Dead or Alive? // Ephesians 2:1-10

Made Alive in Christ
1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Footnotes:

Ephesians 2:3 Or our flesh

Words, phrases that stuck out:

*** 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature[a] and following its desires and thoughts.: What is "them" here? Our transgressions and sins that every single one of us either has been driven by (or still IS being driven by) in life. As much as I've tended to be viewed as a "good guy" (whatever that means...), I know that before I was captured by Christ, despite my efforts to be "more good than bad" (aka hoping God used a gold star chart), ultimately it was easier to do the dumb, brainless, wrong things than the right thing. And I also know there have been times in my regenerated life after surrendering to Jesus where I was a slave to sin for a time, being driven be desires to "feel good" instead of a reckless abandon for God. The struggle is when we fail to realize this truth, as no matter how much I say I "get" this fact of being a slave to sin in my past life (and annoyingly at times in the current), I still catch myself comparing "up" with others on some sort of naughty list.

*** 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions...: This is just a revolutionary truth that is so foreign to us: that God, despite our deadness to him (due to our transgressions against him all the time), has so much love and mercy on us that he wants us alive again in Christ. Those last two words are the kicker, though, and we seem to miss that. We aren't alive because we follow some philosophy, or due to gritting our teeth trying to be "good". No, we are alive to God due to the payment of sin by Jesus' death on the cross. I need to grasp that more and more each day, and that is my prayer. And by that surrender, I believe that God will continue (because it started in 1990) to change my heart and attitude so that all the "good things" I try in my own power to do (usually with some hopeless notion that God will like me more as a result) will instead flow from me freely and effortlessly as I simply love the Lord more and more and...

*** 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
: Here. It. Is. Our life in God's kingdom is a gift. It is not from what we do. And since it isn't from my own energies and attempts, I have ZERO room for arrogance, or feeling like I am somehow "better" than those not knowing Jesus, or that I am more spiritual than others because I seek to live for Christ. That's tough though. I know I can get frustrated when folks around me aren't "getting it" like I'd like, and I need to just be obedient and faithful (and let God do the rest in others). But I know this realization that it isn't completing some checklist that "gets us to God" (and the relief and gratitude that should result from that) doesn't always produce fruit. Why? I think it's because sometimes we still don't really "get it". We got all emotional and said some prayer somewhere, and think that now we have eternal life with God in our back pocket "just in case" or something. As I've said before, if anything "good" comes out of my life, I pray it is a directresult of my love, gratitude, and obedience to ALL God has done for me. I was created to do good works FOR CHRIST. Oh Lord, flow through me...and let any "good" point directly to YOU.

Questions for me to ponder today:

Do I truly, truly know that before I surrendered to Jesus I was ruled by sin, evil, etc.? What should that realization do to me? If I don't seem to realize that...what evidence do I need to "get there"?

Are my "good works" just for myself, or to "look good" to others? Are they only flowing from my love for God?