Ephesians 2:1

Ephesians 2:1 says, And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;  Paul tells us that before we accepted Christ as our Savior and Lord that we were dead in our trespasses and sin.  No matter how good we may think we are, we will always be under the power of sin until we accept the salvation of Christ through faith.  When we accept Christ into our lives, we are made spiritually alive forever.  Verse two adds, Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,  Paul said that before accepting Christ that we walked in the course of the world.  In other words, I believe Paul was reminding the believers at Ephesus that they were no better than any other sinner based on their own ability.  No one can claim a right relationship with God except through the sacrifice of Christ.  Verse three continues, Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.  Paul continued to remind the church at Ephesus that they had been no better than those who refused to accept Christ.  I hear someone say occasionally that as soon as they correct a few things in his or her life that they will accept the salvation that Christ offers, but we can never become good enough to be followers of Christ.  We can only come to Him as a sinner saved by grace.   When we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord we will no longer be ruled by the desires of the flesh but will be ruled by the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  When we are led by the lust of our flesh, we are children of wrath.  Verse four states, But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,  Paul said that God loved us because of Who He is and not because of who we are.  It is because of the richness of the mercy of God that we may be saved.  This mercy and love of God is extended to all people, but it is up to each individual to accept it.  Verse five adds, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)  There is no way to become good enough to be saved as already stated.  When we are spiritually dead, we are given everlasting life by faith in Christ.  Paul once more states that this is by God's grace and has nothing to do with who we are.  Verse six continues, And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:  Paul tells us that we are raised up together.  There are no separations between Christians in heavenly places, nor should there be in the world today.  Some people who would separate Christians today based on earthly status are going to be surprised in heaven, I believe.  Those who may have been looked down on will be equal in heaven.  Verse seven declares, That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.  This is a continuation of what was said in verse six.  We are united in Christ, and in the ages to come, or in heaven, we will see the richness of God's kindness toward us.  We may experience the richness of God's love here, but sin will always keep us from experiencing the total depth of His love.  Verse eight adds, For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  This is the heart of the gospel.  The only way to be saved is by faith in Christ as our Savior and Lord, and even this faith comes from God.  Verse nine continues, Not of works, lest any man should boast.  Paul tells us that if salvation could come by works then we could boast about our own abilities.  Since we can never do this, we can only come to God through Christ as sinners saved by the grace of God.  Verse ten concludes, For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.  We are God's creation.  We are created by Christ for good works, and we are redeemed by Christ in order to be able to do good works for God.  Though we are saved by faith, we are saved to do the good works of Christ for the glory of God.