“Saved by Grace: Resurrected and Exalted with Christ”

Ephesians 2:1–10

Big Picture Overview: This passage shows how the great power of God, exhibited in the resurrection and enthronement of Jesus, took Christians from existence under the power of the world, the flesh, and the devil . . . into a position of victory over these forces.

Point # 1 The Former Bondage (1-3)

Christian, once we were children of wrath and dead in sin like all the rest . . .

· All of us, without exception, chose to sin.

· We received encouragement to do this by the norms laid down within the rebellious system of this world, by the devil, and by our own natural tendency to rebel against God in our thoughts and desires.

· In short . . . there was simply no way we could respond positively to the gospel.

Point # 2 The New Life (4-7)

But . . .

· God made us alive . . . with Christ (verse 5 = resurrection)

· God raised us up . . . with Christ (verse 6a = ascension)

· God seated us with him in the heavenly realms . . . in Christ Jesus (verse 6b = session)

Why? So that God might demonstrate forever the overwhelmingly merciful, loving, and gracious nature of his divine character, expressed in his kindness to us . . . in Christ Jesus (7).

Point # 3 God’s New Creation (8-10)

· God grants salvation as an entirely free gift and not on the basis of human effort. This excludes all human boasting. Salvation belongs entirely to God!
· We who receive God’s salvation do not remain unchanged. God re-creates us so that we do the work he planned for his people to do before the creation of the world.