From the death of Sin to Life in Christ Eph 2:1-10

Introduction In the previous passages Paul has been speaking of our spiritual possessions in Christ Paul is now going to address a complimentary truth: our spiritual position in Christ Paul explains to us that the saints are taken out of the graveyard of sin to sit in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus Let us hear the words of Paul as he explains the blessings from our spiritual position in Christ

Sin at work in our lives (vs 1-3) The unsaved sinner is dead spiritually (vs 1) This is to say he is unable to understand and appreciate the spiritual things Just as a person who is physically dead does not respond to stimuli; a person who is spiritually dead is unable to respond to spiritual things The cause of this death is “Trespasses and sin” (vs 1) Rom 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In scripture, death basically means “separation” not only physically, as the spirit separated from the body, but also spiritually, as the spirit separated from God Jam 2:26 “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” Is 59:2 “But your iniquities have separated you from your God…”

Sin at work in our lives (vs 1-3) The unsaved sinner is disobedient (v 2-3a) Disobedience was the beginning of man’s spiritual death Gen 2:17 “17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Gen 3:4-6 “4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Since that time man, mankind has lived in disobedience to the Lord

Sin at work in our lives (vs 1-3) The unsaved sinner is disobedient (v 2-3a) Two forces that encourage man in his disobedience The world puts pressure on men to “conform” to its ways (Rom 12:2) Christ was not of this world and neither are His people (Jn 8:23, 17:14) The devil/satan is “the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,…” (Eph 2:2) Jn 12:31 “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” One of Satan’s chief tools for getting people to disobey God is lies Jn 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” People in the world today disobey God because they believe the lies of satan When a person believes and practices a lie, he becomes a child of disobedience

Sin at work in our lives (vs 1-3) The unsaved sinner “fulfills the desires of the flesh and of the mind” (vs 3b) This is not to say that the unsaved sinner is incapable of doing good, he simply has not learned how to live a life holy and acceptable to God There examples in scripture describing good things performed by unsaved sinners Lk 6:33 “And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.” Lk 11:13 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Acts 28:1-2 “Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta. 2 And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold.” Good deeds are no substitute for complete obedience

God’s work for man (vs 4-9) He loved us (vs 4) By nature, “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8) This love is demonstrated to mankind in his grace and mercy Eph 2:4-7 “4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” In His mercy, God does not give us what we do deserve In His grace, God gives us what we do not deserve Two more verses displaying God’s love Jn 3:16 “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.” Rom 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

God’s work for man (vs 4-9) He quickened us (vs 5) He made us alive when we were dead in our sins This is accomplished when hears the Word and believes and acts upon it in faith Jn 5:24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” He exalted us (vs 6) Because we are united in Christ we have been exalted with Him Our physical position may still be here on earth, but our spiritual position is, “in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”

God’s work for man (vs 4-9) He keeps us (vs 7-9) God has an eternal purpose for us to fulfill and will keep us for all eternity if we follow his will Salvation cannot be “of works” because it has been completed by Christ’s death on the cross…it is a finished work performed for us Jn 17:4 “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.” Jn 19:30 “So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.” We cannot add anything to this work and certainly should not take from it Heb 10:1-4 “For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.”

God’s work in us (vs 10a) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus (vs 10a) Our conversion is not the end; it is the beginning We are part of God’s “New creation” (2 Cor 5:17)…he continues to work in us to make us what He wants us to be His purpose is to make us more like Christ (Rom 8:29) How does God work in us? Through the Holy Spirit “Both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil 2:13) Christ continually is working to perfect His Church (Eph 4:7-16; Heb 13:20-21) Christ uses different tools to help equip us for our work here on earth The Word of God (1 Thes 2:13) Prayer (Eph 3:20-21) Suffering (1 Pet 4:11-14)

God’s work through us (vs 10b) We are “Created in Christ Jesus for good works…” (vs 10b) The works spoken of here have 2 special characteristics They are “Good works” in contrast to “works of darkness” or “wicked works” If you contrast 2:2 and 2:10 you find that the unbeliever has satan working in him, and therefore his works are not good…but the believer has God working in him, therefore his works are good His works are not good because he himself is good but rather because he has been made a new creature from God and the Holy Spirit works in and through him to produce these good works We need to be careful not minimize the importance of “Good Works” They are done to glorify God (Mt 5:16) We should “abound in every good work” (2 Cor 9:8) The Bible thoroughly equips us for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17) We are to “be zealous” for good works (Tit 2:14)

God’s work through us (vs 10b) We are “Created in Christ Jesus for good works…” (vs 10b) The works spoken of here have 2 special characteristics They are not only “Good works”, they are “Prepared works” The unbeliever walks “walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,” (vs 2) The believer walks in the good works God has prepared for him God wills the very best for us The will of God comes from the heart of God (Ps 33:11) We discover God’s will for our lives as the Spirit reveals it to us through His Word

Conclusion: Which side are you on? Old Life (v 1-3) New Life (v 4-6) We are dead We are slaves We are objects of wrath We walked in disobedience and fellowshipped the disobedient We were submitting to Satan’s rule Now we are alive Now we are free Now we are objects of mercy and grace We walk in obedience and fellowship with Christ Now we are submitting to Christ’s rule