Once You… But God

We all love a good advert don’t we? Even if you find the ad breaks on TV annoying, there’s something about a well-made advert that connects with us on some level. Whether it’s old classics like “For mash get Smash” or gentle puns like “Big on quality, Lidl on price,” advertising slogans stick with us regardless of whether or not we end up buying the product.

As we begin Ephesians 2, we see Paul once again pouring out deep theological truths as if he just can’t contain his excitement about all that God is doing. This whole section (2:1-10) is one long sentence in the original Greek, just like 1:3-10 and 1:15:23. Imagine being the scribe whose job it is to write down all that Paul is enthusiastically talking about!

Paul begins with this phrase “Once you…” to remind the reader that there was a time when they had not received God’s forgiveness.

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

Ephesians 2:1-4

It can be easy to fall into the trap of seeing ourselves as somehow better than those who don’t know Jesus, the longer we live this Christian life. As we gain more distance from the life we used to lead, we can forget that it was God who saved us from it. It wasn’t our own effort or our fervency in prayer or our theological knowledge that saved us. We live differently from those around us who don’t know Jesus not because we are better than them but because we have come to know the Living God who is shaping us more and more into His likeness.

Paul wants to make it clear to his readers that nobody has ever been perfect. All of us at one time lived according to our sinful nature, so we cannot look down on those who are still living that way as if we ourselves have never been there. 

But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Ephesians 2:5-10

I love how Paul pivots there. From the beginning phrase “Once you…” he now switches the focus away from us and onto God with “But God…”

It is only because God is merciful and gracious that we are saved. No amount of good works, theological knowledge or persistent prayer will be sufficient to earn our salvation – it is a gift from God because of His grace! Paul underlines this fully for us by reminding us that we were dead in our sins but God has raised us to new life just as He raised Jesus from the dead. 

The thing that particularly grabs me in this section is in verse 7.

So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:7

Of all the methods that God could have chosen to display His grace and kindness to the world, He chose us. He could have written big letters in the sky, spoken in a booming voice so that everyone could hear, or even just imprinted every human being with an awareness of His character from birth, but instead He chooses to use us as examples of His grace and kindness!

If God had a marketing campaign, it would be based around your life. You and I are God’s billboard, displaying to the world His kindness, His goodness, His grace. What does your billboard say?