Ephesians 2:8-10
“Getting It Right”

If you like ribs, it’s hard to be the Fireplace Inn on Wells Street in Chicago. Their ribs have won awards. They’re meaty and tender and basted in a zesty barbeque sauce. And they served in a dining room that could make you think you out in some rural wooded area far away from the downtown rush. Other restaurants may have better ribs, or tangier sauce, or a nicer environment, but all of those qualities come together at the Fireplace Inn in a way that’s hard to beat.

In a similar way, if you want to watch a good baseball game, it’s tough to beat Wrigley Field. You’ve got a good team—offense, defense, and pitching—in the perfect baseball environment. A vintage stadium shoehorned into a commercial/residential neighborhood with the fans right on top of the field—close enough to interfere with fly balls and keep their team out of the World Series, but I’m not bitter. You’ve got the ivy on the walls, the manual scoreboard, low bleachers allowing people to see the game from rooftops across the street—perfect. You may find better teams or nicer stadiums—some of our elders here even favor the minor league team on the south side—but all of it comes together at Wrigley Field in a way that’s hard to beat.

Every once in a while, in life all parts of an experience—the visible and the invisible, the obvious and the subtle, the rational and the emotional—all come together in such a way that you’re immediately aware that a defining moment has occurred. Back when I was a student I worked as a janitor in a nice, Elm Street condominium building with only twelve units. My job was to take care of the common areas, but periodically a resident would hire me for a small side job inside their private unit. On one occasion a new resident did just that, asking me to wash some windows after their condo had been fully renovated but before they had yet moved in. I entered the front door and was immediately struck by the beauty of the place. The walls of the living room had been painted a light shade of pink (it was nicer than it sounds) with tall, white baseboards and ornate crown molding. The hardwood floors were flawlessly stained and finished in a dark oak color and there was a black marble fireplace on the far wall. There were French doors, also white, that opened up on to two small, wrought iron balconies overlooking the tree-lined Elm Street between State Street and Lake Shore Drive. Those were the windows I was supposed to wash. The only item that was present in the whole place was a boom box plugged into the wall that must have been left behind by the painters. I flipped it on and was greeted by some rap station which I immediately silenced by punching tune. I landed on WFMT just as the host was announcing that Mahler’s Ninth Symphony was about to begin. I knew Mahler, but I’d never heard his Ninth symphony, so I left it there and started my work. Well, I was greeted by a most glorious composition of music that seemed to unfold in a virtually ceaseless progression of rich, but unresolved chords. And every time it did resolve, it only created a new and mysterious dissonance as engaging as the last. It was like theme music for the as unresolved, life of a student, like me. And as dusk approached, darkening that beautifully empty room—a virtual illustration of the unrealized potential of an aspiring student, Mahler’s ninth was playing in the perfect setting. After I finished my work, I sat down alone in that room as darkness settled in, and I listened to the end. There may be concert halls more suited to Mahler than a condominium living room. And a live orchestra would doubtless be more striking. But all the elements came together on that day forming what I truly believe was the perfect setting for his ninth symphony.

Similar experiences can happen with passages of Scripture. I believe one such passage is before us this morning: Eph.2:8-10. It captures the heart of the gospel in a way that is unique even among other biblical texts. There may be other portions that give one aspect of the gospel or another in a clearer or more direct way. Joh.3:16, for instance, is a pretty clear statement on what the gospel is and what it accomplishes. And Rom.10:9-10 are pretty clear on how it is appropriated. There may also be verses that issue more of an invitation or better refute some potential heresy. But if you want to understand the core, constituent elements of the gospel, and what the gospel begets, you just can’t beat this series of three short verses. They help us understand it in simple language—they help us get it right. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not 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, that we should walk in them.”

Let’s look at two clear facets of our salvation as they are presented in this foundational passage of Eph.2:8-10.

Facet #1: How a Relationship with God Begins – 8-9

How does it happen? It happens by grace. Vs.7 has already told us of the immeasurable riches of God’s grace that has been put on display in us—making us trophies of his grace. And vs.5 said it straight out: “By grace you have been saved.” Now vs.8 tells us the very same thing again: “By grace you have been saved.” But what is grace exactly? Strong defined it as, “Good will, loving-kindness, favour.” Then he expanded these conceptual words to give us an actual idea of what it means to experience grace—God’s good will and loving favor. He called it: “the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.” That is grace. It is God’s initiating, enabling, sustaining, and finishing our spiritual life—the free gift by which of God that made us alive. It is God granting us the status of having lived perfectly according to the law even when we didn’t. We are justified by grace—by grace alone—according to the reformers. And grace is the flavor and foundation of God’s activity in our justification. These two are closely related. Peter O’Brien (174-5) wrote, “What is asserted here (in Eph.2:8) about salvation is elsewhere declared in relation to justification, namely, it is freely given by God’s grace (Rom. 3:24)….” He then continued on to introduce the second positive quality involved in the establishment of our relationship with God. 

It happens through faith. O’Brien added (174), “‘Faith’ is usually understood here to denote the human response by which God’s salvation is received. If God’s grace is the ground of salvation, then faith is the means by which it is appropriated.” But it is that very language that makes people nervous. This passage explicitly states that salvation is not by works but defining faith as the means by which salvation is appropriated makes it sound like faith itself is a work. But that is not the case. Comparing salvation to a great escape, one English preacher made this clarification well. He said, “From start to finish this great escape is God’s gift. He says, by grace you have been saved. Notice the passive mood; not, by faith you have saved yourself. By grace you have been saved. What, then, is this instrumental faith? Why, in Paul’s mind faith is simply the helpless arm of the drowning man cast around the generous shoulders of the lifeguard. Faith in Paul’s mind is simply the empty had of the convict held out to accept the generous pardon of the king. Faith has got no merit, no power of itself. On the contrary, faith is by very definition the humiliating confession that I deserve nothing, that I can do nothing.” With faith of this nature, we receive the grace of God and are saved; our relationship with God begins—it is established. That’s how it happens.

But Paul also tells us how it doesn’t happen. And essentially these have been handled as the positive aspects have been covered. But by way of emphasis, he also provided these negatives. Thus, salvation is not, first, your own doing. We simply don’t contribute to our salvation anything but the mere receiving of it. Now, many take the word this there in vs.8, this is not your own doing, to refer back to faith. That is linguistically possible. But the fact that the Greek gender of this is neuter while both faith and grace are feminine makes it more likely that this refers back to the entire transaction of salvation, including faith. The whole act is not our own doing; it is all a gift from God.

It is also, therefore, clearly not a result of works. And why do works play no part? So that no one may boast. And, oh, how we would love to boast! Have you noticed that we really don’t like charity. We don’t like anyone doing something for us that we believe we should be able to do on our own. And we especially don’t want anyone sacrificing anything for us—giving us something that we could never repay. We simply can’t stand the implication that we weren’t able to do for ourselves what someone else was able to do for us. Just let a friend offer to pay your mortgage for a month, or for six months. Initially you might jokingly say, “Hey, go ahead!” But when the time comes to receive the check everyone of us would say, “No, I just can’t let you do that….” And the more we actually need such a gift, the harder it is to receive it. Why? Because we should be able to take care of ourselves! We should be able to have that boast. Salvation can only come as a gift. Every part of it, from concept to completion, is the work of God for the glory of God, intended to show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. And that leads us to…

Facet #2: What a Relationship with God Looks Like – 10

First, we are God’s creation in Christ. Now, admittedly this is not the best way to say it; but the idea we’re striving toward here is an insight into what results when a genuine conversion takes place. Continuing on, then, with the glories of God’s amazing grace, this salvation we receive from him renders us his workmanship—God’s creation in Christ. The word translated workmanship is used in only one other place by Paul, Rom. 1:20, where it refers (in the plural) the creation of the universe. “Here, however, it refers to the new creation of which Paul speaks more than once” (Bruce, 290). Vs.15 below is one example; speaking of the one new man God created in Christ from the deeply divided Jews and Gentiles. Gal 6:15 is another reference; there the point is that it is not the works of the law that accomplish salvation, rather it is God’s working a new creation in us. The most familiar reference that mentions this concept, though, is in 2Co.5:17: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Second, we walk in good works which he prepared for us. We were crafted in this way by God to achieve that for which he called us—to walk in the good works which he prepared for us—prepared beforehand. This word walk forms a contrasting thematic inclusio with our walking in trespasses and sins back in vss.1-2. We used to walk in such darkness, but now we walk in the light (5:8). We used to walk in such selfishness and fleshly gratification, but now we walk in love (5:2). We used to walk in trespasses and sins, but now we walk in the good works he prepared for us. Salvation begets good works—it does not result from them. The true gospel changes lives, and it changes them unmistakably.

Conclusion

Since our outline has come in twos today, I’d like to suggest two summary lessons from this passage regarding our salvation. First, our salvation results in good works, not from them. This lesson actually addresses a couple of potential misrepresentations of salvation that are quite familiar. First, against a more Roman Catholic view, good works contribute nothing to our justification before God—either our initial conversion or the re-establishment of our salvation after what they categorize as a mortal sin. We contribute nothing—nothing at all. God contributes all that will ever be needed. And second, perhaps on the other end of the spectrum, good works do result from salvation; there is no such thing is Scripture as a justification that doesn’t result in a changed life. The new creation language makes this clear. The contrasts that permeate this Ephesian letter and the rest of the NT make it clear. Reflection on this brief portion of Scripture describing salvation contributes immeasurably to getting it right—understanding how a relationship with God is begun and then lived out. And the rich statement of the gospel is vss. 8-9 is really not complete without the reminder of vs.10.

Second, our salvation is a gift from God, not a reward. Now, that may sound like far too obvious a statement to be one of only two lessons, but I think we need to reflect on it a bit as well. A big part of the reason why Eph.2:8-10 is such a foundational description of salvation even among believers is because it reminds us of this truth. Even if we are firmly convinced that there was nothing we could do to contribute to our salvation, we tend to believe that we can mess it up pretty easily. Either we can jeopardize someone else’s salvation by not witnessing to them very clearly, or we can so anger God with our incessant shortcomings that we think he’s probably really sorry he ever saved us in the first place. Salvation is a gift from God, not a reward for faithful service. And if he showed us his loving mercy and grace while we were dead in our sins, he will not love us less as we struggle to overcome those sins now that he has made us alive in Christ. He is full of love and mercy and grace toward us. And he has purposed to show his glory by putting these qualities on display in our salvation. Another preacher put it far better than I. He said, “Put those three words love, mercy, and grace together and you find the three key words with which the NT describes what it is about God that makes him want to be a savior.” He loves us! Only he knows why, but he loves us! And he showed it by saving us! If it is possible to do something even grander than a miracle, salvation is it! And if there is any expression of pride and rebellion that remains in the hearts of Christians almost without exception, it is that somehow we retain a sense of need to earn God’s love and favor even after he has given it freely. But that is not so. If it were so it would be impossible. But it is not so. God loved us in Christ despite our unworthiness.

I recently heard a fairy tale that described a puppy-love relationship between a young princess and the son of a commoner. In a solemn pledge they promised themselves to one another in marriage as soon as they reach proper age. As they grew older their love for one another did not dissipate, as so often happens; it actually grew stronger. But the young man became more aware of propriety and convention as he matured, and he no longer considered himself worthy of the young woman’s love. Despite her assurances that she loved him as she always had, he felt the need to prove himself worthy of her hand. With tear blurred eyes she watched him leave their region in pursuit of a name for himself. His first thought was that he should become a soldier, so he enlisted in the military. But his abilities were not suited those involvements, so he was soon discharged unceremoniously. Next he tried his hand at business, but he was no more able in that field than in soldiering. He soon lost what little money he did have and ended up in bankruptcy. Discouraged but determined, he sought his fame in politics, running for local office. He had no real grasp of the issues, however, and was soundly defeated. Utterly disheartened he decided his only remaining option was to return home in disgrace, now feeling far less worthy of his beloved that he had been when he set out. As she was gazing out the window one day, she saw his sad figure coming down the road toward the village. She had heard of his misfortunes but had never wavered on the childhood promise she had made. She ran from her home to meet him as he came. And he told her that he had not been able to prove himself in the way he had intended. “I’m aware of all that has happened to you,” she replied. “But you never needed to earn my love in the first place. It has always been yours; and I have been waiting for you ever since you left.”

So it is with the love of God. We cannot earn it. But we do not need to. Neither can we negate it. He has purposed to show in us the glorious riches of his grace—because he loves us, and because he has mercy on us—and he shows it by changing us from death unto life, from walking in trespasses and sins to walking in the good works of his grace that he had prepared for us long before we even knew of his love.