A Sinner Saved by Grace

Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)


Yes! Even when we were dead in sins, separated from God the Father, Christ Jesus our Lord came to save sinful man. Lost and undone, without hope, on my way to hell! Then Jesus reached out His hand to a sinner such as I, and upon receiving Him, He pull me out of the miry clay. I have no reason to boast, there is nothing I did to deserve His helping hand. I can't glory in the fact I took His hand, it would be unreasonable not too! Salvation is truly ALL of God!! He absolutely does the saving, but that does not negate our part to believe. When we do believe in Christ and receive Him then we are quicken as a result of faith! That faith creates in us eternal life. For He who is eternal life; Christ, now lives in us. 1 John 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. If you could see what I once was If you could go with me back to where I started from then I know you would see. As Paul said, I am the chiefest of sinners, to that I myself agree. However, one day a miracle of love took me in it's sweet embrace and it made me what I am today, just an old sinner saved by grace. I'm just a sinner saved by grace! Hallelujah!! What a Saviour!!! I did nothing to deserve it! It was not me "repenting of all my sins" that saved me. It was repenting of unbelief and then placing faith in Christ. No act that I may do, no good work that I may do, could ever or will forever have anything to do with my salvation. It's by GRACE!!! Romans 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Be careful there are many deceitful voices out there today that tell you that you must do this or do that, but that's not what the Bible says. We are freely given salvation. What a great salvation it is! While I am still a sinner in the flesh in my spirit and soul I am justified, that means I am declared NOT guilty. God does not see my sin, He sees the righteousness of His Son. The fact that I am a sinner saved by grace gives me great delight. It makes me joyful in that I know how God sees me and it also keeps me humble and grateful because I know what I am. Naught have I gotten but what I received; Grace hath bestowed it since I have believed. Boasting is excluded, pride I abase, I'm only a sinner saved by grace! Yes, my friend only a sinner saved by grace! This is my story to God be the glory! I'm only a sinner saved by grace! This is the old time religion that remains good enough for me, thank God for Grace! Whatever your doing today, please take the time to stop and thank Him for His Amazing Grace! Acts 15:11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

But God

Ephesians 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 

We were in an awful state! We were by nature the child of wrath and of Satan. A member of the wrong family destined for destruction, separated from God and under the powerful influence of the evil one! We were born in bondage to this world and were under the evil spirit of this world. Lost and undone, wicked and depraved to the core. We were headed on a fast track towards hell and forever to burn in the lake of fire. But God! Yes, amen! Glory to God, hallelujah! He always has the last word! God's rich mercy spared me! Psalm 145:8  The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. If it were not for His great, abundant mercy I know were I'd be! Thank God for mercy! Mercy was not alone in rescuing me. Oh, no it had a partner called love. Just as rich and great as mercy was so was the love of God towards me. The Love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell; It goes beyond the highest star. To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry, O love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong! His love is an everlasting, unconditional love that I do not deserve, but that which I actually long for. It is that love that draws me to Him. Jeremiah 31:3  The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. I thank God for His amazing love! I was sinking deep in sin, very deeply stain with, but the Master of the sea heard by despairing cry! His love lifted me when nothing else could help! Amen! Praise the Lord for these two short words, "But God."These two great words together, "But God," are mentioned 43 times in the Word of God. Let's explore some of them. A man by the name of Epaphroditus was on his death bed and would have died, but God! Philippians 2:27  For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. When you feel like your circumstances and feelings are unique and you desire to give in and walk away, but God! 1 Corinthians 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. When we were at our worst and completely undeserving of His grace, but God! Romans 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. When I feel my heart failing for fear or when I am physically having heart issues, but God! Psalm 73:26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. When evil has come my way and people have done me wrong. When I have been treated unfairly, lied about, and falsely accused, but God! Genesis 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Here are a sample of instances where God stepped in and made the difference. I am so grateful for Calvary! Calvary made the difference. I was lost, on my way to hell, but God because of His great love and mercy found away! Whatever you are facing today, no matter how dark and bleak the situation may look remember this could be your "but God" moment. Trust Him!

The Children of Wrath

Ephesians 2:3  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.

As we remarked in the previous devotion from verse two, as a lost unregenerate man it was natural to follow the desires and yearnings of the flesh. 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; The flesh is enemity against God. The lust of the flesh is of the world. 1 John 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. When we act in the flesh we are acting like the world and following in the steps of the god of this world. The god of this world, the devil himself is the father of the children of disobedience. John 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. There are only two families. The family of Satan or the family of God. Every single person born into this world has a fallen and corrupt nature. This nature can be traced all the way back to Adam when he accepted Satan's seed of deception. Man as a result of disobedience to God became corrupt and inherited a sinful spirit which originated in Satan. Mankind's nature is an offspring from Satan's. From the time of our birth he; the devil is our earthly father and we are apart of his family, unless we decide to seek adoption into another family. The the only other family besides the Devil's family is the family of God. God the Father is willing to adopt us into His family if we accept His Son, Jesus Christ! John 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Praise the Lord! I know I am in the right family for I have received Jesus Christ, but my heart goes out to those who don't know Him. All of those who have not accepted the Lord Jesus and received Him as Saviour are apart of a family fitted for destruction. Romans 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: That ought to make you weep! People who at no fault of their own were born into a family destined for Hell. That was me, that was you. Even now who is it that you love and care about, that remains in that family of destruction. The only hope they have is for those who are apart of God's family to go tell them their destiny and with the power of the Holy Spirit convince them to switch families! Be grateful today that you're apart of God's family and then please use that gratitude to fuel a desire in you to tell all who will listen of the wonderful offer God has for them. Oh, dear friend, let's preach the gospel and tell them the good news! Jesus will receive whomsoever will!

The spirit of this World

Ephesians 2:2  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: 

Before we were quickened, when we were still separated from God being dead in our trespasses and sins, we walked after the flesh. Wherein in time past refers to the time in our life when we were lost and undone, without Christ in this old sinful world. As a lost unregenerate man it was natural to follow the desires and yearnings of the flesh. This is described as walking according to the course of this world. Here is a sample of that walk: 1 Peter 4:3  For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries. Therein are the ways of the world that lieth in wickedness. And a whole lot more sins can be added to that list! 1John 5:19 says,  "And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness." This world is dominated by evil and has been cursed since the fall. This world we live in is evil and anti-God. Jesus came to change that and one day will! Gal 1:4  Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: It is God's ultimate plan to deliver us from this sinful, evil world and the effects of it. Now for a Christian to desire to be apart of this world doesn't make a lick of sense. God wants to deliver us from the curse of this world and yet some Christians want to yoke up with the world, act like the world, dress like the world and love the things of this world!! Help us! God has so much better for! Yet, God says in 1 John 2:15  "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." As God's children we are to be separate from the world! Why? The reason is simply this: this world is run according to the prince of the power of the air.  Satan is the god of this world! Satan is the prince of this world! 2 Corinthians 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. And over in John 14:30  Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.  Did you hear that? The prince of this world; Satan has nothing to do with Jesus. So if he has nothing to do with Jesus, then we as Jesus people ought not have anything to do with this world! This world has the spirit of rebellion and of antichrist. We should not rub shoulders with the enemies of God. It is the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Though we are in the world let us not be of the world. Our relationship to the children of disobedience should be that of a witness or ambassador to them and not a fellow partaker of the things of an evil world. Let us not let the spirit of this world which is evil influence us. Yes, we must live in the world to reach the lost, but we ought not to live like the world!! Amen!

Quicken From the Dead

Ephesians 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

To be quickened means to be reanimated with life. How can this be? Are we the walking dead before salvation? The answer is; though we are physically alive there is a part of unregenerate man that is dead. This part of man that is dead in trespasses and sins is the spirit/soul. Obviously we are not talking about physically being made alive for we already are living. That which is quickened is the soul which was dead as a result of sin. Notice,  Ezekiel 18:4  Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. The soul is dead because of sin! Now, listen carefully this is important, there are Calvinists who claim that a soul that is dead CANNOT believe and must be made alive FIRST in order to believe. It seems logical at first but, the problem is we are not to interpret scripture with human logic! Their human logic says, because the soul is dead, it cannot respond, no more than a dead body can respond. This may appear to make sense on the surface but, as we will see it's not biblically accurate. Why? First, our soul being dead does not mean it is no longer living, or active, and unable to respond. A soul that is dead is only separated from God, for the soul never dies the way we think of death. Every soul has a conscience that aids them in making decisions before salvation. A soul that's dead is still active and can feel, hear and respond. For example, many people who for the first time feel the convicting of the soul do not respond for salvation even though it's still felt. To say a soul has to be quickened FIRST in order to respond in faith is a gross negligent interpretation of scripture! God made the soul and the spirit of man to live forever! So if God made us as a living soul that never dies what does it mean to be dead in trespasses and sins.  Let's first define death. Physical death is the separation of the soul/spirit from the body. Spiritual death is the separation of the soul/spirit from God with the end, a lake of fire. Even when a soul is dead in the lake of fire that soul still lives for eternity. Our soul never ceases to exist even though it is dead. So back to Ephesians 2:1, even though our soul is dead in our trespasses and sins, it does not mean our soul is equivalent to a dead body that cannot move, hear or see. Our soul was dead in that our sins had separated us from our God. Our soul still had the ability to hear and feel conviction through our conscience. Our soul was able to make a decision to believe. Our soul was able to hear the Spirit's call. Our soul was able to see the light His Word brought. So it is with our soul, it still functions and exists although dead separated from God. To make the argument that a soul before salvation CANNOT respond, hear, see, feel, believe is simply false. If you believe that you might as well believe in the annihilation of the soul. Every soul has the ability to hear the gospel, see the light of truth, feel the conviction of the Spirit and to respond by faith. Our quickening is a result of our faith, not a precursor for us to appropriate our faith. Let's just preach the Gospel so souls can hear!!!

The Authority of Christ

Ephesians 1:22,23  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

The God of our Lord Jesus and Father of glory from verse seventeen, has put all things under His (Jesus) feet. This means Jesus Christ has been given full authority, dominion and control. God made Jesus to be the head over all things to the church. This means Jesus is the owner, the leader of a body of people called the church. The one who has all authority has delegated some of His authority to the rest of His body.  And hath put all things under his feet. Jesus Christ is above all. Everything is under His control. The ministry that Jesus started while on earth is what we call the local church. Jesus is the head of the church and has been given all authority from the Father to rule and reign over all things, but especially the church; His "baby." Jesus Christ is the head over all things to the church.  The church is His possession, He owns it, He purchased it and the church Which is his body belongs to Him. Acts 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.  Jesus purchased it and owns it, but has delegated authority to an overseer (Pastor) to run it in His absence.  As the founder of the local church, Christ has delegated some authority to the Pastor. The Pastor as the under shepherd guides and directs the sheep because of the authority delegated to him from Christ.  Matthew 16:18,19  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Jesus made Peter the second Pastor of the New Testament Church, (Jesus the first) in essence gave the keys to the city to Peter. The authority of the local church supersedes the powers of hell because of it's Founder. Jesus then gave a promise that the local church would be given His authority to bind and loose.  Luke 10:1,2  After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. Then when they returned notice the authority and power they had been given by Jesus Christ, the head of the church. Luke 10:17-20  And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.  They had authority delegated to them by their Shepherd. (Jesus)  Today the New Testament Church has the Authority of Christ on earth. We are more than conquerors through Christ while living on this earth. Let's pray, walk , witness and stand with the authority we have been given! Amen!

Above Every Name

Ephesians 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

This great power that is wrought in Christ and now available to us as a result of His intercessory ministry in Heaven is perfected in that name that's Above Every Name! Now that Christ is at the right hand of the throne, there is an exceeding greatness of power. This power is far above all principality. The word principality is similar to the idea of jurisdiction. Jurisdiction is the official power to make legal decisions and judgments in a geographical area. A prince has power over a certain locality. Jesus Christ's power, legal right and authority is far above any other official designation of power. Quite simply Jesus Christ is the Sovereign King of kings and Lord of lords! The name of Jesus Christ is more powerful and mightier than any other name not only in this world, but also in that which is to come!  The name of Jesus Christ has far more dominion or authority than any other person, prince, demon or creature. Yes even the evil princes of this word are under His dominion. Luke 10:17  And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. The demons have to listen and obey the name of Jesus!  Acts 16:18  And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.  The name of Jesus has all power! It is a name Above Every Name because God has exalted it as such!  Philippians 2:9-11  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  My dear friend be encouraged! He who has ALL power, dominion and authority is making intercession for you in Heaven. Amen!! As a believer you understand that it's only through His name we can have eternal life. Acts 4:12  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. We understand this, but we often forget that it is through that same name that we get everything we need. Our satisfaction comes from the name Above Every Name. Colossians 2:10  And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:  We are complete. matured, perfected and satisfied in that precious name! Jesus what a mighty name! Jesus is the most wonderful name I know. Trust in Him today and lean on that everlasting name!