Scandalous title huh? Hopefully you noticed that there is only one "t" in the but.
There are two things that I think are very relevant for contemporary Christians in the first part of Ephesians 2. The first, is the honesty with which Paul addresses the Ephesians. There is no sugar-coating the past of the Ephesians on Paul's part.
He gives it to them straight: "And YOU were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-" (Ephesians 2:1-2) I doubt any of the Christians in Ephesus cared to be reminded of their sordid past, and yet, Paul underlines their sinful past so that his teaching on grace to really sink in. It would be hard for any of them to stake a claim as being righteousness of their own accord after Paul's dredging up of their not-so-righteous past. Sadly, too many of us stop there in forming our own approach towards others, particularly others with checkered pasts. We use Paul as our blueprint in forming our attitudes, without taking the time to read all of what Paul has to say. All we need to do is read the very next verse and we will see that Paul's attitude is actually one of empathy, rather than judgment. "Among whom WE ALL once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind." (Ephesians 2:3) As I was driving back from visiting someone in the hospital in Pineville today-shocking, but the metropolis of Glenmora doesn't have a hospital- I was flipping through the radio stations looking for something to listen to on the way home. I came across what sounded like a sermon, so I stopped. Normally I flip right on through anything that sounds like a radio sermon, because so many of them sound angry and belligerent. However, for some reason this time I stopped to listen for a minute, and I am glad I did. The preacher (not sure who he was) was talking about what it means for Christians to be meek, and he said something I thought was really insightful. He said, "evangelism is not about someone who knows a lot teaching someone who knows little or nothing at all, rather it's one beggar telling another where he can find bread." What a great way of describing our calling as Christians. We are all beggars in this world when it comes to our need for grace. When we remember that, when we recall the hunger pains we once felt deep in our soul when we walked according to "the course of this world", how can we not but share with others where the bread of life can be found?
Now to that huge "but" I referred to earlier, which is the second thing that is extremely cogent for contemporary Christians. Paul spends the first three verses of Ephesians 2 painting a crystal clear picture as to our own righteousness. It doesn't exist, at least not when we are left to our own devices. Here is where that "but" comes in, and it's a huge one. You see, normally we associate the word "but" with bad news. Sometimes it comes in the context of a relationship; "I have a great time when I am with you, but I think we should just be friends." (Not that I have ever heard that one before) Sometimes we hear it in the workplace; "we appreciate the work you've done for us, but the company is going through a tough time economically, and we are going to have to let some people go..." Or perhaps the scariest of all scenarios; "we ran all the tests and everything looked good, but then we found a spot..." When we get to verse four of Ephesians 2, Paul gives us the good news we have been waiting for using a word that we have become accustomed to associating with bad news: "BUT God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:4-6) I think that's just the way it should be written, an appropriate way of relating in writing what God does in our world. He takes things, including people, that we have become accustomed to viewing in a negative way and injects them with new life, and a new image. As Paul goes on to say, it's all because we are now "alive together with Christ." Through God's grace our fates have been tied together with that of Christ, and that can only mean one thing, resurrection. The Son of God was once dead, as were we all; but now he lives, and because of that we have life through Him.
It's amazing how big one little "but" can be...
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