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Working our way through Paul's 
letter to the Ephesian church. He was in prison at the time 
that he wrote, probably between the years A.D. 60 to 62, his 
first imprisonment when he was in Rome. The book of Acts ends 
there. And he took pen to paper under 
inspiration of the Spirit and wrote to several churches. The 
church in Ephesus was one of them. Our focus tonight will 
be verses 8 to 10, but I want to read beginning in verse 1 
of chapter 2. And you, he made alive, who were 
dead in trespasses and sins. in which you once walked according 
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the 
power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of 
disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves 
in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and 
of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the 
others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great 
love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, 
made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, 
and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly 
places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might 
show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward 
us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved 
through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of 
God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his 
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God 
prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Therefore, remember 
that you, once Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision 
by what is called the circumcision made in the flesh by hands, that 
at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the 
commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, 
having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ 
Jesus, you who once were far off, have been brought near by 
the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, 
who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of 
separation, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, that 
is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create 
in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace. and that He might reconcile them 
both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to 
death the enmity. And He came and preached peace 
to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through 
Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, 
you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens 
with the saints and members of the household of God, having 
been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, 
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the 
whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple 
in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for 
a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father in heaven, thank you again 
for the written word of the living and true God. We pray now that 
the Holy Spirit would guide us and direct us as we consider 
this wonderful passage of Holy Scripture that underscores the 
graciousness of our salvation. We know it's not the works that 
we bring to the table. It is solely and alone the grace 
of our God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ by which we 
are saved. And may this encourage our hearts 
and may you build us up in our most holy faith. And God, may 
you call sinners out of darkness into marvelous light through 
the proclamation of your word here and elsewhere. We ask that 
you would forgive us now for our sin and transgression and 
those things that darken our minds and hearts. And we ask 
in the name and for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, remember that in chapter 
1, the apostle starts off with praise to God. So in chapter 
1, verses 3 to 14, he praises the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit 
for the glorious act of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus 
Christ. He then turns to prayer. And 
he tells the Ephesians how he prays for them. And specifically 
in 119, he wants the Ephesian church to know what is the exceeding 
power of God most high. That power of God is demonstrated 
in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus toward the end of chapter 
one. And that power is demonstrated in the resurrection of dead sinners 
unto new life in our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the section we 
find ourselves in in verses 1 to 10. That power then is demonstrated 
in the bringing together now of Jew and Gentile. two that 
were previously at odds with one another are now one new man 
under Christ for the glory of God Most High. So that's an overview 
of chapters 1 and 2. We've been looking at chapter 
2 verses 1 to 7 under a few considerations. We noted the state of man before 
grace, verse 1. He is dead in his trespasses 
and sins. We see the depravity of man apart 
from grace in verses 2 to 3. It's a very bleak picture. It 
is a very miserable sort of a depiction of what man looks like before 
God's grace. And then in chapter 2, verses 
4 to 10, we see that grace of God applied to sinners. We noted 
last time the perfections of God demonstrated according to 
verse 4, the power of God executed according to verse 5, And then 
finally the purpose of God fulfilled in verses six and seven. Now 
four to seven is a bit of a high level approach. It just sort 
of shows the contours of God's redemptive grace. And then he 
moves from that high level sort of overview of what God is doing 
in the gospel to verses eight to 10, where he shows that application 
of redemptive grace in the hearts of God's people. He gets into 
the how in verses eight to 10, to demonstrate that exceeding 
kindness of our Lord that he spoke of in verse 7. So tonight 
we'll look at the application of redemptive grace in verses 
8 and 9, and then secondly, the consequence of redemptive grace 
in verse 10. More on that in a few minutes, 
but notice in the first place, in terms of the application of 
God's grace. So in verse seven, he says that 
in the ages to come, and remember, we explained that all subsequent 
ages from the preaching of the apostles onto eternity, wherever 
the gospel is preached, wherever sinners are saved by grace, in 
those succeeding ages, we see a demonstration of God's mercy. Notice verse 7, that in the ages 
to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness 
toward us in Christ Jesus. So wherever sinners are saved 
by that grace of God, God is glorified. Wherever sinners are 
saved by the grace of God, God is magnified. Wherever sinners 
are saved by the grace of God, we see in particular the exceeding 
riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. All 
of us are a display case. All of us manifest. All of us 
show forth the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. In other words, we don't walk 
around patting ourselves on the back. We don't walk around patting 
others on the back. It's a good thing that you've 
made those excellent decisions, and now you're on your way to 
heaven. We simply do not do that. When we see one another, we stand 
in awe at the grace of God. And then we're encouraged, because 
we know that if God is able to save you, He's certainly able 
to save others. Just a joke. If He's able to 
save me, He's able to save others. It is a demonstration of His 
kindness. It is a demonstration of the 
exceeding riches of His grace. So now we move into the application 
of that redemptive grace. Notice, in the first place, He 
says that it is an application of grace. So we're going to just work our 
way through this particular section. Notice in the first place that 
the salvation is from. The salvation is from that condition 
explained in verses 1 to 3 in chapter 2. This salvation is 
from our deadness in sin. This salvation is from our worldly 
course, according to verse 2a. This salvation is from subjection 
to Satan. And this salvation is from liability 
to God's just wrath. So the salvation that's in view 
in chapter 2, verse 8, it's not physical. He saved you, now your 
eyes work. He saved you, now you're able 
to walk. He saved you, now you don't have that sort of problem 
in your stomach. No, the salvation that's in view 
in chapter two, verse eight, is spiritual in nature. So it 
is a salvation from those things indicated in verses one to three, 
but then in verses four to seven, we see it's a salvation unto 
something else. Notice, according to verse 5, 
this is a salvation that results in newness of life. He made us 
alive together with Christ. This is a salvation to resurrection 
with Christ. According to verse 6, he raised 
us up together. This is a salvation to reigning 
with Christ. Notice in verse 6, he says, and 
made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And it 
is a salvation to demonstrate again the exceeding riches of 
God's grace and to set forth and show the fact that He is 
most kind, most loving, most merciful, and most gracious in 
the way or in the manner that He deals with the rotten sons 
of Adam. God doesn't owe us anything, 
and the underscore here is on grace. It is undeserved. It is unmerited. There is nothing 
in the persons described in verses 1 to 3 that deserve that grace, 
that deserve that mercy, that deserve God's kindness in His 
dealings with us. We all justly deserve God's wrath 
and curse, both in this life and that which is to come. Every 
single one of us, as a son of Adam, is dead in our trespasses 
and sins. We bring nothing to the table 
and say, okay, God, we bring this, and then God rewards us 
with so great a salvation. This passage is adamantly opposed 
to that kind of an interpretation. The emphasis is always on the 
grace of God in the salvation of sinners. So we see the application 
of his grace specifically in verse 8a. For by grace you have 
been saved. Now notice secondly, the instrumentality 
of faith. He says through faith. Now there's 
some things that we have to consider in this particular section. It's 
not because of faith. If it was because of faith, then 
the Armenians would be right. And I'm not suggesting that it's 
only this way so that the Arminians aren't right. It is the case 
that the Arminians are wrong because they get this preposition 
wrong. They have the idea that it's 
our faith that we bring to the table and then God blesses us, 
whether it be Arminians or Richard Baxter or any type of a neo-Nomianism. We bring something to the table, 
namely faith, and as a result of that, God saves us. Well, 
that would work if the grammar taught that, but the grammar 
does not teach that. It does not teach we are saved 
because of faith. I hope that everybody gets that. 
It's a very subtle distinction, but it's a very powerful distinction 
that ultimately impinges upon the glory of God. If it is because 
of faith, then that means we've made a contribution. But if it's 
through faith, The way that we understand it is that faith is 
a passive instrument by which we receive the redemptive benefits 
that Christ has wrought. So it is the empty hand that 
receives the free gift of God. It's not the somewhat filled 
hand that brings something to God and then God meets him at 
that particular level. Remember, we're dealing with 
people that are dead in their trespasses and sins. There's 
no way we could bring faith to the table because dead men in 
Adam cannot exercise saving faith. So the grammar does not permit 
because of faith. The grammar emphasizes the instrumentality 
of faith. This is the right translation. For by grace you have been saved 
through faith. And the grammar is consistent 
with the rest of the Bible. Genesis 15 verse 6 is probably 
the first place we see justification by grace alone, through faith 
alone, in Christ alone. Speaking of Abraham, he believed 
in the Lord and he accounted it to him for righteousness. 
Habakkuk 2.4, behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him, 
but the just shall live by his faith. In terms of faith being 
the means by which we come into saving contact with God, look 
at the prophet Isaiah. What does it mean to look to 
him? Does it just mean to throw our eyes up into the heavens? 
No, it means to believe on him. We've seen Isaiah 55. Oh, everyone 
who thirsts, let him come to the waters and drink. We see 
it in the Feast of Tabernacles when the Lord Jesus says, if 
anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. We see it in 
Matthew 11, 28 to 30. All you that are weary and heavy 
laden, come to me and I will give you rest. Well, what does 
he mean by that? He means to come to him in faith. Faith is 
the empty hand that by God's grace receives the gifts that 
Christ has purchased for the elect. As our confession says, 
those whom God affectionately calls, he also justifies, not 
by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their 
sins and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous, not 
for anything wrought in them or done by them, but for Christ's 
sake alone. not by imputing faith itself, 
the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to 
them as their righteousness, but by imputing Christ's active 
obedience unto the whole law and passive obedience in His 
death for their whole and sole righteousness, they receiving 
and resting on Him and His righteousness by faith, which faith they have 
not of themselves, it is the gift of God. That's 2nd London 
Confession, chapter 11, paragraph 2. It takes pains to exclude 
from the mind of the believer that there was anything in the 
believer that commended him to God. There's nothing in our hand 
we bring simply to thy cross I claim. Foul I to the fountain 
fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die. We 
don't bring the faith. God gives the faith and brings 
us to him. We don't bring good works, which 
we'll see in just a moment, because we've been created for good works. Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 
to 10 is about obliterating the notion that there is anything 
that the sinner contributes by which he is rewarded from God. And 2nd London chapter 11 paragraph 
2 underscores that. So we see that we are saved by 
grace through faith. And then he goes on to qualify 
or clarify something concerning faith. He makes three statements. First of all, he says saving 
faith is not of ourselves. Remember, we're dead in our trespasses 
and sins. Dead sinners can't respond in 
faith any more than walking through the cemetery in Chilliwack. You 
can call a dead person out of the ground and they'll walk over 
to you. It's just an impossibility. You being dead in your trespasses 
and sins. Remember, you weren't just a 
little crippled, you were a little lame, you had a bit of a disease, 
you just needed a bit of a shot in the arm, and then you made 
that forward motion to God, and he met you halfway, and he gave 
you all the benefits and the blessings that you wanted. That's 
not it at all. God made us alive, according 
to verse 5. God grants us the grace of faith, 
according to verse 8. God grants us the grace of repentance, 
according to Acts 5, 31, and 2 Timothy 2, verse 25. Everything that is necessary 
for a sinner in order to come to Christ does not originate 
in the sinner, but it comes from God. This fits along beautifully 
with chapter one, verse three, blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual 
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. He doesn't say bless 
God for 95%. Isn't it wonderful that we've 
ponied up the other five? That's not it at all. Every spiritual 
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ has been conveyed to 
us by this sovereign God. And Paul doesn't see this as 
an offense. He doesn't see this as an affront. 
He doesn't see this as a stumbling block. He sees this as a matter 
for praise unto our great God. And so the apostle takes pains 
now, again, to demonstrate that it's by grace alone, through 
faith alone, in Christ alone. So saving faith is not of ourselves. Look back at verse 8. There's 
a bit of a grammatical question here. For by grace you have been 
saved through faith. Notice it goes on, and that not 
of yourselves. That has been an area or an arena 
of contention. The word that is what's called 
a demonstrative pronoun. Parents, you can ask your kids 
about what that means when you get home later on tonight. But 
a demonstrative pronoun points back to something in the sentence. Well, the demonstrative pronoun 
is neuter, and then the two former nouns are both feminine. And 
so some say, well, he can't be talking about faith being a gift 
because you've got a neuter and a feminine. Most commentators 
get this right. They understand that the that, 
the demonstrative pronoun, points to everything preceding. And so the idea is that the salvation 
by grace through faith, that's the clause that the demonstrative 
pronoun, that, points to. So it is faith, it is grace, 
it is salvation. That not of yourselves. Again, what is the apostle demonstrating? He's demonstrating how the dead 
sinner described in verses one to three has been made alive 
according to verse five. This is now the application of 
redemptive grace to show us how this comes to pass. For by grace 
you have been saved, through faith. And in the first place, 
that's not of ourselves. We didn't originate it. We didn't 
come up with it. We didn't just decide. You probably 
heard that old Hokie song. I have decided to follow Jesus. Now, brethren, in one sense, 
there is a decision to follow Jesus, but it comes after God 
makes us alive. It comes after he gives us the 
grace of faith. But with reference to that particular 
song, I don't think that's what they mean. I don't think they 
mean I have decided because God's grace made me alive together 
in Christ and granted me faith. It is an Arminian song emphasizing 
the idea that our free will is such that we can still step in 
the right direction to God most high. But if our free will is 
such that we can step in the right direction to God most high, 
then what's Paul talking about in verses 1 to 3? You were dead 
in your trespasses and sins. That indicates or underscores 
that there is nothing in our free will that has the wherewithal 
to step into God's grace or to step toward God's favor. Notice, 
secondly, saving faith is a gift of God. If it's not of ourselves, 
it had to come from somewhere. It had to originate in someone. 
It's not from your dad. It's not from your mom. It's 
not from your pastor. It's not from your husband. It's 
not from your wife. It's not from your praying friend. 
Where does this saving faith come from? Well, it comes from 
God. So you remember, we're dead in our trespasses and sins. He 
makes us alive together with Christ. He grants us then the 
grace of faith so that we may look unto the Lord Jesus Christ, 
that we may receive Him, that we may rest in Him, that we may 
drink from Him, that we may indeed find rest in Him. For by grace 
you've been saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is 
the gift of God. Turn over to Philippians 1, where 
we see this emphasis on the gift nature of faith. Philippians 
chapter 1. And while you're turning there, 
I will remind you, as I think I remind you a lot, that we need 
to pray for the ministry of the Holy Spirit on the Lord's Day. 
We can't pray that the dead sinner is going to make himself alive. 
We can't pray that the dead sinner is going to originate faith in 
his dead heart. We pray for the Holy Spirit to 
make man willing in the day of his power. We pray for the Holy 
Spirit to come through the preaching of the word so that he takes 
those things and makes sinners alive and enables them with the 
grace necessary to close with Christ. Notice in Philippians 
1.27, only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ 
so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear 
of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind 
striving together for the faith of the gospel. and not in any 
way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, 
but to you of salvation and that from God. Now notice, for to 
you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe 
in him, but also to suffer for his sake, having the same conflict 
which you saw in me and now here is in me. Brethren, the emphasis 
in the verse, according to verse 29, for to you it has been granted 
to suffer for his sake. That's the main point that the 
Apostle wants to convey here in Philippians 1.29. The fact 
that faith is a gift is incidental. It's parallel in terms of construction. Not only has it been granted 
to you to suffer for his sake, it's been granted to you the 
same way that it's been granted to you to believe on the name 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. But underscoring this is the 
gift nature of faith. For to you, it has been granted. 
We could say graciously granted on behalf of Christ, not only 
to believe in him. You see, it was granted to you 
to believe in Christ. It was granted to you to come 
to Christ. It was granted to you to be made 
alive together with Him, and then to come and close with Him 
in saving faith. And then back to chapter 2, verse 
9, is the third statement concerning saving faith. So we see that 
it is not of ourselves, we see that it is a gift, and then we 
see that saving faith is contrasted with salvation by works. You 
see, Paul's emphasis, brethren, in verses 8 and 9, he wants to 
exclude any thought whatsoever that you were an active and willing 
participant in your salvation. Again, you were active and you 
were willing after he made you alive together with Christ, after 
he granted you the grace of faith. But it's not the case that you 
were just in earnest about your soul, and you only thought, boy, 
if I can bring a little faith to the table, then God will meet 
me halfway and grant me the rest. That's not it at all. We were 
like sheep going astray. We were running far from Him. 
He sought us. He found us. He conquered us. He made us alive. he granted 
the graces of faith and repentance. So the apostle wants us to understand 
this. Why? Because of verse 7. Look 
at verse 7, that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding 
riches of his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. That's 
eliminated if we're contributors. We can't really say it's all 
about the exceeding grace of God and the kindness of God, 
because after all, I had a part to play in it. I brought faith. 
I brought works. I was a pretty good guy. I was 
a pretty good girl. But that's not the point. The 
point is, is God's demonstration of God's glory and majesty, not 
our good performance. Rather, we were dead in our trespasses 
and sins, and he made us alive. So saving faith is contrasted 
with salvation by works. See what he's saying? We don't 
bring faith to the table and then are rewarded with salvation. 
We don't bring works to the table and are rewarded with salvation. See, this is contrary to just 
about every other religion out there. Every other religion has 
the imperative and then the indicative. Do this and then you will live. They live and operate in a covenant 
of works. Be a good guy, be a good girl, 
pay your debts, go to school, be a well performer, and then 
God will save you. That's not the gospel. The gospel 
is about the indicative, Christ crucified and resurrected. The gospel isn't good advice, 
it's good news. And the indicative comes first, 
and then on the heels of that come the imperatives. That you've 
been saved by grace, now go live in a manner that is consistent 
with that. So Paul is demolishing the thought 
that a sinner can bring faith to the table, and God rewards 
him with salvation. But he's also demolishing the 
thought that a sinner can bring good works to the table, and 
God will reward him. No, verse 9 is very clear in 
that regard. Notice what he says. Not of works 
lest anyone should boast. Now turn back to Romans chapter 
3. Romans chapter 3, just to illustrate 
this a bit. Not of works lest anyone should 
boast. You see, that's again what people 
think, you know, I'm a good guy, I'm a good girl, I've never done 
anything really bad. I mean, I've got some, you know, 
issues to be sure, but nothing that would bar me or exclude 
me from the kingdom of heaven. That's just a complete ignorance 
of man's state before a holy God. Notice in Romans chapter 
three at verse 20, therefore by the deeds of the law, no flesh 
will be justified in his sight for by the law is the knowledge 
of sin. Look at verse 27, where is boasting 
then? It is excluded by what law of 
works? No, but by the law of faith. 
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from 
the deeds of the law. In Ephesians 2, verse 9, Paul 
says, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Drop down to Romans 
4, verse 1. What then shall we say that Abraham 
our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham 
was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but 
not before God. Why? Because he wasn't justified 
by works, he was justified by faith. For what does the scripture 
say? Abraham believed God, and it 
was accounted to him for righteousness. Now to him who works, the wages 
are not counted as grace, but as debt. So you see the connection. Paul wants, according to verse 
seven, the reality that God shows his exceeding riches of his grace 
and his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Well, that's mitigated 
if we brought faith or we brought works. We get to pat ourselves 
on the back. We get to congratulate ourselves. 
We get to say, what great guys, what great girls that we've obeyed 
and done everything well. Turn over to Romans chapter 11, 
specifically at verse six. Well, verse five, even so then 
at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election 
of grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works. Otherwise 
grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is 
no longer grace. Otherwise work is no longer work. And then look at Galatians chapter 
two. One of the emphases throughout Paul's epistles is to hammer 
this nail of justification by faith alone, apart from works. 
Galatians 2.16, knowing that a man is not justified by the 
works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Even we have 
believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith 
in Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works 
of the law, no flesh shall be justified. Turn to 2 Timothy 
chapter 1. 2 Timothy 1, verse 9, who has 
saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our 
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was 
given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. And of course, Titus 
3, 5. Titus 3, 5, verse 4, But when 
the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according 
to His mercy, He saved us through the washing of regeneration and 
renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly 
through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by 
His grace, we should become heirs to the hope of eternal life. 
See, the emphasis in the Pauline epistles, along with Peter's 
epistles, along with the gospel records, along with the prophets, 
along with Moses, along with the wisdom literature, is that 
salvation is of the Lord. It is not of us. It does not 
depend upon him who wills or upon him who runs, but upon God 
who shows mercy, according to Romans 9.16. Listen to John Murray. This is from his commentary on 
the book of Romans, chapter three. He says, a justification by works 
always finds its ground in that which the person is and does. This is important. I know it 
may seem like a tedious bit of theology at, you know, almost 
6 p.m. on a smoky, hot Sunday afternoon, 
but Ephesians 2, 8 to 10 is a goldmine of God-glorifying theology. He says, justification by works 
always finds its ground in that which the person is and does. It is always oriented to that 
consideration of virtue attaching to the person justified. Man 
likes it this way. We like to be congratulated. 
We like to be affirmed. We like to be liked. We like 
to be loved. I'm not even saying all of that's 
necessarily wicked. It is when we try to strip glory 
from God and assume it for ourselves in the matter of our salvation. 
I mean, it's not wrong that you want to be liked by your wife. 
That's a good thing. It's not wrong that you want 
to be liked by your friend. That's a great thing. It is wrong 
for you to attempt to take from God what belongs to God, namely, 
His power and His glory in the salvation of your hell-deserving 
soul. He goes on to say, the specific 
quality of faith is trust and commitment to another. It is 
essentially extraspective. Now that word is not a common 
word, but you know it's opposite, introspective. You know what 
introspection is. Some of you come from churches 
where introspection is everything. All you do is look inward. All 
you do is gaze. All you do is look at what's 
happening in yourself. In other words, just do what 
man by default does. We're all introspective. We love 
ourselves. We're everything in our little 
lives, aren't we? We're the unholy trinity, me, 
myself, and I. We just adore ourselves. So if 
introspective is looking inwardly, extraspective means looking outwardly. So listen to Murray again. The 
specific quality of faith is trust and commitment to another. 
It is essentially extraspective, and in that respect is the diametric 
opposite of works. Faith is self-renouncing. Works are self-congratulatory. Faith looks to what God does. Works have respect to what we 
are. It is this antithesis of principle 
that enables the apostle to base the complete exclusion of works 
upon the principle of faith. He's absolutely positively right, 
and that's Paul's point in Ephesians 2, 8 to 10. For by grace you 
have been saved through faith, that not of yourselves. It is 
the gift of God and not of works, lest anyone should boast. Turn 
back to the book of Romans, Romans chapter 11. Paul does not want the individual 
sinner boasting in the individual sinner for his or her salvation. Paul wants rather for you to 
understand your position. You are a trophy of God's grace. You are a manifestation of the 
exceeding riches of his grace. You are the expression of his 
kindness toward guilty sinners in Christ Jesus. After discussing 
salvation in great detail, Romans chapters 1 to 11 is doctrinal. Romans chapter 1 to 11 is the 
explication of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 
12, verse 1 begins the practical section. There is a transition. There is a, therefore, my beloved 
brethren, by the mercies of God, present yourselves as living 
sacrifices. And then he goes on to a whole 
host of practical admonitions for the people of God. So you've 
got doctrine, chapters 1 to 11. You've got practical, chapters 
12 to 16. But notice how chapter 11 ends. Notice what the emphasis 
is after explaining the great redemptive work of God Most High 
and the revelation of His grace in the gospel of His Son. Notice, 
for of Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To whom 
be glory forever. Amen. It's not unto us, O Lord, 
not unto us, but glory be to your name. Psalm 115.1. Turn 
just over to 1 Corinthians 1. I alluded to verse 26 this morning. 
Remember the Sanhedrin. It's the reality that they were 
able to say, look, have any of the Pharisees, have any of the 
leaders believed on him? Well, Nicodemus had. So not many, 
but some. Notice in verse 26, for you see 
your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the 
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has 
chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the 
wise. That's encouraging, right? Whenever you feel pretty up, 
you know, up and up about how great you are, just read 1 Corinthians 
1. You're a fool. God chose you 
for salvation to demonstrate his glory. He didn't choose you 
for salvation so that you could pray it around like some proud 
peacock strutting its feathers, saying, look at me, I'm saved 
now. Aren't I wonderful? No, that's not the design. God 
has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame 
the things, to put to shame the wise. And God has chosen the 
weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are 
mighty and the base things of the world and the things which 
are despised. God has chosen and the things which are not 
to bring to nothing the things that are. Notice that no flesh 
should glory in his presence, but of him you are in Christ 
Jesus. Again, sovereign grace. How did 
we get in Christ? By our decision, by our, you 
know, signing the card, by our raised hand, by our free will. 
But of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom 
from God. That is righteousness and sanctification 
and redemption. Notice that as it is written, 
he who glories, let him glory in the Lord. So the Apostle Paul 
in verses eight and nine shows us the application of redemptive 
grace. Quickly, let's look at the consequence of redemptive 
grace in verse 10. Notice what he says, for we are 
his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God 
prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. There are two doctrines 
in the Christian faith that you probably hear a lot about in 
our church. You hear about justification and you hear about sanctification. 
Sanctification is the consequence or the result of God's having 
justified us freely by His grace. We believe the gospel of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. We come out of darkness into 
marvelous light. We believe on Him. We're believers. 
We're Christians. Now we live the Christian life. 
And so that is a legitimate way to treat Christian doctrine. 
Justification, our initial coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, our 
sins are forgiven, we receive the righteousness of Christ, 
it's imputed to us, received by faith alone. And then we embark 
on the life of sanctification, living in a manner that is consistent 
with that salvation, living in a manner that is consistent with 
God's work of grace in our hearts. Now, Paul treats sanctification 
in detail later on in the book of Ephesians. I don't think he's 
doing that in verse 10. I don't think he wants to show 
us now, here's justification, verses 8 and 9, and here's sanctification 
in verse 10. He does that, it is there, but 
that's not his point. Notice how verse 10 starts. It 
starts with 4. That connects it to the previous 
verses. I think Paul is taking another 
nail and nailing it into his particular theme. He is telling 
us that the good works we actually do are a consequence of God's 
grace. In other words, they're not the 
cause of our salvation, they're not the condition for our salvation, 
they are the effect. They are the result. They are 
the consequence. And again, that is necessary 
to understand. Justification inevitably leads 
to sanctification. In fact, Gordon Clark makes that 
observation. What passes so apparently as 
good works are not good unless preceded by justification. And 
if a claim justification does not inevitably produce good works, 
it simply was not justification. That's all good and true, but 
verse 10 is making the same point. He is confirming the reality, 
not of works lest anyone should boast, for we are His workmanship. We didn't bring these works to 
the table. The works that we do are because 
of God's grace in us. It is to exclude from the equation 
any good works as the condition or cause of our salvation. It's the consequence. For we 
are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. You see, we didn't bring them 
to the table. They weren't preexistent. God 
didn't reward us. God didn't say, good job, Sonny, 
here's your salvation. That's not the emphasis. Verse 
10 makes the same point that verses 8 and 9 do. Again, he'll 
deal with sanctification later. 4.17, he'll tell us not to walk 
like the Gentiles. Chapter 5, he'll tell us to walk 
in love, to walk in light, to walk in wisdom. Sanctification 
is a necessary element in Christian preaching. But in the context 
of Ephesians 2.8-10, he wants you to understand There's no 
possible way that this sort of pre or this faith that originated 
in you is what God rewarded with salvation or these works that 
you have done, God rewarded with salvation. No, were his workmanship 
created in Christ Jesus for good works. Now notice what he goes 
on to say, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk 
in them. So he takes out from under anyone's 
feet this idea that it's my good works that secured for me this 
redemptive grace. Not of works, lest anyone should 
boast. Verse nine, for we are his workmanship 
created in Christ Jesus for good works. That is directly parallel 
to chapter one, verse four. Look at chapter one, verse four. 
He says, well, verse three, blessed be the God and Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing 
in the heavenly places in Christ. Verse four, just as he chose 
us in him before the foundation of the world, notice that we 
should be holy and without blame before him. Notice what he does 
not say. He doesn't say he chose us in 
him before the foundation of the world because we were holy 
and without blame. He doesn't look down the tunnel 
of time and say, wow, that guy, he's going to be holy and without 
blame. I'm going to choose him for salvation. No, we're all 
unholy and we're all full of blame because we're all bearing 
those characteristics described in chapter 2, verses 1 to 3. 
So God does what he does from before the foundation of the 
world in order that his people will be holy and without blame. That's the connection between 
verses 8 and 9 and verse 10. Again, sanctification is a necessary 
doctrine, a necessary element in the Christian life, but that's 
not his point here. The point is to confirm what 
he said in verses 8 and 9. It's not your faith, it's not 
your works, and we know it's not your faith because faith 
itself is a gift from God, and we know it's not your works because 
your works are a gift from God as well. We are his workmanship, 
created in Christ Jesus for good works, which he prepared beforehand 
that we should walk in them. Look at Philippians chapter two, 
verses 12 and 13, in terms of good works. Philippians 2.12, 
therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in 
my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out 
your own salvation. Notice, he doesn't say work for 
your own salvation, work to obtain your own salvation, work out 
what was put in there by God graciously. Remember chapter 
one, verse 29, for to you it has been granted on behalf of 
Christ, not only to believe in him, Verse 6 in chapter 1, he 
says, being confident of this very thing that he who has begun 
a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. 
So it is a working out that which is present. It is placed there 
by God Most High. So he says, work out your own 
salvation with fear and trembling. And then notice in verse 13, 
for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his 
good pleasure. So whatever you do that is right 
and good and holy, it's of God. That is very clearly expressed 
in Scripture. So going back to Ephesians chapter 
2, this isn't a faith that originated with you, it is in fact the gift 
of God. And it's not good works that 
originated with you, but those works are a gift of God. Consequence, 
with reference to salvation by grace through faith in our Lord 
Jesus Christ. Petto says, it is true, there 
is a necessity of evangelical works to testify our faith, obedience, 
and thankfulness to God. But they are required not as 
conditions, but as effects and declarations of our justification. That's the point. Verse 10 is 
simply underscoring what he said in verses eight and nine. And 
for those of us who want to learn and grow in our Christian life, 
continue to come on Sunday nights. By the time we get to chapter 
four, Paul has a pattern. Just like I said in Romans 1 
to 11, doctrine. 12 to 16, practical application. He does the same thing in Ephesians. 
He deals with doctrine in chapters 1 and 2. Chapter 3 is a bit of 
a transition about his own ministry, about the mystery, which is the 
inclusion of Gentiles in the covenant promises of God. And 
then chapters 4 to 6 are very practical. How do new men and 
women in Christ Jesus, or how are new men and women in Christ 
Jesus supposed to live? Well, that's the emphasis in 
chapters four to six. As I said, walk in love, walk 
in light, walk in wisdom. And this is contrary to the walk 
that characterized us according to chapter 2 at verse 2, in which 
you once walked according to the course of this world, according 
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works 
in the sons of disobedience. So in conclusion, chapter 2, 
verses 8 to 10 are not about us and our wonderful achievement 
when it comes to God's favor. It's about God's amazing grace. It's about the exceeding riches 
of His grace. It is the application of His 
grace in order to demonstrate the exceeding riches of that 
grace and to show forth His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. So 
this is the blessedness that you and I, by grace, experience. We're saved, not as a result 
of some sort of faith we brought to the table or some sort of 
supposed good works we brought and God rewarded us with so great 
a salvation. No, He gave us freely of His 
riches. And for those who are not in 
Christ, there is everything in this passage to entice you, to 
incite you, to invite you to come and taste and see that the 
Lord is good. Look back at chapter 1, verse 
7. Chapter 1, verse 7, in Him we 
have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according 
to the riches of His grace, chapter 2, verse 4, but God, who is rich 
in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us. 
That is the true and living God. He doesn't have just a bit of 
grace, just a bit of mercy, just a bit of love, but He has infinite 
resources. And this God is good, this God 
is gracious, this God is merciful, this God is benevolent. And if 
this God saved Paul, who was the chief of sinners, and he 
saved a bunch of us in here who are just under that in terms 
of being chiefs of sinners, then there is grace to be had for 
any at all in this room. Look unto the Lord Jesus Christ 
in faith and you will have everlasting life. It is most glorious, most 
wondrous, and it ultimately redounds to the praise and honor of our 
great God. Let us end by reading Revelation 
chapter 7 to see how the saints in heaven, in that glorified 
state, reflect on their relationship before God Most High, or to God 
Most High. Revelation 7 at verse 9. After 
these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one 
could number. That should give everybody great 
encouragement as well. I think we have this view that 
there's going to be like 10 people in heaven. There's just a handful 
of people, just this few, the extra special ones. No, doesn't 
he say that no one could number? When we get to heaven, brethren, 
it's not like we can do a head count. Oh, hey, there's the sector 
A over there, they've got 150, and sector B over here has about 
300. That's not it. There's no numbering, 
a great multitude. Why do we stumble on that? Why 
do we not have great confidence in the gospel of God? Why do 
we not say with the Apostle in Romans 1 16, I'm not ashamed 
of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone 
who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Why? Because 
in it the righteousness of God is revealed. As it is written, 
the just shall live by faith. But back to Revelation 7, 9. 
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, 
which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, 
and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, 
clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 
and crying out with a loud voice, saying, Notice, Salvation belongs 
to our God, who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. That's an Ephesians 
2, 8 to 10 confession. That's not Arminian. That's not 
Pelagian. That's not humanism. That's not 
the world religions that teach you obey and then God will reward. Salvation belongs to our God 
and to the Lamb who sits upon the throne. It's not us. We didn't 
contribute. Doesn't depend upon him who wills 
or him who runs, but on God who shows mercy. Notice, salvation 
belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. All 
the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living 
creatures and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped 
God saying, Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom, 
thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever 
and ever. Amen. That, my brothers and sisters, 
is the point. Not our glory, not our applause, 
not our praise, but God's. God gets the glory. God gets 
the honor. God gets the praise for saving 
the people described in Ephesians 2, 1 to 3. Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for 
your word. We thank you for the clarity of the apostles' argument 
in Ephesians 2. And God, I pray that it would 
encourage our hearts and build us up in our faith and cause 
us to reflect upon this, not just on the Lord's day, but each 
and every day. As the hymn writer says, let 
us live in the shadow of the cross. Let us always keep that 
truth before us. And for those outside of Christ, 
I pray that by your grace and for your glory, as a demonstration 
of your kindness, that they would believe on Jesus Christ for their 
salvation. Thank you for this Lord's Day. 
Thank you for the blessedness of gathering in the house of 
God. I pray that you would go with us now and watch over us 
in this coming week. And we pray through Christ our 
Lord. Amen. We'll close with a brief time 
of meditation.