Free Bible Commentary
“Ephesians 2:8-10”
Categories: Ephesians“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
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Quite often God’s blessings prompt people to be BOASTFUL instead of stimulating them to be THANKFUL. Every good thing that we have in life is provided through God’s grace. Grace is “unearned” or “unmerited favor”. We acquire many good things by our own mental and physical exertion, and we should utilize the resources that we have for advancement in life. But who gave us our intellect and physical wellbeing? They were gifts that we received from God that we had no control over.
Some people boast that they built their careers and net worth from the strength of their back, and the sweat of their brow, by their own two hands. But did they make their back, brow and hands? Of course not! God bestows those blessings upon people (who do not deserve them) through conference of His benevolent grace. So, let us allow God’s graciousness to cultivate gratefulness within our hearts, and strive to avoid arrogance at all costs.
The greatest manifestation of God’s grace is eternal salvation. We are completely dependent upon God’s favor, and totally helpless to devise the means to secure our deliverance from the death sentence that sin incurs. Praise be to God that He loved us enough to formulate the plan and provide the sacrifice that all people need to be saved.
But, just as our personal exertion is required in acquiring God’s good, temporal blessings, God also requires efforts on our part to receive His gift of eternal life. We must believe the Gospel (John 6:29), repent of our sins (Acts 2:38), confess our faith in Jesus (Matthew 10:32), be baptized to be saved (Mark 16:16), and live lives of faithful obedience to all of the commands of Jesus (Matthew 28:20, Revelation 2:10). And, even when we have done these necessary acts of obedience, salvation is still a gift of God’s grace that we do not deserve and we could not possibly earn.
God saves us by His grace, but He spiritually recreates us in Christ Jesus to walk in good works (verse 10).
Please read Ephesians 2:11-13 for tomorrow.
Have a blessed day!
- Louie Taylor
