You decided to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. You decided to accept Jesus for specific reasons. (1) You understand God made a plan thousands of years ago to save people from evil. (2) You understand the foundation of His plan was to send His son, Jesus, to be the Christ by dying for the evil all people commit (Genesis 12:3; 22:18; Acts 3:20-26; Galatians 3:6-8). (3) You understand Jesus' blood makes your forgiveness possible (Ephesians 1:7,8). All your evil was placed on Jesus' dying body (1 Peter 2:21-24).
You trust what God did for you in Jesus' death and resurrection. Because you trust Jesus' death and resurrection, you turned your life from evil to serve God. Because you trust Jesus, you were baptized so you could join Jesus in his death and resurrection. Now you have new life. Read Romans 6:1-4 and remember Paul wrote this to Christians living in Rome.
Paul wrote a letter to Christians at Ephesus. It is called "Ephesians." The people who received this letter were wicked people before they became Christians. Now they were Christians. Jesus Christ destroyed their past wickedness. As Christians, they needed to learn how to live and act like God's people. They needed to understand their salvation in Christ was real. They needed to understand God's mercy made it possible for them to be forgiven. God's mercy made it possible for them to be Christians. They were not saved because they were good. They were saved because God is merciful. They did not deserve God's forgiveness. They received it because God is merciful.
Read Ephesians 2:1-11. Before they became Christians, they were dead people. The evil they committed killed their minds and souls. In the past they were dead people because (1) they honored spiritual beings that are controlled by Satan; (2) they did deeds and acts that rebelled against God; (3) the desires of their bodies controlled their lives; (4) they let hungers for evil rule them; (5) they were angry people living angry lives.
Paul wanted them to remember that God saved them because He loved them. God's rich mercy let God love them when they were ruled by evil. Paul wanted them to understand they were alive as saved people because God made them alive in Jesus Christ. Just as God resurrected Jesus from the grave, God resurrected them from the death of an evil life. Just as the resurrected Jesus has his place with God, they have their place with God.
God's kindness made them alive when evil had killed them. God's greatest kindness is still to come. It will be given to Christians when they are resurrected from death. Just as Jesus was resurrected from death to live with God, Christians are resurrected from death to live with God.
Salvation did not come from their acts or power. Salvation came from God's acts and power in Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. Christians do not earn salvation by accepting Jesus Christ. Salvation is God's gift to those who accept Christ. Our works are not the power that saves us. God's work in Jesus is the power that saves us. No one can brag about his or her salvation because all Christians receive salvation as God's gift.
However, Christians must understand this truth. God created the Christian in Jesus Christ to do good works. From the beginning of God's plan, He intended Christians to serve Him by doing good works. Every day Christians live to do good works. Those works are not the power that saves the Christian. They do good works to show appreciation for God's mercy in Jesus Christ.
REVIEW QUESTIONS from Ephesians 2