Skip to content Ephesians 2: Paul's Teachings on Grace and Unity Nov 3 · 14 min ...more
Ephesians 2: Paul's Teachings on Grace and Unity
November 3, 2025 · 14 min
Explore salvation by grace and unity in Christ as Paul writes in his letter to the Ephesians.
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Grace and Unity in Christ 0:09 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word as we read today in the book of Ephesians, the second chapter. Now over the weekend, we began chapter 1. This is the first of 4 of the0:21 prison letters that Paul wrote during his first imprisonment in Rome between 60 and 62 AD. They're called the prison epistles or the prison letters. Over the next 2 weeks, we're gonna be reading them.0:34 Now, let's look at verse 14 of chapter 2. For he himself is our peace, who has made both 1 who has broken down the middle wall of separation. You know, once again, the eyes of the world are focused on0:46 the Middle East. How do we bring peace in that region? You know, there's all this talk about how do we get peace between Jews and non Jews. Well, right here in this chapter, Paul lays out God's plan to to bring0:57 peace between the Jews and the Gentiles. We're gonna take a look at that in, in today's study. Now let me, go into a little bit more background on the1:09 letter. It's entitled Ephesians, but it's believed by most scholars that it was not written specifically to the believers at Ephesus. Now most of those believers were Gentile, but it was1:21 believed that this was a, what's called an encyclical letter, a letter that circulated to all of the churches, those in Asia Minor, which is now modern day Turkey.1:32 Now Ephesus is was 1 of the most important cities in the region. Next to Rome, probably the most important. It was a political, economic, and a religious hub,1:44 with its affluence and pagan worship of the goddess Diana and the temple of Diana actually being there and being 1 of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, this city was a dark and depraved1:56 city. Now Paul's letter to them is calling them to live in a countercultural manner that required an understanding of what god had done for them in Christ Jesus and what we're called2:08 to be as the the called of God and how we're to live out this new life. And so I think it it it's entitled the Ephesians, the letter to the Ephesians. It was a general2:20 letter, but Ephesus represented very well what the pagan world looked like at that day. So the first 3 chapters focus on doctrine, and the last 3, focus on the2:32 application of that doctrine in the life of the believer. Now in the the the the there's 2 topics addressed in this chapter. Paul2:43 first addresses salvation by grace, and how we come to Christ solely by grace. And then in the second half, he deals with the unity of Jews and2:55 Gentiles in 1 body coming together as 1 through the cross. Right? In the first few verses, we read about our default position as human beings. Let's look at3:07 verse 1. And you he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sin. So man's default position of how we're born is we're spiritually dead3:19 in trespasses and sin. Now this condition, if it's left untreated by the antidote that god's grace administered through faith in Christ Jesus provides, it will result3:31 in the in the second death, which is eternal. So what does this default position look like? Well, verse 2 goes into it, In which you once walked according to the course of this world,3:43 according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit of the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. Now Paul in Ephesians really kinda3:55 pulls back the curtain on the spiritual realm and and deals with the the the fact that what we see with our eyes, what we touch and feel is just part4:07 of what we're dealing with. There there is a spiritual world. There is the the the the heavenlies. And and so what he's talking about here is that man in his default4:19 position is being influenced. He is under the influence of the devil. He is a son of disobedience, and that is the course of this age. Disobedience is the natural course4:30 of mankind. Verse 3, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of the flesh. It goes on kind of unpacking a little bit, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of4:42 the mind. So we have the lust of the flesh and the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath just as the others. Okay? That's the default position of man. Under he4:54 goes on. Undertaking the works of the devil, conducting themselves in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, living in disobedience to god. But but but some might say, well, wait a minute. Just5:06 because you don't serve god doesn't mean you serve the devil. I'll let the words of Jesus speak to that. In Luke chapter 11 verse 23, this5:17 is what Jesus says. These are the red letters for those who just wanna read red letters. He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.5:31 There is no neutral ground spiritually. You can be a good person, but if you don't know Jesus and he's not your savior, you've not been a recipient, received5:43 god's grace that is displayed through Jesus's death on the cross and overcome death through his resurrection, then then you are you're against god.5:55 It's what it's what Jesus said. So there's no neutral ground. As Paul wrote to the Romans, which we actually just read recently, he said, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory or approval of God. All. All.6:06 There there are no exceptions. There's no asterisk. There are no small print. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory or, again, the approval of God. But but here comes the good news. Look at verse6:18 4. But God but God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us. See, but God,6:30 he provides a way of deliverance. Why? It his great love and his rich mercy. Verse 5, even when we were dead6:42 in trespasses, made alive together with Christ, by grace, you have been saved. Before we were even aware that we were living under a death sentence, while we were still6:54 dead in our sin, god took the initiative, and our salvation is the result of his actions alone, not ours. Verse 6, and raised us up7:06 together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us7:17 in Christ Jesus. For by grace, you have been saved through faith and that not of yourself. It is the gift of God. For by grace, you have7:29 been saved through faith. It is God's grace that saves us, not our faith. And notice that the faith that we have is not of ourselves. Even it is a gift of God.7:41 The ability to believe, because man wants to believe in something. Man has created with a a a vacuum, a God vacuum. So that that desire, that ability7:53 to believe is latent in the soul, but it is the holy spirit that activates faith by what? By the word. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of god. We8:05 we can't claim that we pulled ourselves up out of the mire of sin by our own faith, nor can we claim that we earned it. Look at verse 9. Not of works, lest anyone should boast. It8:17 is all by the grace of god, which is god's divine design from the beginning of time. Look at verse 10. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus8:29 for good works, which god prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So here's the bottom line here. We are, as as as Christians, as followers of Christ,8:41 we are products of God's grace. We are produced through Jesus Christ, and we are prepared for good works. Now Paul turns to God dissolving the division8:53 between8:53 the Jew8:53 and the Gentile. Right? Now, between the Jew and the Gentile. Right? Now for those who have been on the journey, we know that there's been in the Old Testament, we see that hostility. God called the9:05 Jews out. They were a separate people, and, and there was a lot of everyone else. Well, we continue to see that today. But God has provided a way to dissolve9:16 that friction between Jew and Gentile. Verse 11. Therefore, remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh alright. Remember, he's if if9:28 he's talking primarily, he was an apostle to the Gentiles. Once Gentiles in the flesh, you are called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision hands,9:41 that at that time, you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without god in the world. See, until Christ,9:52 Gentiles were on the outside of the family of god. There were, you know,9:52 a few Gentiles were on the outside of the family of god. There were,9:52 you know, a few Gentiles were Jewish people. They couldn't even it was it was like a second10:04 class citizenship even for those that wanted to follow God, through the Jewish faith. As a whole, the non Jews were in this world with no10:16 hope. And with no hope, you have it's hard to have a constructive purpose. Okay? Verse 13. But now in Christ Jesus, you, who once were far off, have been10:28 brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made both 1 and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in his flesh the enmity,10:40 that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances so as to create in himself 1 new man from the 2, thus making peace, and that he might10:52 reconcile them both in both to god in 1 body through the cross, putting thereby putting to death the enmity. So Jew and Gentile become brothers through11:04 Christ. We we we become united. We become part of the same family. We are then partakers of the promise, the true promise made to Abraham, which was of the Messiah.11:16 So in Christ, there is no division. Galatians 3 28 29 speak to this. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female, for you are all 1 in11:28 Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Verse 17, and he came and preached peace to you who11:39 were afar off and to those who were near. For through him, we both have access by 1 spirit to the father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners,11:51 but fellow citizens, with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole12:03 building being fit together grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are bill being built together for a dwelling place of God in the spirit. Alright.12:16 Bottom line here, religion divides, but Jesus unites when we accept God's plan of redemption through Jesus Christ by God's grace.12:28 You know, the world is not made by right by religion. It's made right by a relationship with Jesus Christ. Father, we thank you for your word. And,12:40 lord, I I pray that we our our spirits would be attuned, that that the Holy Spirit would speak to us, and we would be listening, Lord, as we go through these letters of12:52 Paul, especially in Ephesians as he lays out the doctrine and the practical application of that. And father that we would live in such a way that we would live counter to the culture and that, lord, in a in a13:04 very secular pagan demonized world that we would live holy lives that would point others to the cross of Jesus Christ. So continue to guide us on this13:16 journey. We thank you for your word. We pray for your hand of guidance to be upon us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for being with me this morning, and until next time, keep standing on the13:28 word.13:30 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan, available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you13:41 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at f r c dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Grace and Unity in Christ
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