- “Remember What Life Has Been Like Since Jesus Came Into Our Hearts!”
- Introduction:
- Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
- From an historical view.
- From an individual view.
- Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
- From a new creation view.
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
- Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
- NON-BELIEVERS SEPARATED FROM GOD
- Ephesians 2:11-12
- Remember the divisions
- Ephesians 2:11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
- They were divided racially
- The Gentiles hated the Jews.
- The Jews have also hated the Gentiles.
- They were divided ritualistic
- They were divided religiously
- WE ARE TO REMEMBER THE DEVASTATION OF THE PAST
- Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
- Romans 9:4–5 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; 5Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
- Deuteronomy 7:7–9 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: 8But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
- We were Christ-less
- Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ…
- Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
- John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
- We were Stateless
- Ephesians 2: 12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel…
- Isaiah 63:7–9 (Not on PowerPoint)
- We were promise-less
- Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise…
- We were hopeless
- Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope…
- We were Godless
- Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
- Romans 2:11-15
- Romans 1:18-25 (Not on PowerPoint)
- Christianity is one great giving from beginning to end.
- Christ, God’s Son was a gift!
- The salvation He promised was a gift!
- The sacrifice which got salvation was a gift!
- Heaven, with all its eternal facilities and promises is a gift: a free, full, and perfect gift!
- The fountain of all deliverance from sin lies deep in the heart of God, from which it wells up undrawn, unmotivated, uncaused by anything except God’s own infinite loving-kindness!