, But God

Ephesians 2:1-10 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to (Satan) the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

These verses are some of my favorite lines of Holy Scripture, which first opened my eyes to the “full context” of the Word of God concerning my life, my faith and my salvation. My ministry motto is “you have to know that you are lost before you can be found”. My great mentor said that you have to know what you are saved “from” to understand what you are saved “to”. This wonderful passage of the Bible explains the reality behind that Christian philosophy. Not only are we spiritually “lost”, but spiritually “dead” in our trespasses (a violation of God’s moral law) and sins (missing God’s mark)! I discovered that personal conviction of sin in one's life, against a just and holy God, is the beginning of a life transforming change. Not just the things that I do that are transgressions of God’s laws, commandments, statues and teachings (which are sins of commission), but include all the things that I should do and haven’t, that are His will for me (which are sins of omission). For so many years, I fulfilled the lusts & desires of my flesh and mind; not knowing God or the truth, but doing what was right in my eyes and what this lawless society promoted and encouraged. Deep down, I believed that He was there, but I didn’t know God - His Word or His Will. The focus was on this life now and I had no fear of the Lord. We can have a sort of “everyone goes to Heaven” attitude, but in reality by our sin nature, willful or playing ignorant – not desiring to learn the truth of His will and way, nor seeking to know and live in a “right” relationship with God. We are "children of wrath" because God wouldn’t be “JUST”, if the Creator of Heaven & earth didn’t judge & punish sin. We wouldn’t want our courthouse judges to let the guilty go unpunished. Justice is by definition “getting what is deserved”. Most people do not know this! Check out Exodus 34:7, Ezekiel 18:4, Habakkuk 1:13 & Romans 6:23 - they make it very clear about the consequences of rebellious sin and what we truly deserve; spiritual death, separation from God and Hell is “bad news”, any way you cut it!

But God is full of mercy & love, that those who by “saving” faith (knowledge, assent, & trust in Jesus Christ) repent (regretting our transgressions & turning from sin to godliness) and receive the “grace” of God, though spiritually dead, are made alive together with Christ. We have a "consequence of sin" problem that we can not fix by ourselves, but God made a way by sending and sacrificing His sinless son (Jesus Christ) to pay the penalty in our place, thus being a “just” God. Think of it this way: Justice is getting what we deserve and the wages of sin is spiritual death, so we deserve death. Mercy is not getting what we deserve, so by truly repenting, believing & accepting Christ’s offer to die for our sins, then trusting & following him as Lord, God puts our sins upon His innocent son and does not send us to hell. Grace is getting what we do not deserve, so instead of hell (which we deserve), God looks at us cleansed by the blood of Jesus, forgives our sins, grants us salvation, gives us eternal life in Heaven, adopts us as His children and restores a “right” relationship with us daily. We are changed from “children of wrath” to “children of God”. As the song "Amazing Grace" states: I once was lost but now am found; was blind but now I see. Know what we have been saved from, while knowing what we are saved to! Rejoice in your salvation. It is neither earned nor deserved. It is a “free” gift from God. John 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. They call this “good news”, but it is truly “great news”! Tell someone.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. Glory be to God, and our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ! Amen.
Your brother, in Christ, Brian