For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
There has been a lot in our public discourse about entitlement and privilege and its concentration of merit and deserving. One side of the aisle hurls the accusation appropriate to their position, only to hear the corresponding one hurled back at them. Nothing is resolved. Each one is both the accuser and the accused and each one feels deserving of better treatment. How sad then, that we do not heed the words of Paul in Ephesians about the nature of the gospel, that no man deserves anything but the accusations of the devil, that we are sinners. He is right. We all deserve hell.
The simple and beautiful truth of the gospel is that we can never deserve what we truly seek, the peace and unity of the world, without the gospel. Only in the gospel can we look across the aisle and stretch out our hand to help the other. That is what Paul wanted to see in Ephesus when he wrote chapter 4 and its call for humility, gentleness, and unity among the brotherhood. That can only happen if we are brothers and sisters. It is not circular reasoning to say that we can only be brothers and sisters in Christ because of the gospel of grace. That deserves a hearing.
Dear Lord, thank you for the peace and unity of the gospel. Help us to live it out in our churches that the world may know. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church