Made Alive in Christ
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.
Ephesians 2:4-5
What does it mean to be “alive with Christ,” and “we were dead in our transgressions”? We will reference the scriptures from Ephesians 2 to answer these questions. We will also look at being saved by grace and not by works.
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. (Ephesians 2: 6-7) To be seated in the heavenly realms we must be justified before God and cleansed of our sins. All 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. (Ephesians 1:3) All have sinned and are subject to God’s wrath, but Jesus took our sins to the cross. We are cleansed of our sins and have forgiveness, only if we accept Christ as our savior and are filled with the Holy Spirit. We are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:24)
You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. (Romans 8:9) We are made alive by the indwelling Holy Spirit and the Spirit is our deposit on eternal life. Set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Corinthians 1:2) We are now spiritually alive in Christ, because the Spirit of God lives within us. If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. (John 14:15-17)
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. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10) We are not saved by works, but we are created for good works. We do good works because our hearts are being filled with God’s love, and our works become our lives, serving the Lord. The Lord looks at the heart and sees our hearts filled with his love and we seek to bring lost souls into the Kingdom. We are not saved by our works, and we cannot earn our salvation. We are saved by grace, through Christ, and we live by the Spirit with changed hearts, hearts filled with God’s love hearts that live by faith.
Today know that you are spiritually alive in Christ and that heaven is your permanent home. Seek to see people as God sees people, with a loving heart, especially the lost souls, those who don’t know the truth but are living by Satan’s lies. Let the Spirit live in you, driving your thoughts and words.
Prayer: Lord fill me with the Spirit that I may show Christ and his love to others. Help me to stop trying to earn my salvation through works, but instead to be guided by your love in my heart. I pray for a pure heart that is pleasing to you and that seeks to serve you. In Jesus name, Amen