SCRIPTURE: EPHESIANS 2
MEMORY VERSE:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
MADE ALIVE IN CHRIST (vs. 1-10)
You were dead in your transgressions and sins because you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also live among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
ONE IN CHRIST (vs. 11-22)
Therefore, remember that formerly you who were Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision”. Remember that at that time, you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise without hope and without God in the World. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
THOUGHTS:
In God’s sight, no one is good enough to earn salvation. Only through being united with Christ’s perfect life can we became good. Paul emphasized that we do not need to live under sin’s power. The penalty to sin and its power over us were miraculously destroyed by Christ on the cross. Through faith in Christ, we stand acquitted before God. Before we become Christians, we were dead in sin and were slaves to our sinful nature. But now we are alive with Christ and are united in his powerful victory.
Since our salvation is given as a gift, we should respond with gratitude, praise and joy. We should seek to help and serve others with kindness, love and gentleness. Our salvation should result in acts of service to God and build up the church.
Jews and Gentiles could be guilty of spiritual pride. The Jews thought their faith and traditions elevated them above everyone else while the Gentiles trusted their achievements, power or position. Spiritual pride blinds us to our own faults and magnifies the faults of others. Instead of becoming proud, be humble to thank God for what he has done.
Before, the Jews and Gentles kept apart from each other. Jews considered Gentiles hopeless to be saved. The Gentiles resented the Jewish claims. Christ offered his salvation to break down the walls of prejudice, and reconciled all believers to God and unified us in one body. We are all being built into a holy temple with Christ as our chief cornerstone.
Since Christ has knocked down the barriers and has united all believers in one family, do not let the barriers of age, appearance, intelligence, political persuasion, economic status, race, or theological perspective divide us from each other.
“To build on the foundation of the apostles and prophets” means that the church is not built on modern ideas but rather on the spiritual heritage given to us by the early apostles and prophets of the Christian church.