We Must Answer The Call To Salvation Before We Can Answer The Call To Holiness.

We are to seek ‘the holiness without which no one will see the Lord’ (Hebrews 12:14). This is not the ‘holiness’ of the Pharisee: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men...’ (Luke 18:11-12). It is the holiness that grows in the hearts and lives of those who have received ‘the grace of God’, those who have prayed, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner’ (Hebrews 12:5; Luke 18:13). We do not earn ‘the grace of God’ as a reward for our ‘holiness’. Salvation is ‘not our doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, so that no one can boast’. There is a call to holiness. We are saved ‘for good works’. Before we think about holiness, we must get first things first: ‘By grace you have been saved through faith... for good works’ (Ephesians 2:8-10). We must answer the call to salvation before we can answer the call to holiness.

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This is the thirty-fourth and final post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2. 

"It Is By Grace You Have Been Saved."’

None of us can ‘escape the judgment of God.’ None of us can ‘presume upon the riches of His kindness’(Romans 2:3-4). We dare not come to God like the Pharisee, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other men...’. We can only come to Him with the prayer of the tax collector, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ (Luke 18:11-13). We must not pretend that we are ‘righteous’. We must confess that we are ‘sinners’ (Luke 5:32). Sinners, lost, dead - We must hear this ‘bad news if we are to come to a true appreciation of the Good News: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15), ‘The Son of man came to seek and save the lost’ (Luke 19:10), ‘God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved’ (Ephesians 2:4-5).
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This is the thirty-third post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

‘By Grace You Have Been Saved Through Faith.’

The Gospel is for all nations. In the Old Testament, we catch a glimpse of this (Genesis 12:1-3; Psalms 96:1-3;100:1; Isaiah 45:22). Here, we have the Gospel made clear. Peter says, ‘We shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus’ (Acts 15:11). Paul says, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved’ (Acts 16:31). This is the Gospel: ‘By grace you have been saved through faith’ (Ephesians 2:8). Together with the Good News concerning salvation, there is also an ‘exhortation’ to go on with the Saviour (Acts 15:31). In this call to submit to the Lord, we hear the word, ‘abstain’ (Acts 15:20, 29). Does this sound negative? It is a positive call to be set apart for God - ‘saved... for good works...’ (Ephesians 2:8-10). Christ is our Saviour. He is also our Lord. In salvation and surrender, we find our true joy (Acts 15:31).
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This is the thirty-second post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

In Christ, We Have Been ‘Made Alive.’

Andrew brought his brother, Simon Peter, to Jesus (John 1:40-42). ‘You are... You shall be...’ (John 1:42). Jesus looks beyond what we are now. He sees what we will become through the transforming power of His grace. The ‘water’ became ‘wine’ (John 2:9). This was the Lord’s doing. In Christ, we have been ‘made alive.’ This is the work of God. He is ‘rich in mercy’. He loves us with a ‘great love’ (Ephesians 2:4-5).
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This is the thirty-first post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

God Has Visited His People.

"He that was dead sat up and began to speak ... God has visited His people" (Luke 7:15-16): - Pray for a real ‘quickening’ as the ‘God, who is rich in mercy’, pours out ‘His great love’ upon us (Ephesians 2:4-6).
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This is the thirtieth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

‘Where Sin Increased, Grace Increased All The More.’

Rahab (Matthew 1:5) was a ‘prostitute’, yet, by the grace of God, through faith, she also takes her place with the people of God (Hebrews 11:31; Ephesians 2:8). The story of David and Uriah's wife (Matthew 1:6) is a story of deceit (2 Samuel 11) - ‘where sin increased, grace increased all the more’ (Romans 5:20)!
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This is the twenty-ninth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

We Cannot Change Ourselves. We Can Be Changed By God.

‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Ephesians 2:2; Romans 3:23). Is there any hope for us? : ‘Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil’ (Jeremiah 13:23). To those who ‘trust’ in Him, the Lord says, ‘I will save you’ (Jeremiah 39:18). God wants to bless you. Put your trust in Him. Let His blessing flow into your heart (Jeremiah 17:7).
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This is the twenty-eighth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

Salvation Must Be Received As A Gift From God.

The new birth can only be received as a gift from God. We must stop trying to save ourselves. It cannot be done. Salvation cannot be earned. It must be received as a gift from God. It must be received by ‘faith’. We must look away from ourselves to Christ. In Christ, we see ‘God’s great love for us’. Through receiving Christ as Saviour, we are ‘born of God’ (Ephesians 2:1,4-5,8; John 1:12-13).
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This is the twenty-seventh post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

Christ Is God’s Word Of ‘Peace.’

Christ is God’s Word of ‘peace’ (Ephesians 2:13-14). Christ is for ‘the Jews’. Christ is for ‘the Gentiles’. There is one way of salvation. Jesus Christ is our Saviour. We must put our ‘faith’ in Him. Through Him, we have ‘peace with God’ (Romans 3:29-30; 5:1). God’s Word invites us to ‘call upon the Name of the Lord and be saved’ (Isaiah 58:9; Acts 2:21). In Christ, there is true ‘joy’ - ‘I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation...’ (Isaiah 58:14; 61:10). We rejoice in Jesus Christ. He is ‘the High and Exalted One’. He has come from His ‘high and holy place’. He has become ‘Emmanuel’, ‘God with us’. He is our peace and joy, our Saviour and our God’ (Isaiah 57:15; Matthew 1:21, 23; John 20:28).
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This is the twenty-sixth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

Gathered Together From Every Nation

‘My House will be called a House of prayer for all nations’ (Isaiah 56:7). God is gathering His people together ‘from every tribe and language and people and nation’ (Revelation 5:9). ‘Salvation comes from the Jews’, but it doesn’t end there - ‘The Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile (the rest of the world)’ (John 4:22; Romans 1:16). We were ‘foreigners’. Now, we are ‘no longer foreigners...’ (Isaiah 56:6; Ephesians 2:19). Christ has ‘broken down the dividing wall of hostility’. ‘We are no longer Jews or Gentiles’. ‘We are one in Christ Jesus’. Christ has ‘made the two one’. We ‘have been brought near through the blood of Christ’. We are ‘one body’ - Jews and Gentiles brought together ‘through the Cross’ of Christ (Ephesians 2:13-16; Galatians 3:28).
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This is the twenty-fifth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

Jesus Is Our Saviour. Jesus Is Our Lord.

Jesus is our Saviour - ‘Lord, You establish peace for us’; ‘We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’. We cannot save ourselves. We can only look away from ourselves to Jesus - and be saved by Him: ‘all that we have accomplished You have done for us’; ‘By grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God’ (Isaiah 26:12; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:8). Jesus is our Lord - ‘Lord, our God... You alone are our Lord’. How are we to live once we have received salvation through faith in Jesus Christ? - ‘Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him’. We are not to ‘keep on sinning so that God can keep on showing us more and more kindness and forgiveness’. We are to live a life of ‘good works’ (Isaiah 26:13; Colossians 2:6; Romans 6:1; Ephesians 2:10).
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This is the twenty-fourth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

We Are Brought ‘Near’ To One Another Through ‘The Blood Of Christ.’

We are brought ‘near’ to one another through ‘the blood of Christ’. We must come to ‘the Cross’ of Christ. There, at ‘the Cross’, we will find each other. We will discover what it means to be ‘one body’ in Christ (Ephesians 2:13-16). When Satan comes, creating misunderstanding, filling our minds with suspicion and undermining our hopes of peace, let’s remind him of God’s Word, ‘You are all one in Christ Jesus’.
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This is the twenty-third post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

When God Looks On Us, He Does Not See Our Sin. He Sees Our Saviour.

When God looks on us, He does not see our sin. He sees our Saviour, His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He looks at us, and this is what He sees: ‘The blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin’ (1 John 1:7). Through faith in Christ, we are sinners, saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8). This is the beauty the Lord sees in us: ‘There is, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1). This is not our beauty. It’s His beauty!

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This is the twenty-second post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

God Has ‘Called Us Out Of Darkness Into His Marvellous Light.’

What a wonderful thing God has done for us in Christ. He has ‘called us out of darkness into His marvellous light’. Let us ‘declare His praises’, rejoicing in His great love, His rich mercy and His saving grace (1 Peter 2:9; Ephesians 2:4-5). Keep on rejoicing! There is light at the end of the tunnel - even when you have ‘to suffer grief in all kinds of trials’. Don`t lose sight of ‘the goal of your faith’ - ‘the salvation of your souls’ (1 Peter 1:6-9).

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This is the twenty-first post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

The Promise Of Grace And The Call To Faith

In Scripture, we have both the promise of grace and the call to faith: ‘By grace you have been saved’ (Ephesians 2:5), ‘Your faith has saved you’ (Luke 7:50), ‘Keep yourselves in the love of God’, ‘To Him who is able to keep you from falling’ (Jude 21, 24).
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This is the twentieth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

God ‘Blesses’ Us Through ‘His Word’. He ‘Blesses’ Us In ‘The Spirit.’

In Christ, we are ‘being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit’ (Ephesians 2:22). The Lord draws us to Himself. He brings us into fellowship with His people. He calls us to worship Him: ‘Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving’. He ‘blesses’ us through ‘His Word’. He ‘blesses’ us in ‘the Spirit’: ‘He sends His Word... and the waters flow’ (Psalm 147:7, 12-13, 18; John 7:37-39).

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This is the nineteenth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

Salvation Cannot Be Earned. It Can Only Be Received As A Gift.

Ask the question concerning salvation - ‘What must I do to be saved?’. God will give you His answer - ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved’ (2 Timothy 3:15; Psalm 119:18; Acts 16:31). Salvation cannot be earned. It can only be received as a gift. It is ‘the gift of God’ (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8).
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This is the eighteenth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

‘A Dwelling Place Of God In The Spirit’

‘You are God’s temple… God’s Spirit lives in you… God’s temple is holy… you are that temple… your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you… We are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will live among them…’(1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16). ‘A dwelling place of God in the Spirit’ - That’s what you are (Ephesians 2:22)!

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This is the seventeenth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

How Can We Be Changed?

In ourselves, we are not ‘mighty men’ (2 Samuel 23:8-9). How can we be changed? - ‘The Lord wrought a great victory’ (2 Samuel 23:10, 12). Which of us can be described as ‘a valiant man… a doer of great deeds’ (2 Samuel 23:20) - apart from the grace of God? ‘By grace you have been saved…’ (Ephesians 2:8-10).

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This is the sixteenth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.

The Greatest Love Of All

In ourselves, we are ‘lost’. In Christ, we are ‘found’. In ourselves, we are ‘dead’. In Christ, we are ‘made alive’ (Luke 15:21,24; Ephesians 2:1,5). In Christ, we see God’s love. Through Christ, we receive God’s forgiveness. Christ does not leave us ‘out on a limb’. He is preparing a place for us - in His Father’s House (John 14:1-3). This is love - without limits!

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This is the fifteenth post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.