Saved by Grace Alone (Ephesians 2:1-10)

I. The Riches of His Grace

A little over ten years after Martin Luther's excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church, another young man was leaving his law studies in France because of his growing convictions about God's word and the need for reform in the church. In 1533, controversy at his university led John Calvin to leave Paris for Basel, Switzerland. There in 1536, he completed the first edition of his Institutes of the Christian Religion, a massive work of Reformation theology.

Even though Calvin would return to Paris that same year, he was forced to flee again. On his way to Strasbourg, Calvin was forced to stop over in Geneva. And the rest, as they say, is history. Except for a three-year absence, Calvin spent the rest of his life in Geneva, helping to transform the city into an important center of Reformation thinking and Reformation missions. He continued to revise his Institutes, as well as completing a commentary set on most of the New Testament, and a good portion of the Old Testament.

As we turn to God's word this morning, specifically to the book of Ephesians, listen to what Calvin writes in his commentaries about Ephesians 1:7, and specifically Paul's phrase there, “the riches of his grace”.

'Riches', and the corresponding word 'overflow', in the following verse, are intended to give us large views of divine grace. The apostle feels himself unable to celebrate, in a proper manner, the goodness of God, and desires that the contemplation of it would occupy the minds of men till they are entirely lost in admiration. How desirable is it that men were deeply impressed with “the riches of that grace” which is here commended! No place would any longer be found for pretended satisfactions, or for those trifles by which the world vainly imagines that it can redeem itself; as if the blood of Christ, when unsupported by additional aid, had lost all its efficacy.

Calvin's desire for his readers is that they understand Paul's desire for his readers, namely, that we would truly see these “large views of divine grace”. And that is our goal for this morning. Turn with me to the next chapter in Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 2.

II. The Passage: "By Grace You Have Been Saved" (2:1-10)

As we approach the 500^th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, we are continuing our study on both the legacy and lessons of this important movement. Last week we considered the example of the Bereans in Acts 17, and in doing so, were directed back to that Reformation principle of sola scriptura, that is, a belief that the Scriptures alone provide us with authoritative guidance from God.

This morning I'd like us to consider the Reformation principle of sola gratia, the belief that we are saved by God's 'grace alone'. And there is no better passage to explain that principle than Ephesians 2:1-10. Let me read those verses, and as I do, listen carefully for what they tell us about the grace of God. Paul writes:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2] in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—[3] among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4] But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—[6] and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7] so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

When it comes to understanding the role of the grace of God in our salvation, I see at least four ideas in this passage. For example, I believe Paul is telling us that grace is about God...

1. Doing What We Could Not Do (2:1, 4, 5, 10)

Do you see how clear that point is right from the outset of the passage? In verse 1, Paul reminds the Ephesian believers of their former spiritual condition: they were dead because of sin; spiritually dead. Dead to God. Dead to the things of God. Think about it: when it comes to human existence, using the image of “death” is about as extreme as it gets. Paul wants to remind them of their desperate and hopeless condition because of sin and apart from God.

But look at verse 4. To change the destiny of these spiritual corpses, God must intervene. And He did! Because of His abundant mercy and love, God (v. 5) “made us alive together with Christ”. Our God is a God who raises the dead. Just as He raised Jesus from the dead (1:20), so too He raised us. Isn't that what's being described in verse 5?

And that's precisely why Paul adds, “by grace you have been saved”. God did what you and I could not do. We have new life only because He graciously intervened.

And that grace even flows into our new lives with Christ. Verse 10 tells us that even the good works that flow from His good work of grace, are works prepared beforehand for us. Even still He is doing through us what we could not do apart from Him. But grace is also about God...

2. Leading Where We Would Not Go (2:2, 6)

If you look back at verse 2, we see that our condition of spiritual death before Jesus did not mean we were inactive or inert like an actual corpse. While we certainly weren't following God's path, we were on a path characterized by the trespasses and sins [2] in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air...

Who is that “prince of the power of the air”, that is, in spiritual places? That's the devil. So in our 'B.C.' days were were cruising down a path of sin, following the freeway signs of worldly wisdom, taking our cues from the Enemy's GPS. And all of it was leading us away from God, which is precisely what we wanted. Remember, the Bible tells us we were God's enemies (Romans 5) and hostile in mind toward God (Colossians 1).

But when we get to verse 6, we see God's grace taking us where we would not go, but desperately needed to go; where we could not go apart from “the riches of God's grace”, and the riches of His mercy, and the greatness of His love. We read that God put us on a new path: He raised us up with him [with Jesus] and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

The “course of this world” does not lead to “heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. I can assure you of that. But once He made us alive together with Christ, that's exactly where He brought us; exactly where He “seated us”.

What does it mean we are seated with Jesus “in the heavenly places”? It means our life, our identity now and our destiny in eternity is wrapped up securely in the identity and destiny of Jesus Christ. As He was raised, so are we, and will be. As He is seated at God's right hand, so are we. As He reigns, we will reign with Him. And all that is possible because as He is righteous, we are also righteous in Him. And all this is only possible because of God's grace.

But there's more. As we see here, grace is also about God...

3. Giving What We Did Not Deserve (2:3, 8, 9)

Look at how verse 3 gives us the final piece that reveals the big picture of our desperate condition apart from God. In regard to the world system, in regard to that rebellious mass of humanity, Paul writes...among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

God is not a cosmic killjoy who was trying to keep us from a road trip of worldly enjoyments. He is a God of grace who mercifully plucks us from our destructive rampage, from a path of deceptive desires and painful pride. He saves us from a highway of hurtful words and actions and attitudes. Listen to how Paul explains in Titus 3: For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

But this God of grace is also a God of justice. And so, apart from grace, we are headed, from the womb (“by nature”), for a divine appointment with the wrath of God. Apart from grace, only justice awaits us. And as we've seen, who could stand? Who is innocent?

But again, we are saved by grace. Look again at 2:8, 9: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

And if we listen again to Paul in Titus 3, we hear the exact same declaration:

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, [5] he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, [6] whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, [7] so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

We must acknowledge and accept the sobering reality of what we deserve apart from Jesus. Only then can we stand in awe of “the riches of His grace”. But grace is also about God...

4. Showing What We Cannot Deny (2:7)

What is the goal of His grace? To help us see His grace! Paul declares that God saved us by grace and gives us eternal life so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

What does this mean? It means that God's grace gives us eyes to see the incomparable glory of His ever-giving grace, and hearts to burst with love and gratefulness in light of that grace, and mouths to sing His praises forever and ever and ever. This is why Paul stated in chapter 1 that God has saved us to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Because we are saved by God's grace alone, God alone gets the glory. As spiritual corpses, heading away from God, serving our flesh and the world and the devil, destined for eternal condemnation, how could we have any reason to “boast”?

So...Grace is about God doing for us what we could not do, leading us where we would not go, giving us what we did not deserve, in order ultimately to show us we cannot deny.

III. This Grace in Which We Stand

Now, to be clear, the Roman Catholic Church, both 500 years ago and today, does believe we are saved by God's grace. What they do not believe is that we are saved by grace ALONE. They believe we must cooperate with God's grace, and that our good works, (and I quote) “merit increase of grace, eternal life, and the attainment of that eternal life”. They believe grace is absolutely necessary, but not absolutely sufficient.

But that isn't what we see here in Ephesians 2. We God acting alone, solely because of His grace, to redeem and remake us. And all we can do is believe. That points us to the other side of this coin, which we call sola fidei (“faith alone”). These two principles are usually expressed together, that is, as we see here, we are saved by “grace alone” through “faith alone”. We will look at that principle more closely in two weeks.

But as we finish up this morning, I think it's important to recognize that we still need to stand firm for sola gratia. Even today there are threats to this biblical truth. This is not simply an idea that was important 500 years ago, or an idea we discuss with Roman Catholics. Speaking about the importance of “grace alone”, an evangelical document from about twenty years ago expresses the need in this way...

Unwarranted confidence in human ability is a product of fallen human nature. This false confidence now fills the evangelical world; from the self-esteem gospel, to the health and wealth gospel, [and] those who have transformed the gospel into a product to be sold and sinners into consumers who want to buy... (The Cambridge Declaration)

“Unwarranted confidence in human ability”. What is that saying? It's saying that whenever we begin to focus on our own efforts, whenever we begin to soften the severity of sin, whenever pride in performance begins to creep in, or whenever we are burdened because we don't think we've done enough, it's a sure sign we are losing sight of the amazing truth that we saved by grace alone.

You see, this idea of “grace alone” is not something that only matters in discussion about evangelism and becoming a Christian. It matters for every single day of the Christian life. Listen to how Paul describes the result of God's gracious work in Romans 5:1, 2...

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. [2] Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2)

Not only were you saved by grace alone, but when it comes to your relationship with God, this very second, you and I stand by and in grace alone. Before the throne of God, there is solid ground underneath our feet...always! And this beautiful truth speaks directly to and powerfully in the face of temptations toward either self-condemnation or self-righteousness. Listen to how the writer Jerry Bridges puts it...

“Our worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace.”

In light of this, in another place, Bridges is able to make this statement...

“Only when we're thoroughly convinced that the Christian life is entirely of grace are we able to serve God out of a grateful and loving heart.”

Do you believe that? Is it your desire to live today, to live this week, out a grateful and loving heart toward God? If it is, then take in, meditate on, cling to “the riches of his grace”. Be in awe of the fact that God has done it all, giving you quite the opposite of what you deserved. Be humbled by and confident in light of the grace in which you stand.

To use the words of Calvin, has God shown us “large views of divine grace” this morning? I believe He has. By “Scripture alone” He has graciously reminded us that we are saved by “grace alone”.

Whenever my merit or performance or efforts or pride begin to taint the waters, whenever things become about me and not Him, I must bring my poverty to the riches of his grace. Five hundred years ago, our spiritual ancestors reclaimed and stood firm on this idea of sola gratia. Today, if we are to proclaim a true gospel, we must always proclaim “by grace alone through faith alone”. And we must remind ourselves daily of that gospel if we are to live semper reformanda; if our desire is that, by God's word, we are “always being reformed”. Amen? Let's give thanks to God for His truly amazing grace.