Friday, March 16, 2012

Reflections on Ephesians 2:8-10...

v.8…by grace…a gift, undeserved, unearned

you have been saved…this is a completed action with effect in the present.

Through faith…faith as the only way…though not specifically defined in the context understood that ‘faith’ referred to here is faith in Christ.

This not from yourselves…no human effort can contribute to salvation…again the emphasis on ‘gift of God’…there is that grace again.

v.9…not by works…re-emphasizing salvation cannot be earned even by strict obedience to God’s Law/Word/Will

‘no one can boast…nobody can take credit for their salvation…the work is totally and completely God’s

v.10…God’s workmanship…a work of art…we are not ‘self-made’…we are God’s handiwork…God’s creation

created in Christ Jesus…the formation takes place in Christ…the idea of ‘new creation’…not a brushing up of the ‘old’

to do good works…the purpose of grace, faith, and recreation…to enact ‘good’ works…the expression of God’s will in physical form…

God prepared in advance for us to do…God’s purpose …God’s planning…God’s will. The direction and development of these works is also God’s. We learn from him through reading of the word, prayer, worship, service, etc.

So Paul gives us the flow…grace through faith for works.

Not to navel gaze…not to sit back and seek further spiritual experience…not to just sit back and think about, reflect on, meditate on…

Grace through faith enables, empowers, enacts, encourages …us to a life of ‘grace-filled’ faith-full service.

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