five to one

Ephesians 2: 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 becausewe 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.

 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.

I was struck with all the wonderful things God displays and does for us.  From the passage in Ephesians, chapter 2 I highlighted five actions and attitudes God has displayed toward us: He loved us...He gave us life...He raised us from the dead...He united us with Christ Jesus...and He saved us by His grace.

We don't quite keep pace with our Lord, as we have but one action in the passage.  It is our part to "believe".  You can describe our new experience with the Lord with the familiar phrase "born again".  This section also tells us that we have been "created again" when we believe.  We may have only one action compared with five for our Maker...but according to verse 10 there are "good things" planned for us to do on the far side of believing.  After all, we are "God's masterpiece" according to the same verse.

If we aren't believing then we'll be leaving His favor when our physical dwelling winds down.

 

blessings in belief,

Rob Smith