Saved by Grace for Good Works
Announcements
- Announcement 1
- Announcement 2
This Month's Topic: Understanding Salvation
Scripture Reference: Ephesians 2:1-10
Discussion Objective:
Ephesians 2 emphasizes the transformative power of God's grace in saving and uniting believers, both Jews and Gentiles, into one body in Christ.
● It begins by depicting the former state of spiritual death and separation from God that characterized both Jews and Gentiles.
● It then highlights God's merciful intervention, raising believers from spiritual death and seating them with Christ in heavenly places.
● This salvation is entirely by God's grace, received through faith, not by human effort, eliminating any basis for boasting.
● Believers are God's masterpiece, created anew in Christ for good works preordained by God.
● Christ's sacrifice has broken down the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles, reconciling them to God and each other.
● They are now fellow citizens in God's kingdom, members of His household, and a holy temple built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ as the cornerstone.
How does the imagery of "following the course of this world" and the "prince of the power of the air" describe the human condition before salvation?
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
2 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 —
3 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.
V1-3: What are some ways people today demonstrate disobedience to God?
How do God's mercy and love stand out in verses 4-7 inconstrast to the first 3 verses?
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved —
6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
V4-7: What are the implications of God's grace being "immeasurable" and displayed "in the coming ages"?
Why is it important that salvation is "not a result of works"?
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
V8-10: How does the idea of God preparing good works beforehand provide purpose for Christian living?
This week, express gratitude to God for His love and grace in specific ways, such as through prayer or journaling.
Notes from same book of the bible
| File | Chapter | Resource |
|---|---|---|
| 1_Ephesians Overview | - | Bible Book Overview |
| Chosen for His Glory | 1 | Discussion |
| How To Treat One Another | 4 | Discussion |
| Unity in One Body and One Spirit | 4 | Discussion |
| Each Given a Gift | 4 | Discussion |
| Walk In Love | 5 | Discussion |
| The Fight Spiritual Battle | 6 | Teaching |
| Spiritual Armor of God | 6 |
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