You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. (Ephesians 2:1-10, NRSV)
This is a Lutheran hang up verse.
We get hung up on 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast.”
We are saved by grace through the faith of Christ who died on the cross for us. I can do nothing to obtain the grace, or my place in heaven, therefore I don’t have to do anything.
We are so worried about works righteousness as Lutherans we completely miss read the verses… Or leave out the one that doesn’t seem to jive with our understandings.
You see it is true we are saved by grace, through faith in Christ, but that does not give us a no work required card. Good works are still necessary and needed. They do not save us or earn us brownie points, but are what God has set us up for, long before we were knit together in our mother’s womb. And that my friends is verse 10, ” For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” We were created in Christ Jesus for good works, to do good things for all, and that is to be our way of life.
We have to do good works, not because of what it will get us, but because of what we have been given!
So go and proclaim we are saved by grace while serving your neighbors!
aSacredRebel 