NO OTHER NAME FOR GRACE BUT AMAZING!
Ephesians 2:1-10
WHO YOU ARE AS A SINNER:
1) YOU ARE DEAD,
(VERSE 1) “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,...”
Sinners are DEAD. They are not SICK! When you were a sinner, you did not
need RESUSCITATION ; you needed RESURRECTION!
All lost sinners are DEAD. Can one corpse be more dead than another? NO. The
only difference between corpses is the state of DECAY. The lost drunken derilict on the
streets may be more decayed and decomposed outwardly than the lost society leader, but
both are DEAD in sin! Our world is one vast graveyard filled with dead people waiting to
be buried. Sinners are dead while they live.
2) YOU ARE DISOBEDIENT,
(VERSE 2) “in 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.”
Sinners are DISOBEDIENT. They follow the ways of the world, not the ways of
God.
3) YOU ARE DEPRAVED,
(VERSE 3) “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of
our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.”
Sinners are DEPRAVED. Being depraved means that not only am I capable of
being evil, I am incapable of being good enough to meet God’s standards for living.
Actions become evil because appetites are evil.
Sinners often try to justify themselves, saying that they “keep the Ten
Commandments”. Let’s take a test! Have you ever done something you wanted to do
even though you knew that God said that you shouldn’t do that? Have you ever done
something you would not want God to see you doing? Have you ever done something
you would not want your Mother see you doing? Have you ever thought that since you
are “better” than so-and-so, that you should have gotten the promotion or the award or
the thanks that they got? Have you ever not told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth in order to save your own skin? Have you ever lingered a little longer in
your gaze upon a member of the opposite sex and wondered? Need I say more? Without
Christ, sinners are depraved and cannot get out of it!
4) YOU ARE DOOMED,
(VERSE 3) “Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.”
Sinners are DOOMED. The unsaved person is condemned already because he has
not believed in the Son of God.
WHO YOU ARE AS A SAINT:
(VERSES 1-3) “As for you, you WERE dead in your transgressions and sins, in 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. All of us
also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and
following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we WERE by nature objects of wrath.
YOU ARE NOT “A POOR SINNER SAVED BY GRACE”
YOU WERE A SINNER, BUT NOW YOU, WHO ARE LIVING FOR CHRIST, ARE
A SAINT!
YOU WERE, BUT NOW YOU ARE!
because
(VERSE 4-6) “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us
ALIVE with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-- it is by grace you have
been SAVED. And God RAISED us up with Christ and SEATED us with him in the
heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.”
1) YOU ARE LIVING,
2) YOU ARE LOOSED,
3) YOU ARE LIFTED,
4) YOU ARE LIBERATED,
All because of GRACE! (vs 8-10)
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it
is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance
for us to do.”
In the Gospels, it is recorded that Jesus raised 3 people from the dead: the son of the
widow from Nain, Jairus’ daughter, and Lazarus. As we look at Lazarus’ Resurrection,
notice what happened:
1) Jesus went where Lazarus was - He did not require Lazarus to come to
Him (because Lazarus could not. He was dead). IN THE SAME WAY, Jesus does not
wait for us to come begging Him for GRACE. He has brought GRACE to us in Jesus!
2) Jesus told others to take away the stone - He did not require the dead to
move the stone away. IN THE SAME WAY, Jesus does not require us to get rid of the
stones that trip us up and keep us from God. He has brought others into our lives to make
the way for GRACE to get to us.
3) Jesus call Lazarus by name to be resurrected - He did not give a general
announcement. Jesus speciafically called Lazarus from the dead. IN THE SAME WAY,
Jesus calls each to receive His GRACE. He loves each of us just like He loves all of
us...too much to leave us dead in our sins!
4) Jesus told them to “take the Grave clothes off and let Lazarus go!” - He
did not let Lazarus stay the way He was. The stench of death was not to be on Lazarus;
he had been raised by GRACE. Now He must live like he had been raised. IN THE
SAME WAY, Jesus will not let us stay the way we were. WE ARE HIS
WORKMANSHIP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS FOR GOOD WORKS!
Are you still living like a DEAD MAN WALKING or like one who has come ALIVE?
