This article is part of our "Gospel Saturation series" – featuring rich gospel verses from Scripture to help us grow and strengthen in faith as we saturate in the knowledge of Christ Jesus and his work for us.
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.
Ephesians 2:4-8
Ephesians 2 is a great place to go if you're looking to know and remember the gospel better. The Apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Ephesus reminds them of the gospel message and the extraordinary things that have resulted. It's full of rich, beautiful promises to drink in and I highly recommend committing as much of it as possible to memory.
Let's look at this section in four parts.
God's Condition
God was and is rich in mercy.
He did and does love us with a great love, even when we were against him and a total mess.
Our Condition
We were "dead in our trespasses". The first three verses of the chapter go into more detail about this. In The Message it describes it like this: we were "mired in that old stagnant life of sin" and we filled our "lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience."
We were in need of mercy.
And we were loved with the great love of God.
Christ's Work
Through Jesus, God made us alive.
He made us alive together with Christ. He joined us to him.
So, when he raised Jesus from the dead, he raised us too.
When Jesus ascended into heaven and sat down next to God–because we're joined to him–we are seated there too.
Jesus has done all this so that from now on God can display his immeasurable grace–his love and mercy and power– through his never-ending kindness to all of us who are in Christ.
Our Response
God has done all this from start to finish through Christ Jesus and the only thing left for us is to have faith. We just need to replace unbelief with belief. By his grace, we enter into his saving work simply through having faith that he is and has done all we need.
This section of Ephesians reveals such beauty in the character and grace and work of God. Let it wash over you. Marvel at it. Memorize it. Hold fast to it. Let the Spirit imprint it in your mind and heart and soul.
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even while we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…"
Ephesians 2:4-5
