Brethren, God who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 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; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God: not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
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Ephesus at the time of Paul was a major cosmopolitan port city in Asia Minor. It was full of bustle, prosperity and confidence. It was also full of idolatry. In its religious life its greatest boast was the temple of the goddess Diana (Artemis) which measured approximately 130 metres in length and 68 metres wide. It also had 127 columns each over 18 meters high. The temple housed the image of the goddess. Her cult worship was the subject of intense local patriotism, pride and enthusiasm.
Ephesus indeed was a hard nut to crack. Prior to the coming of Paul, Apollos a fellow servant of Christ had tried to spread Christianity without much success. Now came the time for the great Paul. Eventually Paul found huge opposition against him. One Dimitrios, a silversmith, incited people to rise against Paul because he was attacking the cult of Artemis and in the process was causing the sale of silver ornaments of the goddess to fall. Eventually Paul was obliged to withdraw due to the strength of the opposition against him.
It is in this context that Paul writes to the Ephesians. One of the major themes that Paul deals with is the glory of the salvation of the Ephesians. Paul points out that God is not only rich in mercy but also has great love for humanity. Human nature, which is willed by the weakness of the flesh and mind, if left alone, forces the fantasies and enflames the desires of each fevered imagination. These desires consume us. Desires whether they be sexual or based on anger, resentment, envy, gluttony, greed, pride, or coldness of heart, all have the effect of causing us to fall into great sin.
But notice the heart of God. Despite our rebellion, despite our arrogance, despite all human frailty and weakness, God loves us still. Such is His mercy that He could not endure to behold mankind oppressed by the devil. So He came to earth in the form of a man to conquer the devil and to release us from sin and from the bondage of sin. Such is His love that when he saw us spiritually dead in our offences He gave us life and offered to us the opportunity of sitting at the right hand of the Father.
We are co-quickened and co-seated with the son: such is God’s love for us. Through our baptismal union with Christ we share in the life of Christ. Sharing in the life of Christ, we share in the resurrection of Christ and having shared in the resurrection of Christ we share in the sitting at the right hand of the father with Christ. Thus with Christ we are raised so that we have a new life. We have become incorporated into his body and mystically share his crucifixion, his burial, his resurrection, his ascension and his heavenly glory.
Notice further that because our baptism is not earned but given freely to us, it is described as being salvation by grace. It is in grace that we see the generosity of God. It is in grace that we see the boundless burning love that he has for us. It is by grace that he saves us so that in the age to come He might further show the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness towards us. Here the focus is not on the travails, conflicts and difficulties of the world but rather on the world to come. The world to come which is eternal. The world which comes to us from ages of ages: it will be through this grace and glory, a grace that will be beyond any human imagining.
However for this to happen, for us to be saved, we must be saved through faith. That is our repentant response to God and our discipleship to Christ. We will be judged upon how we manifest the fruits of repentance. Those fruits include obedience, humility, meekness, self-abasement, selflessness, love for the other – especially our enemy. These are the qualities that go towards whether or not we are truly reflective and sorry for our wretched nature. What we cannot rely upon is our own human efforts. Understand this well – you cannot be saved by your actions only. That is the Jewish and Pharisaic understanding of the relationship to God. Those 613 commandments that regulate life for the believing Jew regulated the relationship between the Jewish people and their God. God was “acquired” by the doing of “work”, unlike the Christian understanding which is that salvation is through grace, the undeserved gift of God. Consider that when we emerge from baptism we are washed clean and we are washed clean not from something we have done but as a result of the grace of God. What we do with our faith and humility which flows from the baptismal experience will determine our relationship with God.
Where I think we fail as Christians is that we do good expecting good to be meted back to us. Where is that said in the Gospels? We do good because the goodness that we do is a manifestation of our love for God who loved us first. We do good as a celebration of that love which we have for God. We do that good because we know that the goodness of God is such that it falls upon us to do good to others, thus letting them have a taste of the divine goodness
We are created by God for good works towards our fellow man. If we are created for works that are good then if we do such work then all we are doing is meeting what is expected from us. It is our duty to work for Christ, not a privilege. It is not something we can choose either to do or not do. This is why Paul says our salvation is not from works because works are part of our nature. Christian life is all about prayer, Christian life is all about loving. Christian life is all about manifesting and reflecting the light and kindness and the love of God. God’s plan is that we be conformed to the image of his Son, being like him, and if we are like Christ then we will get down on our knees to the Father. Then we will listen as to what pleases the Father. And what pleases the Father? Perhaps the psalmist puts it best when he said: “Lord, you will open my lips, my mouth will declare your praise. For if you desired sacrifice, I would give it. You will not be pleased with whole burnt offerings. A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit, a broken and humble heart God will not despise.”
Remember, we are the workmanship of God and created for good woks which inheres within. It is faith that manifests and brings to fruition these works in the name of the triune God.
