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Ephesians 2:4-7
But God, being rich
in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were
dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have
been saved— and raised us up with him
and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the
coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness
towards us in Christ Jesus.
In Christ's death he became like us in our spiritual
deadness. In his resurrection, he opened the door for us to become like him in
his spiritual life. By God's grace, because of Jesus' sacrifice, we are made
perfectly whole, and worthy to be in the presence of God with Jesus. God is
pleased to let his grace be seen in how he is now able to accept and love even
us. His grace in our life preaches that he is kind and good.
Ephesians 2:8-10
For by grace you have
been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we
should walk in them.
By placing your trust completely in the life and work of
Jesus on your behalf, you are saved from your spiritual deadness and made alive
in him. If any of your hope remains in your own efforts to be "good
enough" you are an arrogant fool. How can you be "good enough"
for God. This would only lead you to self-righteously hold your own standard
above others. The good news is better than this. We are all equally acceptable
to God now, no matter who we are, no matter where we're from. It's entirely a
gift of his grace, and transcends everything you can do, and everything you
fail to do. God was the one who first picked up the tools, the first to put his
hands to work in making you, and he is the one who gave you the ability and
desire to do good works yourself. You can't point to yourself. It's all from
him, the creating and the redeeming. Now that we're made alive spiritually, we
can get on with this good life, this real, God-honouring life that he planned
for us to walk in all along.
Ephesians 2:14-16
For he himself is our
peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing
wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in
ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so
making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross,
thereby killing the hostility.
Jesus broke the barrier between a perfect, holy God, and
created beings that had declared war against him. With that wall broken down,
true peace can now reign in our hearts, and in the heart of all creation. Since
all creation is now equally under the reign of the prince of peace, there is no
longer any real barrier that can stand between people to keep them enemies. God
has leveled the field between us. We are equal, and equally precious to him.
James 4:1-3
What causes quarrels
and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war
within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot
obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You
ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
My acceptance and love in Jesus, and my good works in and
through and for him, are all by him. He is our righteousness. He is our peace.
The good news in this passage is that it's done. There isn't
anything that we can do to make this any more true.
How then do we live? To respond with an attempt to walk holy
and righteous could very well be a fundamental misunderstanding.
With careful consideration, what I see is that in Christ, we
cannot boast. This non-action is in itself an act of surrender and faith. To
boast and brag or act self-righteously points to myself instead of the finished
work of God. I see this applying to all judgmentalism and pride that would puff
myself up in relation to others.
If my application is not to do those things, the result will
also be a manifestation of verse 14. If I act in humility toward those around
me, because of my faith that it is God who deserves all glory in my life, and
not myself, that dividing wall of hostility is removed. As soon as I make less
of myself and more of God, I also make more of others in my life. If I do not
place myself in the position of judge in other people's lives, thinking I am
better than them in my good deeds and righteous actions, I allow God to create
between us the equality that he intended.
Seeing God as he is in his grace and love, and seeing myself
only as I truly am in my goodness and rightness before God, I will also see
others in a way that offers the same grace and love of God to them.
I will not take the opportunities given me to advance myself
socially in the eyes of others. I will take every opportunity to humbly honour
and advance others in their walks of faith and goodness, without evil judgment.
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