ALL OF GOD

Ephesians 2:4-10 (KJV)

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Not of works, lest any man should boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Some parts of the passage before us are among the most familiar in the Bible.

I imagine that many of us if not most of us can quote without hesitation Ephesians 2:8-9

For be grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God

Not of works lest any man should boast.

Upon these words and those of Romans 10:13[1] we hang the destiny of our immortal souls.

Heaven and hell hang in the balance measured in Ephesians 2:8-9.

Two things became very obvious as in my preparations for this message:

First is that this passage, speaking so heavily on salvation, is all of God.

Salvation is a work completely accomplished by the Lord. I am glad of that because He does all things well. If He had left even one small part of salvation up to me, I am sure I would have messed it up. Praise God my salvation is all of God.

Second I noticed that there are several subjects that are repeated in these few verses.

Since repetition in the Bible is almost always significant, I want to focus on those subjects.

The first can be summarized in the word

I. TOGETHER

Ephesians 2:4-6 (KJV)

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

The word “together” is found three times. I found it interesting that each reference has to do with a different aspect of our being.

A. Quickened together with Christ

This is the saving of our spirit.

Our spirit is that part of us that communicates with God and it is that part of us which is dead because of sin.

We are quickened together with Christ.

His life gives us life.

The word with can mean “alongside of” but it can also mean “because of” and “by the consent of.”

B. Raised Us Up Together in Christ

The is the rebirth of the soul.

This is the new man in Christ.

·   It’s a new nature

·   It’s a new creature

·   He has a new love, a new purpose and a new family.

C. Made Us Sit Together in Heavenly Places

Here is the destination of the body.

It’s not finished yet. It’s not a reality yet.

But it is as certain as the promises of God.

Notice that we are raised and made to sit, both in Christ Jesus.

The word in can denote a state of being mixed like “sugar in tea” the Bible says I am in Him and he is in me.

It also mean “for the sake of.”

The point the Bible is tryng to make is that my

·   Spirit

·   Soul and

·   Body

all depend on Christ for salvation.

The second word that is emphasized in this passage is, 

II. GRACE

Ephesians 2:5-8 (KJV)

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Once again the word is found three times. I am going to take them slightly out of order.

A. Ye are saved

Vs. 5

Here is an action.

There is something happening here. Salvation is taking place.

Salvation is no more passive than being born is.

Salvation involves a life and death struggle.

There is

·   Planning

·   Paying and

·   Pain

all part of the process of salvation.

To change analogies,

we don’t just evolve into salvation. We are rescued into it.

B. Are ye saved

Vs 8

Here is a stated fact.

·   You are not being saved.

·   You are not hopefully saved.

When you are saved you are:

·   Finally

·   Eternally and

·   Irrevocably

saved.

It is interesting to me that neither the Calvinist nor the Arminian can honestly say they know they are saved.

The Calvinist believes that salvation is dependent upon the election of God.

Therefore he can only hope he is among the elect.

The extreme Calvinist actually uses the phrase “hopefully converted.”

The Arminian believes that salvation is dependent upon the choice of man.

Therefore he can never know what choice he might make in the future.

He is only saved so long as his choice is to walk the narrow way. If, for whatever reason, someday in the future, he turns off that way, he loses his salvation.

Only a true Baptist can honestly say, “Saved for sure and forever” because

·   Only he believes that salvation is available to “…whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord…” and

·   Only he is persuaded that the Lord is able to keep that which we have committed unto him against that day.

C. Riches of His grace

Vs 7

Here we find a supply

·   The reason everyone can be saved if they call upon the name of the Lord and

·   The reason all who are saved are saved for sure and forever is because the supply of that grace which saves is exceeding rich.

We will never exhaust it.

·   Some people will never access it, but they could have if they would have and

·   All of us who have tapped into pretty much keep the tap of grace running wide open.

But God is exceeding rich is grace.

It’s not going to run dry.

I want to come to that final emphasis, which is the word,

III. WORK

Ephesians 2:9-10 (KJV)

Not of works, lest any man should boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

There are two sources of work here:

A. His

Ephesians 2:9-10 (KJV)

Not of works, lest any man should boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

We who are saved are His workmanship.

·   He planned our salvation before the world began

·   He paid for our salvation on the cross of calvary and

·   He performed our salvation through the regenerating of the Holy Spirit

And He is still working out my salvation through the process of sanctification.

There is His work and there is,

B. Ours

Ephesians 2:10 (KJV)

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

While we do not work to earn salvation, the saved have work to do.

·   God has created you for good works

·   God has ordained you for good works

So my final question for you tonight is, are you doing those good works?

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[1] For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.