Made Alive with Christ

Walking with Jesus: Everyday Faith

Read slowly: Ephesians 2:1–10

Before we can understand what it means to walk with Jesus, we need to understand how we came to have life in him.

Ephesians begins this explanation with an unsettling description: we were dead in our trespasses and sins. We were thinking, choosing, working, and making plans, yet spiritually alienated from God. Our outward activity could not supply the life we needed.

Paul writes to people who now belong to Jesus. He asks them to understand both the condition from which they have been rescued and the mercy that has changed their lives. That is where our walk begins too: with a clearer understanding of what God has done.

Sin reaches into what we want

Ephesians 2:1–3

Sin affects the whole direction of human life. Paul describes people following the course of the world, living under the influence of evil, and carrying out the desires of their bodies and minds. Sin shapes what seems desirable, what we excuse, and what we choose.

We remain morally responsible for those choices. We think, desire, and act willingly. Yet our willingness does not mean our hearts are free from sin's influence. Our desires themselves need God's renewing work. In Romans 8:7–8, Paul describes the mind governed by the flesh as hostile to God and unable to submit to his law. Turning toward God depends on his grace reaching into this condition.

Genesis 3 helps us understand the roots of that alienation. Adam and Eve disobey God's command after the serpent calls his word and goodness into question. Their action is a deliberate turning from the God who gave them life. They accept the prospect of wisdom on terms God has forbidden, and afterward they hide from him.

That turning away reaches into the human condition Paul describes. The phrase “by nature children of wrath” names our exposure to God's righteous judgment. Our problem goes deeper than an occasional bad decision. Sin has affected the heart from which our decisions come.

Paul includes himself among those who shared this condition. No one in his account has a place from which to look down on everyone else. Understanding our need begins to loosen pride. The person whose sin is easiest for us to recognize needs the same mercy we do.

The turning point is God's mercy

Ephesians 2:4–7

Then come the words “But God.”

God acts because he is rich in mercy and great in love. While we were dead in sin, he made us alive with Christ. The reason for the rescue is found in the character of the rescuer.

Mercy meets us in our guilt and helplessness. Grace names God's freely given favor, the kindness by which he saves people who cannot earn their rescue. Paul places God's action at the center of the change: God gives life where sin has brought death.

This helps us understand repentance, our turning from sin toward God. Even that turning depends on his gracious work. We come to him because he acts to awaken and draw us, and we continue to depend on him as he renews our desires.

Humility and confidence grow from the same truth. We cannot take credit for giving ourselves life. We can trust the God whose love moved him to act while we were still in need. When we confess sin, we approach the Father whose mercy is already revealed in Jesus.

Our new life is joined to Jesus

Ephesians 2:4–7

Notice how Paul keeps joining our story to Christ's. God makes us alive with him, raises us with him, and seats us with him in the heavenly places. The repeated connection explains where our new life and standing come from.¹

Christians call this union with Christ. God has joined believers to his Son, so that the benefits of Jesus' saving work become ours. We receive forgiveness through his death and new life through his resurrection. Our relationship with God rests on belonging to Jesus.

To be seated with Christ speaks of sharing in his exalted standing. We are welcomed into fellowship with the risen Lord and share in the victory he has won. Everything Paul says about our position is held together by the words “in Christ Jesus.” Our dignity, security, and hope come through him.

We still live amid temptation, weakness, and suffering. Yet those experiences no longer tell the whole truth about us. We belong to the living Christ. A difficult day may reveal how much help we need; our union with him tells us where that help and hope are found.

Paul then looks toward the ages to come. God intends to display the riches of his grace through his kindness toward us in Christ. The people once described as children of wrath have become recipients of astonishing kindness. Our future rests in the generous heart of God.

The life he gives becomes the life we walk

Ephesians 2:8–10

Paul makes the source of salvation clear: we are saved by grace through faith. Faith trusts Jesus and what he has done. Our rescue is God's gift, leaving us with gratitude instead of grounds for boasting.

Then Paul speaks of good works. We are God's workmanship, created in Christ for the life he has prepared for us. His saving action gives both a new standing before him and a new direction for our living.

The word “walk” connects the beginning and end of the passage. At first, it describes life shaped by sin. At the close, it describes the good works God intends for his people. Walking means the ongoing direction of a life, including its desires, habits, and relationships.²

This gives everyday faith its foundation. Honesty, forgiveness, patience, and love grow from the life we have received in Christ. As we come to understand his mercy, we have reason to stop defending our sin, to receive correction, and to extend kindness to others. The grace that brings us near to God begins to shape how we live near one another.

We begin this series depending on Jesus. He is the one who gives life, the one to whom we belong, and the one whose goodness gives our steps their direction.

Words of Wisdom

The deepest truth about the Christian life is that we belong to Jesus. We have been made alive with him, raised with him, and seated with him. The mercy that gave us life teaches us humility; our union with Christ gives us confidence. We walk forward from the grace we have received, depending on the Savior who has joined us to himself.

Prayer

Father, help me understand the mercy by which you have made me alive with Christ. Teach me to be honest about my sin and confident in your grace. Deepen my understanding of what it means to belong to Jesus, and let that truth shape my desires, my decisions, and the way I walk through this day. Amen.

Sources Consulted