Trinity
11
Eph
2:1-10
8/11/24
You
can expect that a Lutheran sermon will include Law and Gospel. Law, as you have heard me say many times, is
what we must do. It is a description of
God’s holy will. It describes how we are
to live in thought, word, and deed in relation to God and to our neighbor.
Confronted
by God’s law, we recognize the sin in our lives. This is something that we
would prefer to ignore. But God’s Spirit
uses the law to reveal the sin in our lives. The Spirit does so in order to
lead us to repentance.
And
of course, this is where the Gospel comes in – the good news that Jesus Christ
died on the cross and rose from the dead for the forgiveness of our sins. In the Gospel we receive the comforting news
that our sins are forgiven in Christ.
Every
sermon is going to include Law and Gospel.
Yet in the interaction between the two, the Gospel must
predominate. The Gospel must run the
show in the sermon and be the central driving force. If it doesn’t then we end
up with moralism. We have the Law being
used to cause and drive good behavior – and you don’t need Christ for that. You need look no further than Islam and
Mormonism to see how that is done.
The
Law will always be present in a sermon. Yet sometimes – in fact quite often –
there is no explicit Law in a particular text. The pastor must draw upon other
parts of Scripture in order to talk about how we see sin present in our lives.
However,
that is definitely not the case this morning. Instead, our text from Ephesians begins with
one of the most thorough and encompassing statements of Law that you will find
in Scripture. It is a text that leaves
no doubt about where we stand apart from God’s saving action in Christ.
Paul
begins by saying, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which
you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of
disobedience.” The apostle describes our
spiritual condition as being “dead.” Instead of having spiritual life with God,
we were dead in our trespasses and sins.
We
were dead because we were ruled by the devil – the one Paul calls the “prince
of the power of the air.” He ruled us,
and the apostle tells us that he continues to rule those who do not believe in
Christ. These words teach us that we do
not live in a “neutral” spiritual environment.
Instead, it is one of spiritual conflict as the devil seeks to maintain
his power over those who belong to him.
Paul
says that we were once in that group ruled by the devil. They are those who live in the passions of
the flesh, and carry out the desires of the body and the mind. They are not guided by God’s will, but
instead do whatever seems pleasurable and right to them.
And the apostle adds the most
condemning statement when he says that we “were by nature children of
wrath, like the rest of mankind.” There are two things we want to note
here. First, Paul says that we were this
“by nature.” Since the fall of Adam we
have been conceived and born as fallen sinners who are under the devil’s power.
And second, Paul says that all who
are ruled by the devil and live in sin are “children of wrath.” They will face the wrath of God’s judgment on
the Last Day. For now they seem to be doing
great. They have every Sunday morning as
another Saturday. They have the pleasure
of sex while dating and living together outside of marriage. They can look out for themselves, and not
worry about the needs of others. They
can focus on their hobbies, their travel, and their sports. But all of this blinds them to the reality
that God will condemn them to eternal damnation on the Last Day.
We too were by nature children of
wrath. We were dead in our trespasses
and sins. Yet Paul tells us, “But God,
being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved
us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together
with Christ.” The apostle says that God
acted to save us. In doing so, he piles
up the descriptions of God as he seeks to convey the incredible nature of this
action.
Paul tells us that God did this
because he is “rich in mercy.” God is
the merciful One who seeks to help those are in need. The apostle adds that he acted because of the
great love with which he loved us. God’s
love caused him to act, even when we were dead in our trespasses – even when we
were hostile to him.
The apostle says that God “made us
alive together with Christ and raised us up with him and seated us with
him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
In this statement, Paul has compressed together several thoughts which
he has already expressed in this letter.
Our text makes it clear that our
trespasses and sins are what brings God’s wrath. God provided the answer to
this as the Son of God, Jesus Christ, died on the cross. Paul said of Christ in the first chapter, “in
Him we have redemption through is blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to
the riches of his grace.” Christ’s
sacrificial death for us has redeemed us – it is freed us from the slavery of
sin – and so now we have forgiveness.
But God’s work in Christ did not end
there. In the previous chapter Paul has
just referred to the “working of his great might that he worked in
Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right
hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and
power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only
in this age but also in the one to come.”
God exerted his great power when he
raised Christ from the dead and defeated death.
The One who humbled himself to point of death on the cross for us has
now been exalted by God the Father. Jesus is Lord and he reigns over all things
as the One who is still true God and true man.
Paul says in our text that God “made
us alive together with Christ and raised us up with him and seated us with
him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
God made us alive together with Christ through Holy Baptism. Paul told the Colossians about how they had
been “been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with
him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from
the dead.”
Through baptism we have shared in
Jesus’ saving death and resurrection.
The Holy Spirit has worked in baptism to give us the washing of rebirth
and renewal. We are a new creation in
Christ, and that phrase “in Christ” explains what Paul is saying in our
text.
Through the water and the word of
baptism the Spirit has made us alive with Christ. We have been joined with
Christ so that we receive his saving work.
We have spiritual life through the work of the Spirit of Christ. And
because we now live our life in Christ, Paul can even say that God “seated us
with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Our future is defined by a present in which
we already share in Christ’s victory.
This is amazing stuff! But having already briefly said once in our
text – “by grace you have been saved” – Paul continues on to hammer home the
point that this forgiveness and new life in Christ is entirely and completely a
gift from God. He says, “For by
grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own
doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one
may boast.”
Forgiveness and salvation is God’s
gift. It is a matter of his grace – his
undeserved loving favor. In no way does
it involve our works or merit. It is
simply received by faith – by trusting and believing in God’s Word.
Christianity is a religion of the
Gospel, and this makes it different from every other religion that has ever
existed in the world. They are religions of the Law. They say that you must do something in
order to have the favor of a god.
Christianity says that there is nothing that you can do. Instead, salvation is a gift that God gives
in Christ.
Paul says that we have been made
alive with Christ. This action by the Spirit has changed us. And so Paul concludes our text by saying, “For we
are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Salvation is God’s gift in Christ, and works
do not earn salvation. But God’s saving
work in Christ changes us so that we became his instruments that carry out good
works.
We are his workmanship, created
in Christ for good works. So speak
the truth to others, and don’t slant stories to your own benefit. Speak truthfully about your neighbor in ways
that seek to protect and enhance their reputation. Defend your neighbor against those false
claims that would harm them.
Husbands and wives love and honor each
another as God’s gift. Wives, recognize
the spiritual headship of your husband.
Husbands, in Christ you have the model of sacrificial love. Put the
needs of your wife ahead of your own. Husbands and wives seek to meet the
sexual needs of your spouse in the one flesh union that defines how God sees you.
Children love, honor, and obey your
parents. Help out around the house in the
things that need to be done – even when it is not your assigned chore. Parents provide
for the needs and welfare of your children.
In particular, carry out your God given responsibility to raise your
children in the Christian faith. Bring them to the Divine Service and Sunday
school. Lead them in prayer at meals, and in family devotions.
Work in your job as unto the Lord
and not unto men. Understand that you
are the instrument God uses to provide for the needs of others. Do your best to help others as God works
through you. And employers, deal with your
employees in fairness and honesty. Treat
employees in the same way you yourself would want to be treated.
These are not good works that the
world thinks are special or cause for attention. Those kind of good works are usually
self-chosen. Instead, these are the good
works that God has given you to do in your vocations – your callings in life.
They are often humble and require us to serve others. But we are, after all,
God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. Our good works reflect the sacrifice and love
that Jesus Christ has shown to us.
Today’s text leaves no doubt about
what we were apart from Christ. We were dead in our trespasses and sins – by
nature children of God’s wrath and ruled by the devil. Yet because of his mercy
and love God has given us forgiveness and salvation through the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptized into Christ we have been made alive with
him. In the risen and ascended Lord we
have the guarantee of final victory on the Last Day. Through the work of the Spirit, we are God’s
workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works where God has placed us in
life.
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