Ephesians: Week 7
God's Poem

Today we are going to walk through one of the most profound things in the Bible, being saved by grace through faith…and then being sent out to be God’s workmanship in the world. Ephesians 2:1-3 shows us what we are saved from: our trespasses and sin. Ephesians 2:4-7 shows us what are saved through: God’s mercy and kindness (we go from spiritual death to life). Ephesians 2:8-10 shows us what we are saved for: a life of faith and good works.

• Thinking about the large concepts of a life with God, what is God’s will for your life?
• How are you personally living out that calling?
• Where are you prone to question your calling?

Looking more closely at Ephesians 2:8-10, Paul tells us how to get from here (where we are now) to there (a life centered in Christ). Paul will say there are three parts to this: grace leads to faith, which leads to works. Grace is favor given to someone who deserves the opposite. One commentator says that true grace is threatening, because it means we must recognize that we truly need it.

• What is grace? What is faith? What are/is works?

1. The cause of salvation is grace.
2. The means of salvation is faith.

In the original Greek text, the word “this” applies to both faith and grace. The whole salvation process—even the faith to be saved—is not our own doing, but something God does within us.

Read Ephesians 2:8-10.
• What is the difference between “cause” and “means?”
• Why is the order of grace leading to faith so important?

Resting in the grace of God changes us from having to present ourselves as being “all put together.” We can be real and honest. There are three changes in our life that take place when we understand salvation by grace:

• We start to move from anger to contentment.
• We start to move from disdain to acceptance.
• We start to move from bitterness to forgiveness.

When we understand our own salvation is by grace, it reduces our judgment of others. A sinner saved by grace can accept, be content, and doesn’t have to wrestle with hurt and anger every day, because our worth, acceptance, and salvation are in Jesus alone. If you know you are saved by God’s grace through faith and not by your works, you can forgive. The only way we can be bitter is when we cease to understand or remember our own salvation and universal need for grace.

• In what situations do you struggle to offer grace to others?
• Are there places where bitterness is impeding your ability to forgive others?
• How is the Gospel an equalizer?

3. The effect of salvation is good works.
Salvation is by grace and faith, but it produces good works. If we haven’t been saved, then good works are simply tying good fruit to a dead tree…fruit doesn’t give a tree life; a tree gives life to fruit—that is salvation. God gives us a new nature to want good works, which He has prepared for us. Grace leads to faith; faith leads to “good works.”

• If we are not saved by our good works, then why are they important to God?
• What happens if we see works as more important than grace and faith?
• In your own life, who gets the glory from your good works?

4. The promise in salvation: what God started, He will finish.
The life we now live is in His power and strength. Being a work of God means God is composing us into something that glorifies Him. He is the one who knows what the end of that work will be.

• How do you look forward to God’s finished work in you?
• On your worst day, can you trust God is still working within you? What gives you assurance?
• How can you encourage others to trust in God’s work in them?