New Works in Grace

May 10, 2009

Background Scripture: Ephesians 2:1 – 10
Lesson Passage: Ephesians 2:1 – 10

Christians are living proof of God’s work in the earth. There is nothing about people born into this world through nature that equips them for self-reformation. Put another way, we tend to go from bad to worse naturally or by nature. Even well-intentioned people find it impossible to change themselves for the better beyond a given point. At that point, our nature, or that which is natural about us, will prevent any further changes. There is a natural balance within a person between the mind, the emotions, and the physical well being. We change ourselves by creating an imbalance in these and then we attempt to rebalance ourselves at a different norm than before. For those who have tried dieting, this whole process should sound familiar. We can be successful with some diets but habitual changes for the best are another matter altogether. This becomes too much work and we find that we are fighting ourselves. We don’t like to fight ourselves unless it is to avoid negative repercussions. It is much easier to do what comes naturally for us as long as we are not immediately punished for doing it. There is a spiritual problem with those things that are natural for us. What is natural for us is offensive to God. And God will have the final say on everything. The first step in receiving salvation is to come to the realization that what is natural for us is offensive to God. What I refer to here as what is natural for a person, Paul calls it walking according to the course of this world. Paul goes on to say that we all lived this way before we were saved. Our natural life, or normal way of living from birth, could never save us from the anger of God because our corrupt nature is offensive to God. Since we cannot bring about the necessary spiritual changes that would please God, salvation then has to be an act of God independent of human effort. The offer of salvation by God is an invitation for us to be spared God’s vengeance against us and instead become the recipients of God’s manifold blessings. What a wonderful turnabout that is! Through the salvation God offers us through Christ, we go from being God’s enemy to members of God’s family. And all of this is a gift of God. It is impossible for us to earn it. No saved person has anything to brag about concerning their salvation. The fact is God saved us in spite of ourselves. We are saved by God’s goodness as an unearned favor from God. We received salvation through our faith in God and the finished works he did in Christ Jesus. God gives us salvation because we believe God and we put our trust in him to save us.

We understand dimensions of God’s purpose in saving us as we continue to grow spiritually. Each dimension shows us some aspect of the lifestyle God has called us to live. That lifestyle involves doing work that glorifies God through us. The work that God directs us to do can only be done by receiving the strength from God to do it. We have been created to do this spiritual work. God set this in motion before he created the world. The works God ordains for us goes against our old nature. These are new works that are God ordained and directed through those he has saved. These works in grace are a part of our separation from the world and our old nature.

Robert C. Hudson
April 29, 2009