Good News for Sinners

Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions. That's where every day you and I we get together We have a little bit of coffee or tea. We'll have a Sometimes our little guys will join us And we get in the Lord's Word together Well, why don't we have some coffee?
We'll pray and we'll get into an absolutely incredible passage Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for the amazing work that you have done to bring about our salvation. Father, we pray that you would work in us and we might love you. and that we might follow in your ways, and that we might stand in awe of who you are and what you have done. In Jesus's name, amen.
All right, we're at Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter two, the first 10 verses, one of the most powerful sections, I think, of the book of Ephesians. Certainly one that clarifies a number of different issues when it comes to the doctrine of salvation. So Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1 through 10. Nathan, why don't you read verses 1, 2, and 3 and I'll read 4 through 10.
So you can read the first paragraph and I'll read the second. 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 the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now walks in the sons of disobedience. Among them also we all once conducted ourselves to the lusts of our flesh, filling 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. By grace, you have been saved. 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.
Well, we need to ask ourselves three questions, buddy. What are they? A, what is this about? B, what is the best for us to surmise? And C, what are we called to do today? Good, right? So what are we called to do? All right, well, verses one through four kind of, or one through three, sorry, are really pretty picture about us, isn't it? It's like, it tells us all the good things we are, right? What's verses one through three?
It's like coding, it's like saying, you're not good, good, good, good, good, good, you're not good, good, good, good, as you do, not in coding. It just flips all the meaning around. It's like putting not at the end of you're good. Yeah. Yeah. Right. So it's not any of that, right?
What are, what is verses one through three tell us about? That we were dead. We were dead. You're going to die. Don't hope for us. No hope? Nope. No hope in ourselves. Do we know that corruption still now? Does this mean that like we were physically dead? No. No, but I think in a real sense. We were spiritually dead. We were spiritually dead, but yet in the same reality.
What is going to happen to every single person? There's one person I remember one time they said our birth certificate is nothing more than the first day of our death certificate We're all gonna die It's all going to perish each and every one of us know That the judgment on Adam and Eve the day you eat of it. You shall surely die that same judgment Is still on us that the wages of sin is death But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. Man, you went straight to verse 8 and 9.
Yeah, right. It's kind of like if somebody has cancer, do people like being told that they've got terminal cancer, that they're going to die? No. But is it good to know that? Yeah. So they can figure out how they're going to live right now. But does God leave people in this state of spiritual deadness? Yes, he does. Well, you're right.
He leaves some people But what about his people does he leave us in that dead state? No, no Yeah, it says that we were just like the rest. We walked in the way according to the prince of the power of the air. We had the lusts of the flesh, that's how we conducted ourself, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and we're by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
And then verse four starts with one of the most beautiful phrases in the whole Bible. What does it say? You look at all that bad news, and then you have the wonderful word, but. But God, who is rich in mercy? What does God do? He saves us. He died for our sins. Yeah, but he does that after we're good enough, right? No, he does that because for his glory. Yeah, what does verse 5 say? Even when we were dead in our trespasses, trespasses made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. Even when we were dead in our trespasses. The book of Romans says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Did God wait for us to get 90% better and then fill up the rest? Did God wait until we got our acts together and then save us? No, no, when did he save us? Um In what state were we dead dead?
Sinners not able to save ourselves negative 100 Negative 100. Yeah, we were as one person has said we were lifeless corpses on the sea of death and God reached down Pulled us up and breathe new life into our lungs for by grace you have been saved and so How does he show us that grace, how did he raise us up from death the faith that Well, first it's not our faith.
What does he point to before he gets to our faith? What does he say in verse 6? How were we raised up from the dead? What does verse 6 say? We were raised up together and made us to sit in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Yeah. He made us alive together with Christ and raised us up together. If Jesus rose again from the dead, we know that we stand right with God. If Jesus had stayed dead in the tomb, do you think we could be saved? No. Why not?
Because then he would have been done. He would have had one sin he had committed. Because when he had it, he must have eaten another fruit. Okay, yeah, so well, maybe maybe not maybe you know, he just atoned for our sins and Wiped the slate clean and now we need to do everything Couldn't it couldn't the story have been that that God saved all of his people up to that time and Previously by wiping away all their sins in Jesus Why did he have to raise him from the dead? because then Because sin didn't have any grip on him Sen doesn't have any grip on him.
He's defeated death. He's defeated the final foe. And so if Jesus is alive, where do we find our life? Jesus and Jesus. He raised us up in Christ. This is why the resurrection is really important. And not just like people, some disbelieving people will say things like, oh, the disciples just really wished that he was alive. And it was just like this emotional thing. No, he really was alive. Right.
What did he tell Thomas? Put your fingers in my hand and to my side. What did he do when he was by the lake and they had gone fishing and they found out it was Jesus on the shore? What was Jesus doing? I forget. He was eating? Yeah, he was eating. He made breakfast for them. How does a ghost eat?
Exactly. Right. This isn't a figment of their imagination or something like that. It truly is the risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with a physical body. He truly did conquer death. And did Jesus stay on the earth? No. Where did Jesus go? To heaven. So how is Jesus in heaven, but yet we're in him? Well, that's just your first answer was right. Mm-hmm. It's a mystery Right.
There are three legitimate mysteries in the Christian faith things that are beyond our comprehension, right? the Trinity we can know a lot about the Trinity, but we can't fully grasp the Trinity and the hypostatic union, which means, you know, how is it possible that Jesus is one person with two natures, a fully God and fully man?
How is he the theanthropos? How is he the God man? Don't know how that exactly works out, but I know it's true. And lastly, the third mystery, you want to know what the third legitimate mystery in the Christian faith is? And this is like theological categories. The third mystery is our union with Jesus. Yeah, how can we be united with Jesus, though? The Tower of Babel doesn't even reach Him. Yeah, but yet, is this saying that we are seated with Jesus in Heaven?
No. Sure does say that. It actually does. Look, look at what it said. Verse 6, And raised us up together, and made us to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Somehow we are seated with him in heaven. I don't know how this works out, but it sure is sweet. Right. To know that just like Jesus is physically in heaven now. So we also someday. We'll know it fully. And so he he goes on and in verses eight and nine kind of clarify something for us, doesn't he? What does he say?
For all by faith you have been sold. Nope. Nope. Nope. Try that again. For by grace you have been saved, through faith and not of yourself. It is the gift of God, not of rocks, lest anyone should boast. Yeah, so how have we been saved? For by grace through faith. By grace through faith, that's perfect. That's wonderful theological language. Good job budding theological scholar right by grace through faith Who does the work?
God does Did we make ourselves alive? No, did we raise up our dead bodies? No, did we atone for our sins? No Who did all that? God Did we elect ourselves? No, do we predestine ourselves? No, but what's the instrumentality by which God does this? Through what? Through faith he does this through faith Now is this all of here's the question does a faith happen before he? Makes us and gives us a new life Or does it happen after he gives us a new life?
Both. You think both? I think we have faith in him now and we definitely have faith in him afterwards. Well, so I'm not talking about physical death. Now I'm talking about, imagine there's somebody and they've never heard of God. And then they hear the gospel and they believe.
Did their faith come before they were reborn? Meaning, because they believed they were reborn? Or did they believe because they were reborn? Did they believe, did they have faith, and thus God made them reborn? Or were they reborn and then out of their new hearts they believed? They believed and then were reborn.
Hmm. Why would you say that? Because you have to be, you have to be given grace and then you have to believe and then you can be reborn. Then you can actually put off the old way. How can a dead person believe? Remember, this is what this says here is that that person was dead in their transgressions and sins. Can a dead person believe? Yeah, they can. No, they can't. They can't do anything. A physical death. Yeah, I'm talking about a spiritually dead person. Can a spiritually dead person who's of the kingdom of Satan, can they believe in God's goodness and grace?
No. But God has to first save them by his grace. And now they've been given new hearts. And because they've been given new hearts, now they have faith. So they were born and then they have faith. Yeah, that's right. I know. I know. I'm kind of teasing things out here with you a little bit. But theologians call this in the order of salvation, the ordos salutis, and they'll specifically say regeneration precedes faith. OK, that means you're reborn. And because you're reborn, because God gives you a new heart, what do you do with that new heart? You believe you believe but you don't just believe What is verse 10 say?
For we are his workmanship Created in Christ Jesus for the good works, which God prepared from hand before hand that we should walk in him So not just that out of our good hearts now do we believe but what else happens? I? your God's work to be done. Okay, so God creates us, good.
And what do we do now? What's our part in this? For good works. Yeah, we do good works. We do good works so we can be saved, right? Yep. No, we've already been saved. Yeah, we've already been saved, right? There's an order here. So can you be saved without good works? Uh, yes. Ooh, are you sure? Yeah. Because if it was just good works, then why would none of us keep his law perfectly, so why would anyone? Well, you're right.
We are saved by grace alone, not by works, lest anyone should boast. So we're not saved by our works. But let me ask you a question. Can someone truly be saved and not do the good works that God gave them to do? But I thought you just said that we were saved by grace, not by works. Well, unless you don't God save us so that we can do good works. That's right. So it's if you aren't doing good works, you were never of the body. That's right. Right.
That's kind of a hard thing, isn't it? Are we doing the good things that God has given us to do? And sometimes, is it hard to obey mommy and daddy? Sometimes is it hard to do the good things that God has prepared in advance for you to walk in them? Sometimes is it difficult to have the fruits of the spirit? It can be tough, huh?
And yet, this is how God works in our hearts. You saved us. We were dead, bud. God saved us. We know what sin is, don't we? And yet while we were sinners, Christ died for us. Do you think we get to brag about that? No, we can brag that God saved us. Yeah, what's our who do we get to brag about?
Yes. That's right. We get to brag about Jesus And because God loved us and died for us and gave us new life now, what do we get to do we get to Praise Jesus and do good works with him. That's right. We get to praise Jesus and do good works with them What do you think's the best verse to summarize all this I Four. You think verse four? But God who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us.
Well if I did four, I'd have to underline five. But you know what would happen if I underlined five? Then you would underline eight. And if I underlined eight, I'd underline? Six. Six. And if I underlined six, I'd want to go to nine. And if I did nine, I'd want ten. Seven, two, three. Yeah, right. I'd probably do eight nine myself. Oh, you sure good.
You sure good Well, I think we've done see calling already, but let me ask you What are the good works that God has prepared in advance for you to do? Do you cling to Jesus Christ? Do you hope in him alone for your salvation? Do you love him? Is your heart overwhelmed By the grace that God has shown us in his son And are you walking in the good works he prepared for you to do? You ready to pray, Bob? Yeah.
Father, we thank you so much for the wonderful mercy you've shown us in Jesus Christ. Father, please let us never forget the work that you have done and let us hold fast But Lord, we confess to you that it's easy for us to forget. And we're too weak to hold on to you, Father, we pray that you would keep us in the hand of your Son. And we thank you. That you from the lips of Jesus Christ himself have said, no one will snatch us out of your hand. God, hold on to us. In Jesus's name. Amen. May the Lord bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace that comes in Jesus Christ. And we'll see you next time. You wanna say bye?
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.