Our New Testament letter this week was written to the church in Ephesus by Paul. This letter has such theological depth that there are multi-volume commentaries on just it alone. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ commentary on Ephesians, for example, is eight volumes.
I mention this to show that our habit of quickly glossing over our reading causes us to miss much of the message that has been carefully crafted within the letter.
Let’s look at Sunday’s passage:
And you, although you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit now working in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all formerly lived in the desires of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and of the mind, and we were children of wrath by nature, as also the rest of them were. — Ephesians 2:1–3 (LEB)
Paul tells these Christians in Ephesus that they used to be spiritually dead, not just ailing and needing a spiritual booster shot. Totally under the influence of Satan, along with the rest of the world living in disobedience to God, doing what they want to do instead of what God wanted them to do. Dead.
Yet we see that this passage also indicates that something else precedes it, since it begins with “And you.” The verses before that passage describe our Heavenly Father placing Christ as sovereign over all things including his followers. He then describes us and our predicament—that we were consigned to eternal separation from God, and that it was our natural tendency.
Then Paul adds a “but.”
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 2 not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. — Ephesians 2:4-9 (ESV)
By grace, not anything that we do or could do, God raises us from our spiritual death with Jesus himself, saving us from the punishment we had earned by our decisions and behavior. Despite our rejection of God and his will, he gives us this gift if we are willing to trust and be loyal to him (the deeper meaning of the word used for “faith”).
This grace is a gift from God, not something we earn. We can’t bump up the grace pump by doing good things (or “works” as Paul writes). Our efforts have absolutely no effect on God’s grace. Likewise, we can’t cancel grace by bad things we do. God doesn’t give us less grace if we’re bad, and more if we’re good. If he did, that would be a result of our own efforts—which Paul tells us is not how grace works.
Yet we rightly expect Christians to be doing good works as followers of Jesus (Good trees are known by producing good fruit, etc.). The flow of grace, however, is unidirectional. Grace flows into us through our belief, trust, and loyalty in God, and causes a behavior change within us—a desire to do loving acts of kindness that we otherwise may not have been so inclined to do. The reverse flow doesn’t work. We can’t just do things that seem good, and then hope to earn grace and faith as a result. Faith causes good works, not the other way around. Good works can’t cause faith any more than perfume can cause flowers.
And yet we were created by God to do certain good works for which he has blessed us with the natural and spiritual gifts that enable us. Paul shows us this perspective in Verse 10:
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. — Ephesians 2:10
We reiterate that understanding each week in our Post-Communion Prayer:
“… And we humbly ask you, heavenly Father, to assist us with your grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such good works as you have prepared for us to walk in; through Jesus Christ our Lord …”
Good works are an important indicator of how our walk with Jesus is going. They are a result of his love for us, not the cause of it. Our Heavenly Father loves us unconditionally. He sent his son to suffer a horrible, excruciating death to free us from the penalty of our treason against his kingdom.
During this season of Lent, we are called to focus intentionally on our devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ. Good Friday brings the resurrection, and with it, salvation for all of us willing to accept it. It is a gift we can receive, not a wage we have earned. It doesn’t make us better than anyone else, just blessed.
Grace and Peace,
Fr. Austin