Ephesians 2:1-10

It’s been a few days since I’ve posted, and I am required to work on these Bible journals about Ephesians, so I’m posting one of them like I said I would. I hope to get back to 1 Corinthians 11 soon, but forgive me if I’m having a harder time finding an application for the beginning of that chapter…

INTO
Paul is writing a (circular) letter to the Ephesians. The first half of the letter focuses on Christian theology.

THROUGH
Paul here writes again about salvation (this seems to be a theme, perhaps the focus and core of Christian theology). He explains our condition prior to salvation, how we acted, who we served, who else served (and serves) him, and how we acted when with those people. All of these attributes were horrible, disgusting, and sinful in nature. Paul then contrasts that with the goodness of God, tells of His gracious character, mentions why He chooses to save us even in our depraved state, extrapolates on the implications of this gift, and gives a reason that accounts for his extrapolation. He then gives a straightforward explanation of how we come to experience salvation, that it is by grace through faith and a gift of God, specifically clarifying that it is not of our own works, to prevent boasting. The last verse is a crucial one that many people (including myself) forget about. Paul explains that we are God’s masterpiece, and we were created to obey God by doing the good things He has prepared for us to do!

BEYOND
Paul’s manner in presenting salvation in this passage is really convicting to me because it reminds me what a lowly state God has saved me from and reminds me what a glorious state I am now in as a Christian. He explains that we are raised up and seated in Christ. If we know anything about what the Bible says about the position Christ is in, we know it is an amazing position of authority to have, with no one below Him. Verse 7 also catches my eye because it seems to be a hint as to what we will do in heaven, which Paul refers to as “the ages to come.” We are going to be learning directly from God! He will be teaching us about the abundance of His grace toward us, given through Jesus. As much as we can know about what Christ did for us, there is an eternity to look forward to of continuing to learn about His truly awesome love and kindness.

I love verses 8 and 9. They are so common, so powerful, and so freeing. They are the most commonly quoted verses for showing that God saves, not man. Yet verse 10, the commonly ignored one, flows right from it. The idea of God planning out our path for us is inexplicably fulfilling to me. It is another great example of the sovereignty of God and the lowliness of man, where God is good and I am not. If I were completely honest with myself, I’d have to say that I’d rather have Him in control of my life than anyone else.