Ephesians 2:4-8
God however is rich in mercy and great in love. It is not his desire that people should stay spiritually dead and helpless in their sin. We may not be capable of saving ourselves but he is capable of doing so without denying his own holiness. Grace is often defined as not giving to us what we deserve and giving to us what we do not deserve. For this to happen God needed to provide a way for justice to be fulfilled whilst at the same time mercy was extended. This was done through Christ and is only done through Christ. Paul expresses God’s mercy through Christ as, ‘the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.’ v7 By placing us in Christ those who trust in him share in his resurrection life. This brings both Christ and God the Father glory. v7b The key to access God’s gift of salvation in Christ is faith. Even this is not something we can manufacture within ourselves because we are naturally spiritually dead. Saving faith is the gift of God. v8