Ephesians 2:4-7

Rachel Workman: ⁴ But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, ⁵ 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!) ⁶ 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. 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.

Mercy and grace that I am so undeserving of. The penalty is death. With Christ we live, forgiven and clean. And if that wasn't enough God took it a step further and seats us with Christ in the heavenly realm. If reading that, and knowing that doesn't move you towards Christ, you need to read it again and again until your spirit is moved by it.

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Mike Grimm:  ⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. Here Paul emphasizes that we do not need to live any longer under sin's power. The penalty of sin and it's power over us were miraculously destroyed by Christ on the cross. Through faith in Christ we stand acquitted, or not guilty, before God. God does not remove us from this world of sin, or turn us into some kind of mind controlled robots -- we will still feel like sinning, and sometimes we will sin. The difference is that before we became Christians, we were dead in sin and were slaves to our sinful nature. But now we are alive with Christ. ⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, Because of Christ's resurrection, we know that our bodies will also be raised from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:2-23) and that we have been given the power to live as Christians now (1:19). These ideas are combined in Paul's image, in 1:3, of sitting with Christ in "the heavenly realms". (The heavenly realms means that the blessings are eternal, not temporal). Our eternal life with Christ is certain because we are united in His powerful victory. ⁷in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

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John Burnett:  But^[a] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

But God… is the greatest transition in the Bible in my opinion.  Verses 1-3 describes our wretched state of being dead in our sins and children of wrath, but these verses show who God is.  Rich in mercy, having a great love for us, gracious to save us because we do not deserve it and gracious to reward us based on Christ’s Righteousness that he imputed to us.  The “us” will get to share the immeasurable riches of His grace in the coming age, which cannot be far off.

Before Christ returns there will be a time of terrible tribulation.  The true believer (us) described in these verses will not be here for it but the ruler of the world has been and is preparing people to follow him into this 7 year time.  Below, is a video that I watched last night that shows the evil that is our federal government.  It is graphic and eye opening and it shows how the mystery of lawlessness has been at work.

2 Thessalonians 2:7 says, “⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.  The “he” is the Holy Spirit and He will be removed when true believers are removed at the rapture.  The evil people described in this video will no longer be restrained and will be the leaders following the ruler of world, Anti-Christ.

The video is called Out of the Shadows.  Here is the link to the video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wTiCxXgrJw

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Tomorrow’s reading for Ephesians 2:8-10

⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. ¹⁰ 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.