Alive Pt 2

Although my health has slowed me down, I am a doer. I like to multi-task, plan, be in control, and check things off my check lists. I enjoy the sense of accomplishment as I finish a project or chore. Along with that, one of my heart idols is recognition. I want the glory. I like the glory. Click that “like” button and tell me you love what I’m doing. But there is no room for that mentality and lifestyle at the foot of the cross.

Let’s read verses 2:1-10 again.

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.[1]

Ephesians 2:1-10 (emphasis added)

As we’ve worked our way through this section, we’ve studied our “all” dead state apart from Christ, God’s intervention to save us, and how we are transformed by being made alive with Christ (the climax of these ten verses). Today, we will continue looking at being alive with Christ.

Out of the Reformation came what is now termed the Five Solas which are at the heart of evangelical faith: Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone), solus Christus (Christ alone), sola fide (faith alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone).[2] Scripture alone is the inspired, inerrant, sufficient, and final authority for the church. It is God’s word breathed out that we may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Ephesians 2:10 next week). Scripture is where we learn, as we have been the past several weeks, about God, sin, and how we are saved.

Christ alone is the basis for the sinner’s justification in God’s sight. Christ bore our sin and the penalty for our sin and gave us His righteousness. Faith alone is how we receive salvation Christ provided for our salvation through His atoning death on the cross, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the Father. Grace alone declares that from start to finish, salvation is by God’s grace alone. Glory to God alone means all glory for our salvation belongs to God alone. We will detect the last four solas in our passage today.

For is one of the words I circle in my Bible with a grey pen. I circle it because it is a transition word like therefore. When we see these transition words, we should pause and back up to find the connection. For in verse 8 ties the next three verses to the previous seven verses concerning salvation. Verses 8-10 further explain salvation.

Next, Paul repeats what he wrote in verse 5: “by grace you have been saved.” Paul reminds us that our salvation is God’s unmerited favor towards us. We deserved or merited God’s wrath and punishment. God gave us grace at His initiative instead. Grace alone.

Paul continues: “For by grace you have been saved through faith” (emphasis added). Faith is not contributing to the work of salvation. Faith is our response to God’s saving grace. The word through means that faith alone (in Christ’s finished work) is the instrument for salvation. It is the only means of receiving salvation, but faith is not what saves us. Salvation is by God’s mercy, great love, and the immeasurable riches of His grace (vs 4-5). Our only part in salvation is employing God’s gift of faith provided by God’s grace. Faith alone.

The latter part of verse 8 along with verse 9 form a chiastic structure (often used in the Psalms to highlight the middle line).

Paul tells us twice that salvation is not our own doing. Ligonier Ministries commented on these verses: “The grammatical gender of the demonstrative this in ‘this is not your own doing’ must refer back to the entire complex of things Paul mentions in the verse — salvation, grace, and faith."[3] Look back at verses 1-3. We were dead in sin, following the world and Satan, children of God’s wrath, helpless, and hopeless. There was nothing we could do to save ourselves. God had to intervene by sending His Son to bear and take the punishment for our sin and to impute (give) to us His righteousness.

Paul wrote to the Philippian church that everything was rubbish compared to knowing Christ and being found in Him, “not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith (Philippians 3:9).

We exercise faith in Christ’s finished work, but even faith is a gift from God so that no one may boast. This is why it is the center of the chiastic structure. We bring nothing to the work of salvation. Our only boast is Christ. “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14).

Augustus Toplady wrote the well-known hymn, “Rock of Ages.” In the second and third verses, he penned: “Not the labors of my hands can fulfill thy law’s demands; could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow, all for sin could not atone; thou must save, and thou alone. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling; naked, come to thee for dress; helpless, look to thee for grace; foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me Savior, or I die.”

Augustus Toplady understood Christ alone. We bring only empty hands in faith, but he also understood glory to God alone. God is the sole reason any of us come to saving faith. The work is all His. His grace. His mercy. His great love. His gift of faith. His Son’s finished work. He is due all our gratitude, obedience, love, and praise. Glory to God alone.

By grace alone, we have faith alone, in Christ alone, for God’s glory alone. Next week, we will tackle verse 10 and the truth in the quote attributed to Martin Luther: “We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.”

Reflection

1.    In your own words, how would you describe salvation by grace alone, faith alone, in Christ alone, for God’s glory alone?

2.    Paul is emphatic that salvation is not our own doing. It is not a result of our works. Intellectually, we may know this, but how do we functionally live as if our salvation or continued standing with God depends on our own efforts? How are you a “glory monger” as Paul Tripp phrases it?

3.    Giving God alone the glory for our salvation is probably not something we regularly think about, but we should. In what ways do you or can you begin to give God all the glory for His saving grace in your life?

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eph 2:1–10.

[2] For more information see: McGraw, Ryan. “What Are the Five Solas?” Ligonier Ministries, 27 Oct. 2021, www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/what-are-the-five-solas?srsltid=AfmBOoqNz9l6ZWMqPyR9dmidqmnCvrxqisfnJ7uhmjpvjdpKN3oCeXGc. 

or Barrett, Matthew. “The Five Solas.” The Gospel Coalition, The Gospel Coalition, 11 July 2024, www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-five-solas/.

[3] “By Grace Alone Through Faith Alone.” Ligonier Ministries, Ligonier Ministries, Tabletalk Magazine, 25 May 2011, www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/grace-alone-through-faith-alone?srsltid=AfmBOor15Xz1CMdcXnK0K7F1UHwCU6GX7JSJGa4A38VVJrdyLdIcbj1f.