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Go! And Serve: You Are Not Saved To Sit — You Are Saved To Serve - Ephesians 2:8–10 Series
Contributed by Dean Courtier on Apr 28, 2025 (message contributor)
Summary: The Christian life is not a spectator sport. We are not called to sit back, to be passive, or to simply admire what Christ has done. We are called to be His hands and feet in a broken world. We are called to move — to live out our salvation in acts of love, service, and obedience.
Go! And Serve: You Are Not Saved to Sit — You Are Saved to Serve - Ephesians 2:8–10
Today, we continue our 'Go! And…' series with a vital message: "You are not saved to sit — you are saved to serve."
The Christian life is not a spectator sport.
We are not called to sit back, to be passive, or to simply admire what Christ has done.
We are called to be His hands and feet in a broken world.
We are called to move — to live out our salvation in acts of love, service, and obedience.
So let us open our hearts to hear, and our lives to obey.
1. Saved by Grace, Saved for Purpose
Ephesians 2:8–10 (NLT): "God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."
"God saved you by his grace when you believed..."
Paul reminds the Ephesian believers that salvation is solely by grace (Greek: charis, meaning undeserved favour).
Not by works, lest anyone should boast!
But verse 10 shifts beautifully to purpose:
We are God’s masterpiece (poiema — think of a carefully crafted work of art!), created for good works that God prepared beforehand.
We are saved from sin, but we are also saved for service.
Salvation is not the end of the story — it is the beginning of a life lived for God's glory.
Imagine being rescued from a shipwreck.
You are not saved to stay floating in the water—you are saved to get on the ship and serve among the crew!
Christianity is not a cruise ship; it’s a battleship!
John Piper said, "Grace is not simply leniency when we have sinned. Grace is the enabling gift of God not to sin. Grace is power, not just pardon."
Friends, if you think grace is a licence to be lazy, you have misunderstood grace!
Grace empowers us to live, to move, to serve!
John Piper’s words strike straight at the heart of the Gospel's transformative power.
Too often, people think of grace as little more than a divine “get out of jail free” card—a passive pardon with no expectation of change.
But Piper reminds us of the biblical reality: grace is not just pardon; grace is power.
It is God's active gift enabling us to live holy, God-glorifying lives.
The Apostle Paul said it this way in Titus 2:11-12 (NLT):
"For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God."
Grace saves us and it sanctifies us. Grace forgives our past, empowers our present, and secures our future.
Praise God that through Jesus Christ, we receive not only the mercy that pardons but the strength that transforms!
Where are you serving?
How are you using the gifts God has given you?
2. Christ, Our Model of Service
Mark 10:45 (NLT): "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Jesus calls Himself the Son of Man — the glorious heavenly figure from Daniel 7 — yet He humbly stoops to serve.
He gives His life as a ransom (Greek: lutron — the price paid for redemption).
The highest becomes the lowest.
The King serves the subjects.
And He calls us to the same path.
Charles Stanley, that faithful shepherd of God's Word, wisely said, "God blesses us so that we might bless others. His gifts are meant to be shared, not hoarded."
And how true that is, dear friends!
Every blessing we have — our salvation, our spiritual gifts, our time, our talents, our treasures — they are not simply for our comfort or pleasure.
They are entrusted to us to be poured out in service to others, just as Christ Himself was poured out for us.
The Apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 9:11 (NLT): “Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.”
When we hoard God's blessings, we forget the heart of the Gospel — the self-giving love of Jesus.
When we share what God has given, we glorify His name, we meet real needs, and we point hearts to the Saviour.
Let us, then, be conduits of grace, not containers.
Let us be rivers of blessing, not stagnant pools.
