June 17
“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. Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh – who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands – that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ,” Ephesians 2:8-13.
In these verses written by the apostle Paul, he clearly and beautifully answers the question, “How have I been saved?” “By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works.” God’s grace is His undeserved love, revealed in the sending of His Son to be our Savior. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved,” John 3:16-17. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” Romans 5:8. God loved us when we were not loving, lovely, or lovable!
Through faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we make the forgiveness of sins through the grace of God our personal possession. It is all a gift from God. A gift is something that is not earned or deserved; it is given out of love. This includes the gift of faith. It is not something that we accomplish on our own. The Holy Spirit brings us to faith through the Gospel. “No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit,” 1 Corinthians 12:3. “He called you by our Gospel,” 2 Thessalonians 2:14. “But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God,” 1 Corinthians 6:11.
God makes us Christians through faith in Christ and He keeps us in the faith. “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” We are Christians, and He gives us the will and strength to live like Christians.
The apostle reminded the Ephesians that, before they were Christians, they once were aliens and strangers to the kingdom of God, “having no hope and without God in the world.” Having become Christians by the grace of God through faith in Christ without any works of their own, their spiritual condition was one that gives all glory to God. “Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
What applied to the Ephesians also applies to you and me as Christians today. Once, by nature, we were far off and without any hope for eternal life in heaven. However, “By grace (we) have been saved through faith, and that not of (ourselves); it is the gift of God, not of (our) works, lest (we) should boast.” To God be the glory!
“To God be the glory – great things He hath done,
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life, an atonement for sin,
And opened the Life-gate that all may go in.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, thro’ Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory – great things He hath done!” Amen.