Discipleship According to the Letter to the Ephesians

Chapter 2

“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.  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;)” – Ephesians 2:1-5

This chapter calls us to look at our situation.  Let us look at our place today, if we be saved, especially at times past when we were not.  God is rich in mercy, to have blotted out our transgressions, no?  If we have this assurance, we should rejoice, as we realize that in ourselves we could not.  In the beginning, as was Adam, we were in bondage to satan and sin.  Consider the words of our Lord Jesus, who said, “it is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profits nothing: the words I speak unto you, they are spirit, they are life (John 6:63).”    The word ‘quicken’ means to be made alive in a spiritual sense, to open your awareness to the realm of the spirit.  If not for that awakening we would stay in bondage.  Life, with all of its choices and variables, really boils down to two things; obedience or disobedience.  If you’re not serving God you are serving the devil.

This train of thought should lead us to the importance of staying in God’s will.  This is what was spoken of briefly in the first chapter, now Paul is expounding on the theme.  Ponder this; before our eyes were opened we stumbled around in the dark.  We followed that what we thought was right and were too often wrong.  Solomon wrote that there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end is destruction.  Consider the dark times of Israel, the era of Judges and Samuel.  The last verse of the book of Judges says, “In those days they had no king in Israel and every man did that which was right in in his own eyes.” These were rough, desperate times full of trouble, if we are honest we should be able to relate.  We should rejoice as we have the King of Kings living inside each and every one of us, to rule us and to lead us.  What glory Jesus has bestowed upon us, to light the way for us, the way unto life through the Holy Spirit.

As we read further in this chapter, Paul goes on to build us up as works of Jesus.  He speaks of the free gift of salvation.  He says that no man can claim to have earned it.  This is not to say that we won’t do anything because of our salvation, it simply means there is nothing we can do towards our own salvation.  People often use this as an excuse to procrastinate, saying they can’t work for salvation so they aren’t obligated to do anything.  On the contrary, the works are a sign that our salvation is real.  It is the evidence of the transformation of our mind and soul, which takes place when the Spirit enters in and takes charge.  Parallel this thought with John 14:12, ‘He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also’.  Read carefully verse ten of the text, here in Ephesians.

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

Once we’ve been saved we will walk accordingly.  This is very important, if we don’t see these signs in our life, we need to make sure of our salvation.  The Bible says we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.  If you don’t see the evidence, don’t be vain.  Paul says that salvation is a gift from God, not from the vain imaginations or traditions of men.  As the chapter goes on there is more evidence of this contemplation.  We who have once been so far from God, we who have been reconciled, are we not compelled to praise?  Lifting his name on high, for all to see, are we not then placed directly unto the work of Jesus?  This is the work of God to praise him in the midst of all things.  In good times and in bad we should praise.  For by his work at the cross of Cavalry we have been brought into fellowship with all believers.  As we follow the lead of the Holy Spirit we become, as the New Testament was hidden in the old, as Jesus was told of by the prophets before Him, we become the living temple built without hands.  Our life should fall in line accordingly, just as Jesus sought the will of the Father in his time here on earth, so we should seek his will now.  Heavenly Father, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Amen