It's Not About Me

¹ As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:1-10)

Everything about our lives as Christians is meant to glorify and point to God. This morning's scriptures points to God's grace in the story of us coming to be Christians. We are saved by God's grace... His mercy and forgiveness that we do not deserve.

And just in case we may tend to think sometimes, "Well, maybe that's true for those awful people... but me ... I'm pretty good, God would love me anyways because of the good I do," Paul reminds us, "This is not from yourselves - it is a gift from God". If we do not realize the magnificence of God's grace and the fact that we cannot earn our way into Christianity, are we really Christians?

"Ok", you might say. "It is about God's saving grace. I need His forgiveness, because I can't earn my way in. But as a Christian, I've done some awesome works. Maybe those are brownie points? Will it book me an extra-large sweet in heaven?" No, that's not it. It's still God. And this is the part that stood out to me this morning, verse 10 - For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. God already was planning on us doing these works. He set them apart for us. Our works are still very much about God fulfilling His plan through us.

So whenever people remark on anything good in us, we owe it to them to remind them who it really comes from - 'We are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.'