Salvation That Only God Can Provide

Let’s look at Ephesians 2:1-10. 

The passage is essentially about salvation and is among the most clearest teaching on that topic. 

 I. Verses 1-3 Reveal the spiritual condition of lost sinners: 

“And you were dead (separated from God) in your trespasses and sins, in which you used to walk (lived accordingly) when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit (Satan) who is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (lost sinners). 

“All of us also lived (past tense) among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were (past tense) by nature children of wrath” (meaning, “deserving wrath”). 

II. Verses 4-9 Reveal the benefits of God’s attribute of mercy, grace, and His acts of salvation for sinners: 

His Mercy (withholding what sinners deserve):

“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 our trespasses. 

His Grace (giving what sinners don’t deserve):

It is by grace you have been saved! And God raised us up with Christ and seated us (spiritually positioned us) with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus”

Salvation - His objective:

“in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

His requirement for salvation: 

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. 

III. Verse 10 reveals the result of God’s work in believers:

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.”

There are many other passages that teach on salvation. All of them are consistent, primarily teaching what are known as the five solas (“alone” in Latin). 

They teach that salvation is

1. in Christ alone 

2. through faith alone 

3. by grace alone

4. based on the Bible alone

5. for the glory of God alone

Praise God for giving believers salvation only through His son, Jesus Christ.