Week 1, DAY 3

  And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But 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. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  Ephesians 2:1 -10 (ESV)

We are called by God because He first loved us. Our response to Him is based upon being convicted of
sin by the Holy Spirit that leads to the realization that we are sinful, and in desperate need of a Savior. God
has called us to receive His gift of grace through Jesus Christ, but unfortunately not all do respond to Him.
Salvation is a gift from God through grace. The definition of grace in the Christian tradition is the
unmerited favor of God shown to sinful humanity. We are called to be His children through faith. The
definition of faith is the uncompromising belief that Jesus is Lord of all and we respond to Him by trusting
Him. Salvation is not based upon our works, if it were then there would be room to boast in our
righteousness, thus taking away the glory of God and our response to Him and others would be prideful
arrogance. If we were saved by works, then the cross of Jesus Christ would have been for no reason. This
does not, however, mean works are unimportant; we are expected to do good works. The Bible tells us
good works are the fruit or evidence of a relationship with Jesus Christ. Thus, only by grace through faith
in Jesus Christ can we be in a right relationship with Him.

Ephesians 2:4,5 says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…” God’s grace, love and
mercy is so great that He has given us life instead of death. Through Jesus Christ we have new life, we
are fully alive, and thriving because the Spirit of God dwells in each of us. The old ways; the sinful, dark,
and ungodly ways are gone, and we do not live in bondage to sin. We are now alive in Jesus Christ, we
are victorious over sin, and we are thriving in the Kingdom of God by sharing the Good News of Jesus
Christ and His Kingdom.

Life will try and beat you down, but take comfort in the knowledge that nothing that comes your way can
defeat you or hold you down because Jesus has defeated death and sin and given you victory in life.