Tuesday after the Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 3, 2020 by under
Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-22 (NKJV)
2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—12 that at that time you 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. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Devotion
Yesterday, we heard that we have an inheritance in Heaven. Today, St. Paul tells us just how glorious that inheritance is, for before we were made children of the Lord God, we were dead in our sins and trespasses. Sin had so infected us that we were dead. Only the Lord God through the work of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ could make us alive so that we might enjoy the Kingdom of Heaven as our home and inheritance.
Lest we think that we were able to do anything to bring ourselves out of death, St. Paul writes that we have nothing in which we can boast of ourselves. We are brought into life out of death only by grace. It is only an undeserved gift which we cannot buy or for which we can do enough works. It is given to us purely out of our Lord’s love and compassion for us. It is simply by grace. There is nothing in us that merits this grace. What we possessed only brought us death, and the Lord God’s enmity.
We were at enmity with the Lord God on account of our sins, but our Lord Jesus Christ took the enmity against us into His own body on the holy cross. He took the wrath of the Lord God that we deserved and offered up His life as a ransom for us. He died so that we might have life and have it eternally. He died so that we might have a home and inheritance in Heaven.
Prayer: Lord, we beseech Thee to keep Thy household, the Church, in continual godliness, that through Thy protection She may be free from all adversities and devoutly given to serve Thee in good works, to the glory of Thy Name; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
