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Tag: Grace

Saints in Christ: Chosen, Called, Converted
Series: Saints in Christ (Part 1)

Do you know who you are in Christ? In counselling Christians, I’ve seen how often our self-perception is incomplete or shaky. We don’t fully grasp what it means to be simultaneously a saint, sinner, and sufferer in Christ. Our identity as “saints in Christ” should be the primary lens through which we view everything else.

Too often, we feel defined by past mistakes, present struggles, or comparison with others, rather than the truth of our eternal redemption: “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood [Jesus] entered once and once only into the Holy Place having procured an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12). When anxiety strikes or we feel forgotten by God, our identity becomes tethered to circumstances instead of the unshakable truth of Christ, who said, “The very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows” (Luke 12:7).

False guilt and lack of assurance weigh many Christians down. In seasons of stress, our emotions fluctuate wildly, casting doubt on our standing in Christ. We may feel condemned, unworthy, weary from ongoing sin or suffering, as though we’ve lost God’s approval. But feelings often distort or blind us to our identity as saints in Christ.

Paul Tautges writes, “When our evaluation of ourselves, our sin, and our circumstances is misaligned with God’s view, we don’t live with the comfort and motivation Christ offers.” In contrast, if our identity is firmly rooted in Christ, it transforms how we think, speak, and act daily. Our feelings will eventually catch up with our beliefs about our identity. Embracing our identity in Christ enables us to fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.

Embracing our full identity in Christ strengthens us to trust in the unseen promises and character of God when visible circumstances are hard. It also reframes all our other roles—our jobs, families, friendships, church life, and seasons of life.

When I feel weary and discouraged, I need to return to the gospel to remind myself of who I am in Christ over and over again. I have to preach truth to myself: “I am in right standing with God, raised with Christ who has conquered sin, death, and the devil. His victory is assured, so is mine. Where Christ goes, there I go too.” Reading a book like Romans, especially the first eight chapters, helps renew my mind in what it means to be a saint.

A key resource in understanding our identity is Paul Tautges’s Remade: Embracing Your Full Identity in Christ. In ninety devotionals, he presents our identity through three lenses—saint, sinner, and sufferer—and how God works out His purposes through each. Tautges writes, “You are a saint in good standing before God, yet you are simultaneously a sinner who must battle with your desires and a sufferer who undergoes hardship.” This paradox helps us live with humility, gratitude, and hope. It is essential for a productive Christian life.

In the next few devotions, we’ll focus on just a few aspects of our identity as saints in Christ.

Chosen by the Father

Our sainthood begins with God’s eternal choice. Scripture reminds us that before the foundation of the world, He set His love upon us. It’s nothing like canonization–when certain churches declare a person to be a saint because of good things they have done. God’s choice was not based on anything in us, but purely His grace. Wayne Grudem explains, “Election is an act of God before creation in which he chooses some people to be saved, not on account of any foreseen merit in them, but only because of his sovereign good pleasure.”

Ephesians 1 gives us full assurance that we have been chosen and called by the Father:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”

These words—blessed in the Beloved, chosen, holy and blameless, predestined, sons—speak of our position in Christ, not our effort. Our spiritual blessings originate with God and are aligned with His eternal purposes (Romans 8:28).

If you’ve responded to Jesus, it’s only because the Father gave you to Him. Any good fruit in your life flows from God choosing, calling and drawing you to Himself. We didn’t choose Him, He chose us (John 15:16). We didn’t love God, He loved us first (1 John 4:19).

Paul summarises this in Ephesians 1:11:

“In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.”

Have you responded to the gospel through repentance and trust in Jesus? Then you have been called by God.

Called by God.

Like the Ephesians, we have been called by God through the gospel. The gospel has four essential elements that need to be proclaimed to us before we can respond:
1. God is the righteous Creator who holds us morally accountable.
2. We are sinners under His righteous judgment—“The wages of sin is death.”
3. Jesus, the Son of God, died in our place and offers salvation as a free gift.
4. We must respond by repenting and trusting in Christ’s finished work on the cross.
Our faith is not the reason for God’s choice—it’s the result. That’s important, especially when our faith feels weak. We’re saved not by the strength of our faith, but by its object—Jesus Christ.

If you’ve responded to the gospel, you’ve been chosen by the Father from eternity. God has called and drawn you to Himself through someone who proclaimed the gospel to you. This truth should fill you with deep confidence, joy, humility and gratitude. There is no room for pride in a saint.

Regenerated and Converted

Remembering the miracle of regeneration helps us further embrace our identity in Christ. How can a spiritually dead person respond to the gospel? How could we even understand the gospel or obey its invitation?

Only by a supernatural work of God that imparts spiritual life. This is the work of regeneration. The Holy Spirit softens our heart so that we can respond to the gospel and be re-born as a new creature. Jesus described this as being “born again” in John chapter 3. Regeneration is as radical and wonderful as the birth of a baby. Regeneration is permanent and cannot be undone. Even the most law abiding, religious person must be regenerated by the Holy Spirit to enter into God’s kingdom.

Ephesians 2:1–10 beautifully describes this divine work that has taken place in every true Christian. I urge you to absorb these truths several times as though you have never seen them before:

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ²in which you used to live when 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. ³All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Do we recall that we were once dead in sin, following worldly desires and Satan’s lies, deserving God’s wrath? But God intervened, breathing life into our souls, binding us forever with Christ, and seating us with Him in heavenly realms.

This new spiritual life enables us to respond to the gospel and the Bible with excitement. We now feel genuine sorrow for sin and have the power to turn from it in obedience to Christ. Without regeneration, true repentance is impossible. Only when God makes us alive with Christ can we be forgiven and changed (Colossians 2:13).

Remembering our miraculous conversion and calling should still thrill us even decades later. It should excite us to give our testimony of how we became a saint. Remembering my own conversion forty years ago is what inspired my choice of picture for this blog. It’s by far the most important event of my life.

Amazing Grace

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!” John Newton, once a slave trader, understood his sinful wretchedness and penned these words. During a violent storm in 1748, he cried out to God for mercy. His dramatic conversion on the high seas transformed him into a faithful gospel preacher and abolitionist.

Newton knew he didn’t choose God—God’s grace reached out and rescued him. He knew that apart from God’s grace, he would not have even seen the horror of his sin. As Colossians 2:11 says, our hearts are spiritually circumcised not by human effort, but by God’s grace.

One of my greatest blessings was growing up with parents who lived and taught us the gospel of grace from when I was born. They named our farm and our hotels “Grace,” and our BnBs still bear that name today, because everything is due to grace. Grace shaped everything in our home. My parents urged me and my siblings to show grace to each other in our differences, and the sweet fruit of our bond is stronger than ever today. It was foundational to our identity—not based on performance or feelings, but on God’s undeserved love for us.

Salvation is entirely by grace—God’s unearned favour. Faith is a divine gift of grace, not something we generate. Like Lydia in Acts 16:14, if you’re a believer, it’s because the Lord opened your heart to receive the gospel. Grace isn’t earned by doing religious rituals or good deeds, or through virtue signalling. It’s God’s free gift so no one can boast.

Grace is our refuge when we feel defined by sin, weakness, or failure. In fact, God’s grace is sufficient and perfected in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). We can approach the throne of grace with confidence and receive grace upon grace (Hebrews 4:16; John 1:16).

But God’s grace not only saves—it trains us to live holy lives and to say no to ungodliness (Titus 2:11–12). We cannot continue to live in habitual sin if we have received God’s grace. “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, because God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God” (1 John 3:9). There is a time when we need to question someone’s salvation (or perhaps our own) if there is no evidence of the fruits of conversion.

We don’t have to earn God’s love. We’re accepted in Christ. But this radically changes our behaviour and how we relate to others: Because of God’s grace, we can forgive, love, serve, and speak truth with courage—not from fear or a need for approval, but from our secure identity as saints in Christ. We can love people more, and need them less.

Living as a Chosen Saint

So how do we live as chosen saints?
1. Rest in God’s grace rather than striving to earn it.
2. Reflect Christ’s love, knowing our identity is secure.
3. Pursue holiness, living in line with our true identity.
Join Us Next Week…

Next week, we’ll explore what it means to be redeemed by Jesus, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and adopted into God’s family.

Reflection Questions
1. How does knowing you were chosen before the foundation of the world affect your confidence?
2. In what ways do regeneration, conversion, and grace shape your identity in practical ways?
3. How can resting in your identity as a saint help you extend grace and forgiveness to others?
Prayer

Father, thank You that I am chosen, holy, blameless, and beloved in Christ. Thank you that I am saved by grace alone, through faith in Christ alone. Thank you for choosing me and calling me to yourself through the gospel. Thank you for sending someone to share the gospel with me and for giving me a soft heart to receive it. Thank you for planting the seed that gave me new life in Christ. Help me live out this identity daily, reflecting Your love and grace to those around me. Bring those you have ordained for eternal life across my path, so that I may share the gospel with them. Remind me that my security is in Christ alone, and empower me to live a holy and bold life for Christ. Amen.
September 18, 2025
God’s poetry

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Series: My favourite texts. Eph 2:8-10.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

If I’m honest, every day there’s either a Pharisee buzzing the intercom of my heart, aching to take me hostage to legalism and pride. Or there’s a Hedonist on my stoep, luring me to self-indulgence and laziness! Sometimes I find myself trying to earn God’s free gift of grace, and at other times I take it for granted. But Paul is emphatic that neither will do for God’s redeemed people. Both grace and goodness are the marks of a Christian. If grace is the tree of salvation, then good works are the natural fruit for which the tree was intended. It is never either grace or goodness for a Christian, but both. The Lord’s grace re-moulds us into His workmanship (poema) to reflect His goodness to the world. We are His poetry in motion.

By grace, for good

As Jen Michel writes in Surprised by Paradox, “by grace we die to self-deception and moral self-assuredness; we die to self-reliance and bootstrap religion; we die to self-trust and to the pocked, unreliable hope that we can save ourselves. All our old ways of earning our keep with God have gone. We don’t get grace because we change our lives—but our lives are indelibly changed because we get grace.” Paul says we are new creatures in Christ, re-purposed for good (2 Cor 5:17).

Today’s text describes us as God’s living works of art (poema), created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared beforehand for us to walk in (Eph 2:10).

God’s workmanship

Just as the heavens are God’s physical handiwork to declare His glory, so God intends for His people to shine like stars in the dark skies of our own culture. We are God’s spiritual handiwork, designed to express God’s glory and goodness in our everyday lives.

So Paul writes to the Christians in Philippi,

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

¹⁴Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ¹⁶as you hold firmly to the word of life” (Phil 2:12-16).

Both God’s grace at work in our lives and our persistence in Christ (the word of life) enable us to shine like stars in our crooked generation.

God’s poetry in motion

Paul lays out who and whose we are, in contrast to who we once were before God’s grace transformed our sin-dead lives (Eph 2:1-3; 2:4-10).

In the literal Greek of verse 10, we are God’s living poetry (poiema)! A poem doesn’t write itself or take credit for its beauty! Likewise, we belong to God, not ourselves. We are just His voice. The only other time the word ‘poiema’ is used is Romans 1:20 to describe the things God made in creation. Nature is not the result of random mutations or mindless evolutionary processes. It is the ordered creative expression of the great Artist of the universe! That is why the Psalmist says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge” (Ps 19:1-4).

Just as the heavens are God’s physical poetry, you and I are His spiritual creation, “born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God (1 Peter 1:23).

Just as God’s material creation is never aimless, slovenly, ugly, rushed or mass-produced, God doesn’t do a make-over or rehab job on His children either. He gives us a new nature and replaces our stony heart with a responsive one. We become an entirely new creature, re-born, re-created in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:17).

The Artist’s intention

The Bible is down-to-earth about God’s intention for our lives as Christians. Paul tells Timothy, “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and generous and willing to share.” We’re warned against living idle, unproductive lives (1 Timothy 6:18; Titus 3:14 and Heb 10:24).

If we read on in Ephesians, we see that God intends to show off His great wisdom, grace and character through His church down the ages (Eph 3:10; 2:7). He intends for infant Christians to grow up into Jesus, and do our part in the work of Christ’s church (Eph 4:11-16). We are not just individual works of art created to sit in a gallery and look pretty! The Great Artist’s plan is that we get involved in a body of believers, united in purpose and love for one another and for the Lord (Eph 5:29-30). We are not saved merely for our own benefit and to please ourselves, but to serve Christ and build up God’s people (Eph 4:12). That is how we are pleasing to God.

Is it not an insult to God’s creative work to think of our lives as boring, useless or worthless? If we are God’s poetry, we dare not treat ourselves or others with disrespect or as inferior. God doesn’t produce shoddy works of art.

Just do the next good thing!

It’s wonderful to know that God has a plan for each of his children. It’s also great to be able to trust God’s good purposes to re-shape us into the likeness of Jesus (Rom 8:28-29). This gives us meaning, identity and hope in life.

But when I first read Eph 2:10 as a younger Christian, my over-active imagination swung like a trapeze artist over the impossible scenarios God may have prepared in advance for me! I imagined God composing a long bucket list of good works for me to do during my lifetime. It made me worry how on earth I would know what was on His list and whether it included being sent to a place with frogs and without Woolies (my greatest fears!) Seeing the many ‘good works’ I was neglecting or doing very badly, verse 10 became a burden rather than a blessing to me.

Then I stumbled upon a little book by Elisabeth Elliot titled “The Shaping of a Christian family” in which she described the overwhelming period shortly after her husband Jim was martyred in Ecuador. Elisabeth was left alone, with a small baby, to manage the jungle mission station. She was faced with a million things to do each day for which she was not trained or prepared. The Lord taught her that she didn’t need to know God’s whole plan, but just needed to stay connected to Christ and do the next good thing. She could trust Him with the big picture. Sometimes the next good thing was just to get the laundry done, call a friend, read her Bible, prepare the next lesson, be friendly to a stranger, or go to bed when she was tired.

I’m grateful for Elisabeth’s common sense wisdom which lifted an unnecessary burden I’d placed on myself. I now see Eph 2:10 as a great blessing. Fuelled by God’s round-the-clock grace, we are called to walk (perpateo) in a life of good works, not to fly! Being a pedestrian is an ordinary, natural part of life, and we too were created to do good in our modest lives, one step at a time. We do not have to seek out a grand calling or find some spectacular, visible form of ministry. We might only see our ‘calling’ in retrospect. As God’s poetry, we can leave Him to write the words.

Since we’ve been talking about God’s poetry, I will end with Elizabeth Elliot’s poem, Do the Next thing. May her ‘good work’ encourage you too:

From an old English parsonage down by the sea
There came in the twilight a message to me;
Its quaint Saxon legend, deeply engraven,
Hath, it seems to me, teaching from Heaven.
And on through the doors the quiet words ring
Like a low inspiration: “DO THE NEXT THING.”

Many a questioning, many a fear,
Many a doubt, hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment, let down from Heaven,
Time, opportunity, and guidance are given.
Fear not tomorrows, child of the King,
Trust them with Jesus, do the next thing

Do it immediately, do it with prayer;
Do it reliantly, casting all care;
Do it with reverence, tracing His hand
Who placed it before thee with earnest command.
Stayed on Omnipotence, safe ‘neath His wing,
Leave all results, do the next thing.

Looking for Jesus, ever serener,
Working or suffering, be thy demeanor;
In His dear presence, the rest of His calm,
The light of His countenance be thy psalm,
Strong in His faithfulness, praise and sing.
Then, as He beckons thee, do the next thing.

Timothy Keller’s prayer: Before work

Lord, all day may you give me an awareness of your presence, fruitfulness yet patience with your appointments, wisdom and compassion in my dealings, and Fatherly protection against dangers and adversities. Let me accept whatever degree of success or difficulty in my work you give me this day, and especially make me compassionate and ready to be interrupted in order to do good to others. In Jesus’s name.

Worship

Listen to Psalm 19, a song by Jess Ray.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container background_color=”#ffffff” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”5%” padding_right=”5%” hundred_percent=”yes” equal_height_columns=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”center center” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”none” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”none” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] [/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”2%” margin_top=”2%” margin_bottom=”2%” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]Receive our latest devotion in your Inbox[/fusion_title][fusion_code]Q2xpY2sgZWRpdCBidXR0b24gdG8gY2hhbmdlIHRoaXMgY29kZS4=[/fusion_code][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container background_color=”#ffffff” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”5%” padding_right=”5%” hundred_percent=”yes” equal_height_columns=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]Other devotions from the God Walk…[/fusion_title][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_recent_posts layout=”default” hover_type=”none” columns=”3″ number_posts=”6″ offset=”” cat_slug=”devotion” exclude_cats=”” thumbnail=”yes” title=”yes” meta=”no” excerpt=”yes” excerpt_length=”0″ strip_html=”yes” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][/fusion_recent_posts][fusion_text]– more devotions –[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

November 1, 2019
But God…Ephesians 2:1-7

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Series: My favourite texts

“But God…” is the most pregnant and hopeful phrase you and I can ever hear. There is no person and no situation so dead or so desperate that it is beyond Christ’s redemption. Do we truly believe that? Do we pray and live as if it were true? Today’s text is one of my favourites, as it takes me back in time and reminds me that nothing is impossible with God. We will save verse 8-10 for next week.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ²in 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— ³among 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. ⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

But God…

“But God” is the key which unbolts the door to God’s stunning rescue of a people for Himself (Eph 2:4). I cannot imagine two more hopeful words to launch us into the strange and wonderful gospel of saving grace summarised in the next few verses. But the wonder of God’s grace is lost entirely if we miss the desperation of verse 1-3. Lest we forget who we once were, Paul paints us an arresting picture:

Spiritually hopeless and lifeless…but God.

Trapped in the orbit of our thoughts and desires…but God.

Captive to Satan’s power…but God.

Gripped by the ways of the world…but God.

Deserving of God’s just judgment…but God.

We were all in the same boat, whether we think of ourselves as good or bad people. We followed the trajectory of every son of Adam and daughter of Eve. We were God’s rivals. Rebels by nature and habit. We didn’t seek or love God. We couldn’t live for God’s glory, obsessed as we were with our own. We naturally did what God hates. ‘Sons of disobedience’ and ‘children of God’s wrath’ are not glowing titles, but according to God’s inspired word, they are accurate (Eph 2:2-3).

The walking dead

But Paul gets even more undiplomatic! He calls us dead. It is the Greek word necros, which means a rotting corpse. Just as a corpse cannot raise itself to life, neither can an unbeliever breathe life into his/her spirit. No matter how good, powerful, religious, smart or free we thought we were, we couldn’t grasp or accept the things of God (1 Cor 2:14). They were nonsense to us and we remained spiritually unclean. Jesus used similar words to describe the Pharisees– “whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean” (Matt 23:27). It’s not a pretty picture.

But God intervened in our lives supernaturally. He gave us eyes to see that Jesus is the Son of God– the Saviour of the world. God gave us life, simply because we trusted in the good news that Jesus died and rose to life on our behalf. He made children of wrath into children of God. If you are a Christian, eternal life has already begun (John 3:36; 10:28). Eternal, abundant life started the day you put your faith in Christ. You are truly alive! (Eph 2:5-7)

But God! These two little gems point to the miracle of saving grace in every believer’s life. Instead of indifference or hardness towards God, we now know Him intimately as our Father and pray to Him as if He cares and listens. We delight in Him and read His Word as if it speaks to us. We can’t get enough of learning and growing in our faith.

Maybe this text is old hat to you. Maybe it’s a long time since you first felt the initial excitement of spiritual life pulsing through your veins. Maybe life has worn you down. But this Scripture begs three questions of us:

Do we know the amazing grace Paul writes about?

Have we lost the wonder of God’s love, mercy and kindness to us?

Have we forgotten how much we need God’s grace?

Rich mercy, costly love

For Paul, God’s great love and rich mercy are not esoteric, warm and fuzzy emotions (Eph 2:4). Nor do they depict a benign Grandfather in the sky, smiling down and overlooking our petty offences.

God’s love and mercy were expressed in His Son’s excruciating sacrifice on a Roman cross in 33AD (John 3:16). In love, the Lord Jesus paid the appalling price to free us from hell and death. Love cost Him everything. That’s why we cannot lose the wonder of saving grace.

Where Jesus goes, we go

The other wonderful phrase– with Christ or in Christ– is repeated five times in verse 5-7, so it’s critical for Paul. If you’re as literal as me, it’s hard to grasp how we’ve already been spiritually raised and seated with Christ in heaven, while we battle it out on earth’s dusty arena (Eph 2:6). But Paul’s verbs are in the Greek aorist tense and indicative voice to leave us no doubt. It’s done and dusted, eternally decreed from heaven, cast in stone. Christ is our forerunner, the “firstborn among many brothers” (Rom 8:29). Our bodies will be raised and glorified as His was, because where Christ goes, we go. We are already there with Him in spirit!

For a moment, just soak in what our union with Christ actually means by clicking on these texts:

God’s people are “one” with Christ (Rom 12:5; 1 Cor 6:17; 12:13; Col 1:18). If you’re in Christ, you were foreknown, called, justified and glorified even before the foundations of the earth (Rom 8:30; Eph 1:4-10).

When Jesus died, we died. When Christ was raised to life, so were we (Rom 6:4-5). When He was seated at God’s right hand in heaven, we were given a chair beside Him (Col 3:1). We are bound by an intimate, eternal, irrevocable covenant with Christ (Heb 13:20-21). We are not just saved, but also kept by God’s amazing grace.

If that isn’t wonderful, then I don’t know what is!

Living in the dust at the foot of the cross*

But you may also be wondering how all this heavenly talk can be of any earthly good, and why this passage is one of my favourites.

It’s because the kindness and grace of God means everything to me. For three years at university I turned my back on God and lived for myself and by my own rules. I thought I was free and revelled in the values of my culture, believing my sin to be insignificant and trivial. I didn’t trust the Lord to make me happy and in fact asked Him to leave me alone–the Father who had loved and kept me, whom I’d known intimately for many years. I was no different than the prodigal son in Jesus’ story. But when I realised it was all empty and longed to come home to my Father, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I felt too ashamed and unworthy. Guilt choked my repentance. I could see how God would accept an unbeliever who knew no better, but my betrayal was unforgivable. I’d tasted the goodness of God, yet had wantonly rejected Him. That’s when the Lord pursued me all the way to a far corner of Zimbabwe where I was kayaking with friends. In a dramatic series of events, the Lord gave me some object lessons in how costly his grace was. I didn’t go looking for Jesus, but C.S Lewis’s ‘Hound of heaven’ found me and showed me why I needed a Saviour to die for my sins. There were no audible voices or visions, but God’s love and mercy were unmistakable. It was His kindness that led me to repentance, not condemnation. I finally grasped, at a heart level, what undeserved grace means. And I realised that it was for people exactly like me.

It is not cheap grace. It is costly grace bought by Christ’s blood. And it is for everyone who knows they cannot save themselves, because nothing is impossible with God (Mark 10:26-27).

It’s almost thirty years since that experience, and I’ve not lived my Christian life on its heady emotional fumes. The truth is that nothing very dramatic has happened to me since, but today I still find myself crying as I read the first few verses of Ephesians 2, because I am more aware of God’s rich mercy and great love towards me each passing year. His kindness remains irresistible. His compassions are like a stream that keeps running through the dustiest deserts of life. If I didn’t know that Christ’s work was done and that I’m securely seated with Him in heaven, I would doubt my salvation every day. If I don’t depend each day on God’s undeserved grace, I swing like a pendulum between trusting in myself; striving to be good enough; or giving up altogether because I fail so often. If the Lord hadn’t pursued me with unfailing love when my back was turned to Him, I would surely still be lost.

Worship

*Listen to this beautiful song, Mercy, by Matt Redman.

Pray

(Prayer of Timothy Keller, Upon Rising).

Father, thank you for the grace that has preserved my life to this moment. Now give me enough love for this day—a sense of love from you (so I’m not scared or driven), a welling up of love for you (so I’m not proud or selfish), and a resulting love for others (so I am not cold or distracted). Let your Spirit illumine my mind and enlarge my heart for that. And because it means nothing to begin well if one does not persevere, I ask that you would continue and increase your grace in me until you have led me into full communion with your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, that I may see his beautiful and great glory. And as I laid down in sleep and rose this morning only by your grace, keep me in a joyful, lively remembrance that whatever happens, I will someday know my final rising—the resurrection—because Jesus Christ laid down in death for me, and rose for my justification. In Jesus’s name.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container background_color=”#ffffff” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”5%” padding_right=”5%” hundred_percent=”yes” equal_height_columns=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”center center” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”none” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”none” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] [/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”2%” margin_top=”2%” margin_bottom=”2%” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]Receive our latest devotion in your Inbox[/fusion_title][fusion_code]Q2xpY2sgZWRpdCBidXR0b24gdG8gY2hhbmdlIHRoaXMgY29kZS4=[/fusion_code][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container background_color=”#ffffff” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”5%” padding_right=”5%” hundred_percent=”yes” equal_height_columns=”yes” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]Other devotions from the God Walk…[/fusion_title][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_recent_posts layout=”default” hover_type=”none” columns=”3″ number_posts=”6″ offset=”” cat_slug=”devotion” exclude_cats=”” thumbnail=”yes” title=”yes” meta=”no” excerpt=”yes” excerpt_length=”0″ strip_html=”yes” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][/fusion_recent_posts][fusion_text]– more devotions –[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

October 25, 2019