The following message was given at Emmanuel Baptist Church, Coconut Creek, Florida. If you'd like to join me in your Bibles, I'll be in Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. We're going to be looking at one of, if not the most favorite of all my passages of Scripture, Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1 through 10. And I'll tell you, if there is a section of Scripture that is worth memorizing, this is it. It's a little more extended passage on the answer to the question, what is the gospel? This is a place to go among many others, but this is one where you can get that answer. We're going to focus mainly on verses 4 through 9, but that's our passage. So, what we recognize, and as we look at this, and as you read through the New Testament especially, is that the entirety of the Christian faith hinges on one single word. That word is grace. Grace is one of the most significant realities that sets Christianity against or apart from every other worldview or every other religion in the world. It's not the only reality, but it is the most significant difference. Now, grace, of course, is not something that we earn. We don't deserve it. We don't contribute to it. It is a gift from God. And yet, it is such a simple word to say, and as simple as it is to understand in theory, it is profoundly difficult for us to grasp as a reality because it runs counter to everything we naturally believe about ourselves, about God, and about how the world works. So I wanna take a few minutes, I'm gonna look at these verses to remind us of this great gift that we have as we prepare our hearts to receive the Lord's Supper. So we're gonna read the whole passage one through 10, Ephesians chapter two. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 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 toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. This is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not as 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. Well, Paul begins this section of scripture by reminding us of the stark reality of our condition apart from Christ. In verses one through three, he describes how humanity is spiritually dead, walking in sin, following after the world and the flesh and the devil. We're sons of disobedience. He says that by nature, we're children of wrath. We deserve judgment. And then in verse four, Paul introduces two of the most life-changing words in all of scripture, but God. These words signal a dramatic shift. We were dead, we were in the spiritual grave, we were children of Satan, we were doing the devil's bidding, but God intervened. We were enslaved, but God set us free. We were deserving of wrath, but God in His mercy, His kindness, His love gave us grace. Now Paul doesn't write that we were spiritually sick. He doesn't say we were simply morally confused. He says we were dead. And a dead person can do nothing to help themselves. And this is the human condition. Apart from God, we were not just guilty before God, we were spiritually lifeless, completely incapable of changing our condition. And no amount of effort, no amount of religion, no amount of good works could revive us. Only God can raise the dead. That's why verse five is so profound. Even when we were dead in our trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ. It's a resurrection. So becoming a Christian isn't about behavior modification. It's not about becoming a better person. It's about resurrection, being brought to life by the power of God from death. This is what Paul calls the first resurrection. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the power that raises us from spiritual death to spiritual life. But Paul doesn't just say that God showed this mercy to us. He says that God is rich in mercy. Why does he do this? Because of the great love with which he loved us. That's an amazing thought. God's love is not a response to something lovable within us. Again, we're His enemies, we're dead, we're rebellious, we're undeserving. His love is rooted in His character, not in our worthiness. Now it's really important that we understand the nuance of how Paul writes this. Often I think Christians have the idea that since we are dead in trespasses and sins, there's no way that God could or would love us without Christ dying for us. It's a very common thought, but that's not what the text says, is it? That's something we call conditionalism. In other words, God's love is given to us on the condition that Christ died for us. But that's not what the Bible teaches. Sinclair Ferguson explains that to hold a conditional view of God's love introduces a layer of distortion into his character. For it is possible to see that no condition for grace can be met by us yet still to hold to a subtle conditionality in God's grace in itself. Brothers and sisters, if you think that God loves you because Christ died for you, the gospel is completely distorted. Again, Ferguson writes, this implies that the death of Christ is the reason for the love of God for me. By contrast, the Scriptures affirm that the love of God for us is the reason for the death of Christ. That is the emphasis of John 3.16. God so loved the world that He gave His Son for us. The Son does not need to do anything to persuade the Father to love us. He already loves us. And so, you might think, okay. Well, what's the big deal? What does this really matter in the big picture? Once again, I'll quote Ferguson. He says, the subtle danger here should be obvious. If we speak of the cross of Christ as the cause of the love of the Father, we imply that behind the cross and apart from it, He may not actually love us at all. He needs to be paid a ransom in order to love us. But if it had required the death of Christ to persuade Him to love us, Father, if I die, will you begin to love them? How could we ever be sure that the Father Himself loves us deep down with an everlasting love? True, the Father does not love us because we are sinners, but He does love us even though we are sinners. He loved us before Christ died for us. It is because He loves us that Christ died for us. I don't know if that hits you like it does me. I think about this all the time, I really do. When I really grasped this reality as a young Christian, it changed me. The truth is you can really have a great theology of grace. You can understand what it is and how it works, but if behind that you still have this thought that God's love is conditioned on Jesus' death, you're gonna still have a legal framework. from which you live your life. You're still going to have a mindset of wanting to find a way to hold onto that love because you don't think it's actually unconditional. But think about how much more meaningful it is to realize that God loves us without condition. Not because we are sinless or because Christ died for us, and certainly not because we are sinners or that because we were his enemies, but despite all of that, It is because of the great love with which He loved us. Even when we were dead in our trespasses, He made us alive together with Christ. Paul goes on to say in verse six, that we have been raised up with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly places. Notice the tense. These are past actions. This is not something we're waiting for. It's something that is already true of us in Christ. We are united with Him. His righteousness is our righteousness. His victory is our victory. Why? Verse 7 tells us, so that in the coming ages, He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. God saved us to glorify His grace. We are trophies of His grace. We are meant to display His mercy and His kindness for all eternity. Paul makes it clear in verses eight and nine, for by grace you have been saved through faith. This is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not as a result of works so that no one may boast. Salvation is a gift. It's not something we can earn, deserve, or contribute to. It is by grace alone through faith. You were dead. The Holy Spirit came, He quickened your heart, He opened your eyes, He gave you the faith to believe, and by grace made you alive together with Christ. And notice, Paul makes sure, he makes very sure that we know that we had nothing to do with it whatsoever. There is nothing in any of us that we can point to and say, He saved me for this reason. In fact, all of us, every one of us should be able to point to our lives and say, He shouldn't have saved me because of all of these reasons. Everything we heard about this morning, plus much more. No, our salvation is a gift of God. It is not as a result of works. You have nothing to boast in. You have nothing to point to other than to say, God loved me. Christ died for me. The Holy Spirit changed me. and I came from death to life. And there is nothing you can do to earn that, and as a result, you have nothing to boast about." In 1994, there was a man named Marcio de Silva in Brazil, and he tried to win back his ex-girlfriend by walking on his knees for nine miles. He strapped pieces of car tire to his knees and he shuffled along the ground for 14 hours, hoping to prove his devotion. And people along the way were hearing about it. So they came out to the streets and they were cheering him on. And they were all convinced that his ex-girlfriend would be so impressed with his devotion. But when she heard what he was doing, she fled. And she did not want to see him again. She wasn't impressed. She was disgusted. Unfortunately, this is how many people think about their relationship with God. They believe they must prove their devotion through painful or sacrificial acts to earn His favor. Every religion apart from Christianity operates this way. Whether it's self-flagellation, fasting, vows of poverty, people attempt to earn God's favor through their works. But Paul says, this is not your own doing. Salvation is not a reward for your efforts. It is a gift of grace. But grace, it's not just unearned. We should continually remind ourselves that it is also undeserved. It is God's love shown to those who deserve the opposite. One of my favorite illustrations of what grace is is in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. I think I've shared this before. In Les Mis, the character Jean Valjean, he's this embittered ex-convict. He's been hardened by years of injustice, and after being released, he's taken in by a kind bishop who offers him food and shelter. But instead of gratitude, Jean Valjean stole the bishop's silver from his home and he fled. Well, eventually he was caught by the authorities and he was brought back to the bishop to return all of the stolen silver and everyone expected the bishop to demand justice. But instead, the bishop looked at him and he said, I gave him the silver. And then he looks at Valjean and says, but my friend, you forgot to take the candlesticks too. He gave Jean Valjean even more than what he had initially stolen. This is an act of grace that was costly to the bishop. It cost him something valuable, but it was also shocking and transformative. That moment of undeserved kindness changed his life forever. And this is what God has done for us in Christ. We deserve punishment. We deserve justice. But instead, He gave us grace. He gave us even better than we deserve. And then, what happens the rest of your Christian life? He heaps grace upon grace upon grace upon grace, unending blessings of grace. and you might sin and be disgusted by your sin. But how does God respond? Grace upon grace upon grace. And when you get that, it changes everything. Because now I want to honor the Lord with my life, not trying to earn anything because it's already there. Now I want to honor the Lord with my life because I'm so thankful for what he has done. Grace is humbling because it forces us to acknowledge that we bring nothing to the table. It silences our pride. It leaves no room for boasting. It's as Paul says, so that no one may boast. But grace doesn't just humble us, it also empowers us. And when you understand that, you have been raised with Christ, you've been seated with Him in the heavenly places, it changes the way you live. You no longer live to earn God's favor. You live out your gratitude because you already have God's favor. Paul's saying that we are trophies. Our lives are meant to display the immeasurable riches of His kindness. And so people should look at us and be able to see evidences of God's grace. They should see in God's people humility and boldness and gentleness. They should see a conviction that points to the great and gracious God that we serve. And so if you're a Christian, how do we respond to this day by day? Very simply, we live in light of our union with Christ. You've been raised with Him. You've been seated with Him. You're no longer defined by your past. You're no longer defined by your failures or your sin. You are a new creation and your life is meant to glorify God by showcasing His grace, no matter who you are. If you're not a Christian, my appeal to you is to stop striving to earn what God has already done. Stop trying to prove your worth or make up for your mistakes because you will never earn it. You will never prove anything. You're fighting a losing battle with God's law. Instead, do as God commands. Admit your need, confess your sin, and trust in Christ alone for salvation. If you're not in Christ, the grace of God is available to you today, this very moment. And so as we come to the Lord's Supper table, as the people of God, we celebrate what made salvation by grace through faith possible. God loved his creation. He loved He loves those whom he has created in his image, and so he sent his son into this world to live, to fulfill the law that we cannot live, and to die the death that each and every one of us deserve, taking on himself the penalty that we need not do so when we are in Christ. And so as we come to the table, I'd like to remind us of this. We don't come as somber, mournful people We're not mourning the death of Christ, we're celebrating it because of what it accomplished and because we know on the other side of death is resurrection. Christ was raised from the dead, and so now we too have been raised from death to life. And so we come to the table to celebrate our suffering Savior, that we might live. And so we're gonna pray, and then Pastor Faris is gonna come, he's gonna lead us through the Lord's Supper, and we're also gonna welcome some new members at EBC. So let's pray together. Father, we are so grateful that you so loved us that you sent your son Jesus into this world to die for us. And so, Lord, we recognize, we fully admit that we were dead in our trespasses and sins. We were following after the prince of the power of the air. We admit that as we came into this world, we came as the children of the evil one. We admit, Lord, that our hearts were far from you. We were your enemies. We lived for ourselves. And yet, because of your great love for us, because Christ died for us, You showed grace to us that by faith in him alone, we might have everlasting life. And so we come to celebrate that great reality. And we celebrate each and every day the fact, Lord, that we can acknowledge before you without fear that we are a sinful people, that we still at times succumb to our temptations. We still do shameful things. And yet we know that as our Father, we can come to you. And as we confess our sins, you pour grace upon grace upon grace on us as your children. And so we celebrate that great reality, that grace comes to us through the death of our Savior. And so we pray for your blessing upon our time as we receive these elements, that you would remind us that grace has brought us here. Grace will bring us home. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. We hope you were edified by this message. For additional sermons, as well as information on giving to the ministry of Emmanuel Baptist Church, and on our current building project, you can visit us online at ebcfl.org. That's ebcfl.org.