And You Hath He Quickened

2018-08-26

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; (2) Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: (3) Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. (4) But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, (5) Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (6) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (7) That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. (8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:1-10)

This is one of the clearest passages in the Bible on the role of the grace of God in our salvation.

  1. God quickened us. Salvation is an act of God; it is not something that we elicit. The Bible clearly tells us that we “were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1) but He has “quickened” us. He did not make us fast; the word quickened means that He made us alive! We were without hope, but God alone quickened us through the preaching of His word. This is not to say that we were physically resurrected, as heretics were preaching in Paul’s day (2 Timothy 2:18). However, we have been spiritually brought back from the dead, as we were dead in sin.
  2. We were servants of Satan. Before we were saved, we were servants of Satan, who also is called “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). We under his control. We also were servants to “the lusts of our flesh” (Ephesians 2:3). We were “children of wrath,” meaning we were facing God’s judgment and destruction, just like the rest of the world faces today.
  3. God loved us when we were enemies. God’s mercy and love was for enemies. When we were still Satan’s sinful pawns, God raised us spiritually, by the preaching of His word. This was an action that God took on His own behalf. The Bible tells us, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Jesus Christ died for us while we were at enmity with God. This is God’s kindness and service to us. Salvation was by God’s grace, not our works or intrinsic worth. Ephesians 2:4-5
  4. We are raised, ascended and enthroned with Christ. Our spirit is already in Christ in the heavenly places. The Bible tells us, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). This has tremendous implications of the newness of eternal life that we have received. This is what we mean by having our position in Christ; Christ is the source of our eternal life, and we are in Him. Ephesians 2:6
  5. God receives and will receive glory by what He has accomplished in our salvation. We see the phrase “riches of his grace” as we did in Ephesians 1:7. We see that only God could accomplish such a feat: He transformed Satan-worshippers into His own children. He alone receives all the glory for this. Ephesians 2:7
  6. We did not contribute to our salvation; it was by God’s grace. Salvation was the gift of God. You do not pay for a gift or contribute to a gift in any way; you only receive a gift. Salvation is not by any works that we have done; it is by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. There is no room for us to boast of works, because we only received a gift. If we could boast of anything, that would diminish God’s glory. If we were to boast of our own salvation, it implies that we did something to earn it, and that God owes us something. This is false; as sinners, we were in an infinite debt to God, and only He has the resources to pay our debt. Ephesians 2:8-9
  7. We were created for good works. We were not saved by good works that we have done. However, God saved us and appointed us to do specific good works. Being “his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:10) refers to when were born again, not when we were created in the flesh. Good works are the fruit of salvation, not the root of salvation. Ephesians 2:10