Thursday, October 9, 2025

         Ephesians is the letter that the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write to the Christians in the ancient city of Ephesus (a still-existing city in Turkey).  A simple reading of Ephesians shows that it leans heavily toward matters of doctrine—especially the new life that we find in Christ.  Two of the pivotal verses in this letter are Ephesians 2:8-9.  Paul wrote, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”  The phrase “not by works” captures our attention.  The Bible specifically states this one way by which no one is forgiven, saved or able to enter into a relationship with God.  We can speak of the futility of works for gaining any standing or merit in God’s eyes.  We work because of what God has done for us and not to gain anything from Him. 
            “What do we have to do to go to heaven?” is an important question.  If we conducted a survey anywhere in America today and asked that question, we would likely find a large number of respondents emphasizing good deeds, good works, charitable giving or living the best possible, decent life.  All of those answers would circle back to the issue of works.  The undercurrent is this—there must be something we do or can contribute to our salvation.  But the Bible’s three-word answer is “not by works.”  We are not to trust works or think we can assemble a portfolio of good deeds and behaviors that God will deem to be acceptable for entering His heaven. 
            Ephesians 2 specifically declares salvation, forgiveness for our sins and admission to heaven, to be a gift.  A gift is free.  We do not work for gifts—we simply accept them from the giver.  We receive them by faith as an expression of grace.  Grace, God’s riches at Christ’s expense, is God’s primary way of dealing with people.  He comes to us in and with grace.  We deserve anything but grace.  Yet, because of His great love for us, the Lord approaches us with grace and invites us to receive Him and His goodness by faith.  We are called to believe Him and rest our full lives upon Him.  Faith, forsaking all I trust Him, is our first response to God.  We trust Him to forgive, to save, to make right what is wrong about us.  We trust Him to redeem and restore us in Christ.  We believe God and take His Word to heart.
            The Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).  And without faith, it is impossible to be saved.  Works cannot save us.  We come back again to the Bible’s three-word declaration, “not by works.”  Faith comes when we give up on ourselves and our approach and place full trust in God alone.  The temptation to lean on works is a subtle ploy by the enemy to convince us that we are good enough or that we can be good enough.  It is a ploy to take our eyes off of the cross and Christ and place our eyes back on ourselves. Trusting in works is the pinnacle of pride.  But remember that Satan fell because of pride and his sinful, delusional belief that his throne would rise higher than God’s and that he would ascend to power beyond the God of the universe. 
            Ephesians teaches us to trust Christ.  We learn to welcome grace and to let go of our pride and stubbornness.  We learn to place our full faith in Christ and His works alone—while acknowledging the insufficiency of our works.  Ephesians 2:13 says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”  It is Christ who brings us near—not good works.  It is Christ who is sufficient—not anything we have done or could hope to do.  Have a great Thursday!