Grace IS Amazing
Ephesians 2:4-8 God alone receives the glory for His eternal plan of salvation.
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in 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 as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Ephesians 2:4-9 NASB1995
The Lord pointed me towards Ephesians again today; after Wednesday’s exploration of Ephesians 4:30, He nudged me towards these wonderful verses about grace in Ephesians 2.
Paul begins Chapter 2 with a reminder to his readers that they were dead in sin, but now alive in Christ. Here in verse 4, he explains just why God has reconciled mankind to Himself — because He loves us and focuses His rich mercy on us. 19th-century British theologian Adam Clarke explains this:
“As they were corrupt in their nature, and sinful in their practice, they could possess no merit, nor have any claim upon God; and it required much mercy to remove so much misery, and to pardon such transgressions.” (emphasis is the original author’s)1
Why does God love us? It’s not because we’re lovable creatures — quite the contrary! David Guzik comments that:
Every reason for God’s mercy and love is found in Him. We give Him no reason to love us, yet in the greatness of His love, He loves us with that great love anyway.
Therefore, we must stop trying to make ourselves lovable to God, and simply receive His great love while recognizing that we are unworthy of it. This is the grace secret of the Christian life.2
In verses 5 through 7, Paul explains that God’s work of individual reconciliation is eternal — past, present, and future. Even when we were dead in sin in the past, He loved us. This is a prerequisite for salvation — we must be dead to all attempts to justify ourselves before God. He makes us alive together with Christ — sharing in our death in the old life so we can share His new resurrection life.
Paul once again emphasizes that it is “by grace we have been saved through faith”. God rescues us from spiritual death despite our undeserving nature — and that is truly amazing grace!
In the present time, God has “seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”, as we Christians can claim citizenship in Heaven (Philippians 3:20). We’re not there with Jesus yet, but our lives and identities are in Christ, so we sit where He sits. Quoting Adam Clarke again:
“And now we sit in heavenly places — we have a right to the kingdom of God, anticipate this glory, and are indescribably happy in the possession of this salvation, and in our fellowship with Christ Jesus.”
Photo by Steven Sande © 2023 via Nocturne app
What about the future? Paul says that “in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” God’s grace continues to be extended to us through eternity.
It seems that whenever I’m searching for the perfect commentary on a verse or book, Charles H. Spurgeon always says the right thing. Here are a few of his words on these verses:
“From this verse it is clear that Paul fully expected the gospel of the grace of God to be preached in the ages to come. He had no notion of a temporary gospel to develop into a better, but he was assured that the same gospel would be preached to the end of the dispensation. Nor this alone; for as I take it, he looked to the perpetuity of the gospel, not only through the ages which have already elapsed since the first advent of our blessed Lord, but throughout the ages after he shall have come a second time. Eternity itself will not improve upon the gospel.”
“So is it with the grace of God: he has as much grace as you want, and he has a great deal more than that. The Lord has as much grace as a whole universe will require, but he has vastly more. He overflows: all the demands that can ever be made on the grace of God will never impoverish him, or even diminish his store of mercy; there will remain an incalculably precious mine of mercy as full as when he first began to bless the sons of men.”3
Paul ends today’s verses with one more reminder that God’s grace is given to the undeserving. When he says “For by grace you have been saved through faith”, Paul is emphasizing that our salvation is entirely of His grace and that it is an accomplished fact — it is finished!
The next verse can be a bit confusing — “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” The “it” referred to here is salvation, not faith, although faith is also a gift of God! Our belief in Jesus requires a prior work of God in us, otherwise we are simply blinded by the god of our time (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Heaven on Wheels was originally conceived as an evangelistic venture, with Barb and I seeking to help steer those who we come across while camping in our RV toward the Lord. However, it has morphed into more of an in-depth daily look at the Bible as well as a daily prayer. Prayer has a very necessary place in evangelism — by interceding on behalf of those we would like to see saved, God hears us and will grant the ability (although not the willingness) to believe to all those we pray for.
At the end of these verses, Paul reminds us that God doesn’t make salvation something that mankind can achieve by works, because if that was the way it worked, we would certainly boast about it. God alone receives the glory for His eternal plan of salvation.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Father in Heaven, I cannot comprehend the wisdom and the eternal nature of Your plan for my salvation. Your amazing grace has set me free from the power of sin and death, something that I will never be deserving of. I pray that I may glorify You in all I do and all I am, to the praise of Your holy name. AMEN.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org.
Clarke, Adam "Clarke's Commentary: The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments with a Commentary and Critical Notes" Volume 6 (Romans-Revelation) (New York: Eaton and Mains, 1832)
Guzik, David. Enduring Word Ministries. Commentary included with the written permission of the author.
Spurgeon, Charles Haddon "The New Park Street Pulpit" Volumes 1-6 and "The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit" Volumes 7-63 (Pasadena, Texas: Pilgrim Publications, 1990)