Ephesians 2:8 - Keep the Faith

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

The only component we could possibly have anything to do with in this equation is the faith factor, you've heard it said to "keep the faith" that implies that there is something we can do in order to keep it going. Well even faith is a gift that is given by the Spirit. However we are responsible to cultivate faith. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. We can have a part in the manner in which we take in the Word and allow our lives to be permeated by it. That is our one string on this guitar. We are chosen by God. We cannot come to God the Father without Jesus. We cannot save ourselves, His sacrifice pays the price we could never afford to pay. The only thing left for us is to believe that He did it for us, and then to live out our lives reflecting the knowledge of that belief. Our good deeds are to be a reaction to all that God has done in our lives, and not to earn favor but to demonstrate that we posses that favor already.

APPLICATION
To be grateful for all that God has done for me and to reflect that gratitude in my words and deeds today.

Trophies of His Grace - Ephesians 2:7

⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Each and every believer is a trophy of God's grace. Once alienated from Him yet now alive through the indwelling Spirit of Christ in us. Made in His image we are a trinity,  body, soul and spirit. Apart from Christ however our spirit is without life, with Him we are like Him and reflect Him and are guided by Him and serve His will and purposes. The grandeur and uniqueness of each human life is precious to Him and worthy of the sacrifice of Calvary, if even it was only for one solitary life to be redeemed. His creation to live eternally with Him is incomparable as we are unique in all the universe, and as we fellowship with Him and worship Him out of our own free will we can express true love toward Him unlike any other element, person, being or other creation for we alone have free will. As we use that free will to serve Him and love Him and worship Him we become His trophy.


APPLICATION
To walk worthy of the position I represent to Him. It is not about who I am but who I belong to that matters.

Is Your Heart Seated in Heaven? - Eph. 2:6

⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

In the spiritual realm we are seated together with Christ having access to God on an intimate level. Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us, we have the mind of Christ. We are to be anxious for nothing but with prayer and supplication make our requests known to God and He will make our paths straight and give us the peace that goes beyond understanding. We are not to fear when we need to speak especially before noble men of influence because we can trust by faith that He will fill our mouths with the right words at the right time, like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word aptly spoken.

APPLICATION
To bathe in prayer any situation that is of concern and He will make a way to complete His will.

Ephesians 2:5

His Grace at Work in Us

⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

 It is the nature of God to see past our sinful condition and embrace our potential. He draws out the beauty from the ashes, the precious from the vile. This is His character His great pleasure, His grace at work. We who are formed in His image do the same thing, consider a father with his child learning to walk, if the child falls down again and again the father does not give up on the child and declare "you are not making it as my kid" that would be ridiculous. In the same way our Heavenly Father knows that we are merely made of clay and that our flesh is weak, has great patience with us always looking forward toward our highest potential and not dwelling on our shortcomings. This is grace at work. This is our great God.

APPLICATION
Knowing that He has great expectations of my life inspires me to live to my highest potential. I need to continue to step into my greatness and with His help accomplish much for the Kingdom.

Ephesians 2:4

⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

It is His love for us that makes us alive to Him. He breathed His Holy Spirit into our lifeless spirits and granted us permission to fellowship with Him. That fellowship with Him is the reborn, regenerated and new life we have at conversion. However there is a responsibility to continue to nurture and develop His Spirit within us by decreasing self and allowing more of Him to access us and to move and guide our lives. Another way to put this is to operate more out of the heart than out of the head. To follow the premise given in Proverbs 3:5-6:
  ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
   and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
   and he will make your paths straight.

For He will give you the desires of your heart. Logic and our own experience can sometimes become the fuel of doubt.

APPLICATION
I need to focus on my God given goals and seek Him for creative solutions to achieve them.

Ephesians 2:3

³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh^[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

So we all start out with the very same condition, disobedient by our own nature to be this way and deserving the righteous anger of God. Since every believer has this very same beginning, it can serve us to keep it in mind so that we do not become self righteous. We are all beggars needing bread only thing is a certain few of us have found out where that bread is. Yet we are all still in the same boat none better than the other. If we keep that mindset we will remain humble and grateful which is where God would have us.  If we go a long time since we realize all that He has forgiven us of we run the risk of becoming self righteous. Conversely if we have just freshly come from a time of true repentance and the forgiveness is fresh, then we are more apt to be used as a vessel of grace toward others.

APPLICATION

To be reminded of all that I have been forgiven of and to boldly be willing to express to others that the forgiveness of God is available to them.

Ephesians 2:2

² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

The eternal enemies of the believer are the world, the devil and his own flesh.  How to navigate through our time on earth victoriously is the age old dilemma. Many have gone before us and have learned to manage their way through. So indeed it is possible to finish well.  As Paul said in

1 Corinthians 11 ¹ Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. 

One of the most important ways to navigate this journey is to have relationship with others who are living out their Christianity.  And to allow them to view your life, this is active accountability and it works.

To understand that to walk in disobedience is to be led by the spirit of the air, the devil, is to exchange light for darkness, to forfeit the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit of God. He is our comforter and our peace. He is precious and not always available to mankind. We live in the age where He is available. Before Christ's sacrifice on the cross at calvary the indwelling of the Holy Spirit was extremely rare and mostly unavailable.

APPLICATION
To nurture and cherish the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life.

Ephesians 2:1

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

Cut off from the life that is in Christ we find ourselves like the animals, roving around aimless, and focused only on the five senses and the desires thereof.  When our spiritual life is dead there is nothing we can do that has eternal value. "Apart from me you can do nothing" Jn. 15:5 We are like zombies having the ability to move along on this earth but not having real life. I do not think we can appreciate true life without registering what spiritual death is like.


APPLICATION
To cherish the Spirit of God who brings true life to me.

Ephesians 1:23

23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

God is everywhere, if you have the faith to believe. The Father is always teaching, using every circumstance and interaction we face everyday. The more revealing question is are we willing to be taught? If He is always teaching, using our immediate surroundings as the constant object lesson, it will serve us to remain in the mode of being willing to learn, teachable. This is a humble position which is pleasing to Him. If we are humble then we are open to His guidance. We will walk circumspectly always seeking Him for the confirmation of the current step and the vision for the next.

APPLICATION
I need to trust God for the outcome of every circumstance, and to do so I need to guard my heart against a puffed-uo, steamroller spirit and be humble.

Ephesians 1:22

22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,

Here is where the order of things originates. Christ is head of the church, Man is the head of the family. and there is clarified the chain of command if you will. There always needs to be the point person where the proverbial buck stops. Power abhors a vacuum. In other words there always needs to be an authority in place to guide the way. In the context of Christianity we are ruled willingly. The Lord has the reins of our hearts and we are guided with the least amount of pressure, not with the whip or the rod but we are led by the eye. This is a benevolent kindgom, where the subjects are willing to be ruled because we trust that our King has our best interests in mind for every and all of our circumstances. This kind of trust emerges as we begin to fathom that He loves us. This point is easy to get into the head but most never really begin to get it into their heart.


APPLICATION
Trust and obey.

Ephesians 1:21

21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

Omnipotence- All power. Paul understood that the God of the Hebrews was indeed the ultimate in power and authority, but here he is conveying that powerful position belongs also to Christ. Acknowledging that they are two in the same. This is a great departure from orthodox Judaism. What an amazing revelation Paul had been through to conclude with such fullness of expression as this.  Well I guess being knocked off your horse and seeing Jesus personally might have that effect on people. However more blessed are we who believe and have not seen.


APPLICATION
To continue to enshrine Jesus his rightful place in my heart as Lord of all.

Ephesians 1:20

20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly 

 The power that lives in us is the same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead. The hindrance to that power is our own unbelief. Self stands in the way of the working out of that great power. We need to put to death self so that the spirit man can be raised up to do the will of God. As we get ourselves out of the way and yield our will over to the Spirit of God, his power is made manifest.  The brakes get put on our spiritual forward motion through our unbelief or doubt. When we stop expecting God to work on our behalf or when self insists on its own way we sense the power of God diminish in our lives, but when we are clear in His will and we are humbled in the flesh then His power is available.


APPLICATION
I must decrease so He may increase. I need to humble my self and He will flow through me.

Ephesians 1:19

19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power

There seems to be a strong connection between the power of God and our willingness to believe. It is almost like the currency of His strengeth is the faith of believers. Here is the account of Jesus not performing miracles due to a lack of faith.


Matthew 13:57-58 And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home."
58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

But on the contrary, if we believe He will show up He will. It is our faith that triggers His works in our lives. He will work whether we believe or not however when we expect Him to move it opens the door to His mighty power. With the faith of a mustard seed we can move mountains. 

APPLICATION
Lord I believe, help me with my unbelief.