Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
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The Questions
1) What part do I play in my salvation?
2) How can I be raised up and seated with Christ in Heaven?
3) How can I be alive in Christ and dead in trespasses?
Ephesians 2:1-10
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously lived according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! 6 He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
Original Intent
1) What part do I play in my salvation?
Paul states in Ephesians 2:8-9 that we “are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast.” The word grace is “from the Latin gratia meaning favor, charm or thanks. Gratia, in turn, is derived from gratus meaning free, ready, quick, willing, prompt” (Preceptaustin.org.) Author Kenneth Wuest tells us the pagan Greeks used the term grace to refer to “a favor done by one Greek to another out of the pure generosity of his heart, and with no hope of reward.” God saves us by His grace, which is His free favor, unmerited by us. He uses our faith, but as author David Guzik explains, we can think of faith as a water hose and grace as the water: “The water is the important part, but it is communicated through the hose. The hose does not quench your thirst; the water does. But the hose brings water to the place you can benefit from it.” We can do nothing to save ourselves; salvation is a free gift from God we didn’t earn and couldn’t deserve because of our sin. All we have to do is reach out in faith to accept God’s salvation by repenting of our sins and believing in Jesus (Mark 1:15) Through His grace, God built a bridge to bring us out of sin and into relationship with Him, and all we have to do is accept and believe, even this act of faith is a gift God gives to us. There is truly nothing no action we can take that is about us and our own strength. We must each choose to use the gift of faith appropriately trusting the Savior, and receive His gift of grace.
2) How can I be raised up and seated with Christ in Heaven?
Ephesians 2:6 tells us Christ “also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus.” The Greek word for “raised up with” is sungeiro, which literally means “raised up together” (Preceptaustin.org) The suggestion here is that Christians experience a “spiritual resurrection that follows our crucifixion with Christ and our entombment with Christ” (Preceptaustin.org.) Author Albert Barnes explains by saying, “We become dead to the world in virtue of His death; we become alive unto God in virtue of His resurrection. On earth, we are exalted to honor, peace, and hope, in virtue of his resurrection; in heaven we shall share His, glory and partake of His triumphs.” When we accept Christ as our Savior, we become united to Him (I Corinthians 6:17), by which, our flesh dies in His death and our new life begins with His resurrection. As one with Him, we are seated with Him in Christ in heavenly places. Author Mark Dunagan suggests, “to live in the ‘heavenly places’, is to have your mind set on the spiritual realm (Colossians 3:1), and to live like an eternal reality exists.” To be raised up and seated with Him in Christ, then, is to become united with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection because of the free gift of salvation He offers to everyone.
3) How can I be alive in Christ and dead in trespasses?
Paul writes in Ephesians 2:4-5, “God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that He had for us made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!” The word for trespasses comes from the Greek word Paraptoma, which basically means falling so as to lose one’s footing. It conveys the idea of a false step and often is translated a transgression, [from Latin trans– across + gradi = to step] which means we have crossed a line, challenging God’s boundaries” (Preceptaustin.org) The Greek word for “made us alive,” suzoopoieo, means “to cause to live with Christ or to give life with Christ. . . To an extent this verb could be seen as somewhat synonymous with ‘saved’, but it can also have the meaning of keeping alive or preserving life” (Preceptaustin.org) What Paul declares here is that even when we were spiritually dead in our sins, God loved us. He didn’t clean us up first or wait for us to change. He loved us when we were dead in our trespasses. Charles Spurgeon explains that God’s love “does not depend upon what we are; it flows from His own heart. It is not love of something good in us; it is love of us because of everything good in Him.” We are richly blessed by God’s great mercy and love that we do not deserve and cannot earn.
Everyday Application
1) What part do I play in my salvation?
I gave my heart to Jesus as a little girl over 40 years ago. At the time, I understood Jesus loved me and died on a cross to forgive me of my sins. I didn’t confront the concept of God’s grace until I got older and needed God’s rescue from situation after situation. I was never in big trouble, but I constantly found myself making mistakes, falling short, and feeling unworthy. I finally figured out that God’s grace was there precisely because I couldn’t be perfect on my own. J.I. Packer writes, “The grace of God is love freely shown towards guilty sinners, contrary to their merit and indeed in defiance of their demerit. It is God showing goodness to persons who deserve only severity and who had no reason to expect anything but severity.” When I realized I couldn’t be good enough on my own, I clearly saw my need for the interjection of God’s grace. I am unable to please Him on my own, but in His grace, He offered a sacrifice to cover all of my “not enoughs”, and then gave me His Holy Spirit to powerfully live inside me, equipping me to love and follow Him. What was impossible before, was now possible because of God, His grace, and His Spirit! I could stop trying to follow Him in my own strength and instead rely on His Holy Spirit to power my everyday interactions. It is a lesson I am still learning, but one that makes my life less about my abilities, and more about His purposes.
2) How can I be raised up and seated with Christ in Heaven?
When I buy a new gadget or download a new app, I am just interested in the main function of the thing. I want it to do what I bought it to do, and I don’t care much about the other aspects. My husband or my kids might look it over and tell me about all the nifty extras, but I don’t pay much attention. I just want the basics, plain and simple. Sometimes I have this attitude about my salvation, strangely enough. I know God saved me and I am going to Heaven, which is amazing! But I don’t think about everything this free gift of salvation entails. It really is the gift that keeps on giving! Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:6-7 that Christ “also raised us up with Him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” Paul is telling us we share in the death and resurrection of Jesus and all the benefits that represents. Author, Heather Holleman, describes her realization of the fullness available to us through salvation and in being seated with Christ. She writes that “no matter where I am or what I’m doing, I have full access to God’s love, power, peace, hope, and provision. . . Rather than search for a different seat or one that we think is better, when we’re walking with Christ, we can instead relax and enjoy the life we’re living.” Life with Christ means we have constant access to the grace, power, love and provision of God! God graciously saves us and then lavishes His love on us by giving us the rights and privileges of children and heirs of the King.
3) How can I be alive in Christ and dead in trespasses?
Ephesians 2:4-5 tells us “God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!” What does it mean to be dead in my trespasses? John Piper suggests, “we are not dead in the sense that we can’t sin. We are dead in the sense that we cannot see or feel the glory of Christ. We are spiritually dead. We are unresponsive to God and Christ and this word.” It amazes me that God loved me in this state! It is so unlike the love I have for others, even my closest family. When my husband or kids are unresponsive to me, I don’t feel love for them, and I usually don’t choose to act in a loving way towards them. But God, in His extreme mercy and unfathomable grace, chose to love me while I was still a sinner. He made me alive with Christ before I ever loved Him. David Guzik points out that God “did not wait until we were lovable. He loved us even when we were dead in trespasses, providing nothing lovable to Him.” God took our sins on Himself and became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) before we ever loved Him or even showed a sign of turning to Him. We have life in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:22) through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We are made alive, though dead in our sins, through His merciful love. We are saved by His amazing grace!
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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
Memorize It!
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“ God took our sins on Himself and became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) before we ever loved Him or even showed a sign of turning to Him. We have life in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:22) through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We are made alive, though dead in our sins, through His merciful love. We are saved by His amazing grace!”
Glory to God, and thank You, Lord! He is faithful and just, yet in His great love, He made a way for us. Thank you for sharing; so much truth, encouragement and hope here!