the Word of God foolishness and was opposed to it.
We had been spiritually dead. This having been our condition, how much could we have done toward saving ourselves? Being spiritually dead, how capable were we of bringing ourselves to faith in Jesus so we would be saved? Could any of us have cooperated with the Holy Spirit in bringing ourselves to faith? Spiritually speaking, we were no different than Lazarus had been when he was lying in his grave on the fourth day. Being dead, was Lazarus able to do anything to save himself from the grave? Was he able to do anything to bring himself back to life? Was he able to lift even a little finger toward raising himself from the dead? No way! He was dead. A dead man can do nothing. He did not come to life and rise from the grave until the power of Jesus’ words, “Lazarus, come out,” gave him new life. In the same way, having been spiritually dead ourselves, we were not able to lift a finger to save ourselves and to bring ourselves to faith in Jesus. The Lord God had to give us such spiritual life.
This is how spiritually dead we were: Let’s imagine that we had Jesus standing on our right and the devil on our left. Jesus was holding out his arms to us and was telling us: “Come, follow me. I will give you eternal life in heaven, where you will be blessed and perfectly righteous.” The devil, meanwhile, was telling us: “Come, follow me. I will lead you into evil and the depths of hell, where you will be tormented forever.” Which of the two would we have chosen to follow? Being spiritually dead and sinful by nature, we would have chosen to follow the devil into sin and hell. We would have been opposed to Jesus and would have thought his gospel of taking us to heaven was just plain foolishness.
What we could not do to bring ourselves to faith in Jesus and to save ourselves, God did. Listen to this verse once again: “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, and while we were dead in transgressions made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.”
We have been saved by God’s grace. His love for us was great, desiring to give us, and to do for us, what was in our best interests. Having such a great love for us, and being rich in mercy, he took pity on us. He made us--who were spiritually dead--alive in Christ. He gave us a spiritual life when he brought us to faith in Christ. What God will do to our body on the last day--bring it to life, he has already done to the spirit of us who believe in Christ. He has brought our spirit to life, enabling us to believe in Christ.
Having given us spiritual life in Christ, he has given us so much more with it. “God raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that he may show in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” As God raised Christ to sit at his right hand in heaven, so with Christ God has elevated us and seated us in heaven. In a manner of speaking, we are already seated in heaven. God has given us our place in heaven, so that in the future he may reveal to us the incomparable riches of heaven, which is his gift of grace to us in Christ. Then we will see the beauty of heaven that we cannot see now, even though it is ours already.
By grace we have been saved. The term grace gives us an insight into the heart of God himself. Grace means God’s undeserved love. We were spiritually dead sinners inclined only toward evil all the time. Yet God loved us.
What might we compare God’s grace to? We might compare his grace to a king who is walking down the street. As he walks along, he sees a drunken wretch, who is lying passed out in the gutter. The wretch is filthy. His stench is disgusting. He is utterly helpless and useless. The king says, “I can’t see this wretch being wasted and going to waste. I must save this wretch. I will give him a new life. I will make something of him.” So the king stoops down, picks up the wretch, and carries him in his arms to his palace. There he gives the wretch a new life and makes him a member of his household in his palace.
We were that good for nothing wretch, dead in our sins. Like that wretch we deserved nothing. Yet God loved us, in spite of what we were. He was rich in mercy. He took pity on us. He picked us up, gave us a new life, and made us a new person, a member of his family and kingdom. God’s grace, his undeserved love, saved us.
“For by this grace you have been saved through faith; and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” The faith that we, who believe, have, is God’s gift. Our faith is not our own doing. We ourselves did not work the faith that is in us. Not one of us can boast, “I have been saved, because I brought myself to faith in Jesus Christ.” We who believe are the believers that we are because we are God’s workmanship. He made us what we are. “For we are God’s workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them.”
God made us the believers that we are to save us, and so we would perform the good works he had in mind for us to do. Being the believers that God made us, our faith will respond by doing the good things he desires us to do and that he prepared for us to do. By faith we willingly and freely live by the Lord’s commands and serve him in his kingdom. We do so to express our love for him, who first loved us--the wretches that we were.
By grace we have been saved. God the Father loved us and sent his Son to save us. God the Son became one of us and gave his life to redeem us from the devil, sin, and hell. God the Holy Spirit gave us the faith to believe this, so we would be saved through faith. This being true, what have we done to save ourselves? What have we contributed to our salvation? Nothing. By God’s grace we have been saved.
This salvation by God’s grace in Christ is confirmed to you each time you receive Holy Communion. Picture yourself kneeling at the communion rail. Together with his body and blood Christ Jesus has just given you the forgiveness of your sins, everlasting life, and eternal salvation in heaven. You have been saved by grace. Then that little girl looks up into your eyes and says, “Did you say thank you?” What is your answer?
Amen.
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