Ephesians 2:1-10: Amazing Grace

Ephesians 2:1-10: Amazing Grace

ONE OF THE best-known verses in the book of Ephesians is 2:8, "By grace you have been saved, through faith." Grace has often been defined by the acrostic God's Riches At Christ's Expense. With this passage, we'll consider some of the riches we have been given in Christ.

Warming Up to God

Focus on God's graciousness to you in the past days, weeks and months. Allow yourself to experience the depth of his goodness. Respond to him in prayer and praise.

Read Ephesians 2:1-10. »

By Grace Through Faith

2:1 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.

Discovering the Word

• In verse 1 Paul says, "You were dead in your transgressions and sins." How does sin kill?
• Sins separates us from God. Sin differs from the holy radiance of God. Sin happens when i turn the attention/situation upon myself (flesh) , when i shd have turn the attention/situation to God! (spirit). transgressions has the idea of breaking limits. We are created to live and play and be holy within a certain circumference. but because of desire+lustful eyes, we begin to long for something that doesnt belong to us... we even think that God is withholding something from us... any disruption to this order is going against God! God is a JUST God , not an irrational god who gives forgiveness freely- he hates sin so much he created hell, but at the same time he loves us so much , he has to find a way to bring us home... therefore he has to pay it with the price of Jesus Christ.
  
• sin not only kills us spiritually, but also emotionally... we can be spiritually right, but not emotionally right with God or ppl, hence making us ineffective christians... not enabling us to do the 'good works'(physical life +relationships)
  

• In verses 2-3 Paul mentions three negative influences on our lives, which are later put into the formula of "the world, the flesh and the devil." According to Paul, how did each of these affect our lives as non-Christians?
• the world: following the crowd? following values that are away from God's intended values. THese evil values are instituted by Satan - who is everywhere - prince of the air! satan sows discord among bros(proverbs),and disobedience to the orderly structure that God has instituted. the world can be such a distraction to us ... jesus did not take the shortcut to glory as seen in the wilderness- he has won the world/war by going to the cross...
  
• the flesh : when we turn that attention upon ourselves, when we want to do it on our own effort.. (desire+mind in the passage). For eg. an urge... that a guy would go all out to fulfill that urge, but in the end it still leaves him empty, even feeling away from God, simply dissatisfation. or a desire to to justify a bad situation, to take things into my own control, instead of surrendering to God... the flesh is by nature.. we tend to do it cos it is in us... therefore kill the flesh... and put on the new self!
  
• devil: satan is always playing tricks on my mine , telling me i am not good enough, you shd not have faith to trust in God, it is better to go my own ways, he twist and turns and lies... all this to make us fall... to make us sin 'a little' , but still makes us feel bad... he wants me to be separated from God! He wants me to stop trusting in the goodness of God!
  
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• What does Paul mean when he says we have been "made alive," "raised" and "seated" with Christ (vv. 5-6)?
• that it is only by the grace of God
• to let us see how great God's love is towards sinners, and the dead
  
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• When Paul says that our salvation is not from ourselves (vv. 8-9), is he saying that we play no role in our salvation? Explain.
• saved thru faith: we have a role to play- to simply believe and trust in God's ways.
  
• i must learn to take the step of faith...
  
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• What do you learn about God's grace from verses 4-10?
• God's love is great... it is rich... it is immeasurable ... it has to come thru Christ...
  
• it is freely given, i dun have to do anything to earn it...
  
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Applying the Word

• What good works has God prepared you to do?
• What has hindered you from doing these?

Responding in Prayer

Thank God specifically for some of the many ways he has been gracious to you. Ask him to remove the barriers to the good works he has created for you to do.

For Further Study

Christian Character by Andrea Sterk & Peter Scazzero