Ephesians 2:8-10 Podcast
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8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
In Ephesians 2:1-10, Paul explains our salvation. In v.1-6 the Apostle tells us what happens when God saves us: bringing us from death to life. In v.7 Paul tells us why God saves: so that in the coming ages God could show us the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. And in v.8-10, our text today, Paul tells us how God saves.
According to v.8, by grace we have been saved through faith. Notice those two words: grace and faith. Grace is God’s kind disposition toward sinful people who are unable to fix themselves. Grace is the basis of our salvation.
The other word in v.8 is faith which is the instrument of salvation. Faith is what lays hold of grace. It’s the hand that reaches out and receives the free gift from God through Christ. Biblical faith believes that God exists and is involved intimately in our lives.
If our salvation was up to us, we'd be forever hopeless. God’s grace grants life so that we can have faith. When the Holy Spirit gives us a new nature, we then naturally do what our new nature wants: we come, we believe, we turn away from our losing way, and we trust God.
And, the amount of our faith is not the key; the object of our faith is the key. When we come to Christ we are placing our faith in Him. The type of faith that endures is the faith that is placed in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Jesus will never reject us. He can’t. He was cast out for us, so that we would never be cast away.
According to v.8-9, God saves us by Christ’s merit, not ours. This is why the gospel is good news, because though we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, God has saved us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The gospel makes beggars of us all.
According to v.9, we can not boast in our salvation because we didn't make ourselves Christians. According to v.10, we are God's workmanship. Literally, we are God’s poem or masterpiece or work of art.
Finally, in v.10, Paul reminds us of God's work in us, "For we are God’s handiwork." In addition, he reminds us of God's work through us, "created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." We are not saved by our good works, we are saved to do His good works. These good works were prepared in advance for us to do. We are never truly fulfilled until we get to this place. The key that unlocks this door is our willingness to walk synergistically with Him.
