Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:1-9
The description of an unbeliever in Ephesians 2:1-3 could not describe a more hopeless situation … "dead in sins" … "following the prince of the power of the air" … "sons of disobedience" … "children of wrath." All these phrases describe someone in an absolutely helpless and desperate situation, as far as eternal things go.
Ephesians 2:4 begins with two words signaling a marvelous contrast. Out of the darkness and deadness of sin comes life. "But God . . . made us alive together with Christ . . . raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places" (Eph 2:4-6). These phrases indicate a radical and fundamental change in the human heart. "The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Cor 5:17).
The reason God has done this wonderful work is not found in us. Paul is repetitively clear in these verses as to why God has breathed life into the dead. "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us . . . by grace you have been saved . . . so that He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us" (Eph 2:4-7). God offers life out of His own mercy, not out of something He sees in us.
When we consider the wonder of God's salvation in Christ Jesus … the change it produces in our affections … the hope it fosters in our souls … the release from our guilt it brings … we realize that we truly experience no real life before God’s grace sets us free. For all those who belong to Christ, let us be thrilled afresh with what God has done for us in Him.
