EPHESIANS OUTLINE #16 of 34

The Church Analyzed -

I. Visualize Its Condition (Eph. 2:1-3) what We Were

A. Dead in Sin

1. The two words he uses are very interesting

2. The first word Hamartia

a. It simply means to miss the mark

b. Sin is the failure to be what we ought to be and the failure to be what we could be.

C. We commonly have the wrong concept of sin

d. We readily agree the murderer, drunkard, thief, prostitute, etc. are sinners.

e. Since most of us are respectable people we don't think sin has too much of a hold on us

f. We would resent being called hell bound sinners

g. But this word brings us face to face with what sin is

h. Sin is the failure to be what we ought to be Are you as good as husband as you should be? If not why not? what about the wife, son, daughter?

i. Sin is not something invented by theologians, it is something with which life is permeated saturated.

3. Second word is Paraptoma

a. Literally it means a slip or fall

b. It is used for a man losing his way or straying from the right road

c. To trespass is to take the wrong road clearly knowing you shouldn't have taken that road

d. Are you on the right road or are you on the wrong road?

4. The central idea in both words is failure the failure to make life what it is capable of

becoming

a when we understand what sin is then there is no possible doubt of our own sin

B. Disobedient to God (2:2-3)

1. When sin took us out of the life of God it also took us out of the service of God.

a. Note that we (before salvation) are called sons of disobedience

b. That disobedience is manifested in the fulfilling of the desire of the flesh and

of the mind

2. In other words I do what I want to do when I want to do it.

a. I am not particularly interested whether God is consulted or not.

b. Worlds philosophy is expressed - Do your own thing

C. Deserving of Wrath (2 :3 B)

a. Any number of reasons

b. Walked as to your behavior dominated by the spirit of this world system (its opinions, aims, or impulses)

c. Conforming to the worlds ideals, manners, dress speech

d. Dominated by Satan insofar as we gratify the desires of our flesh and mind.

II. Emphasize Its Liberation (Eph. 2:4-8) What God Did

A. Three Great Words are used in these verses to trace this matchless remedy to its source in God

1. Note the introductory words BUT GOD

a. Man could not help himself - he is dead in trespasses and sin

b. Left to himself, man would perish in his sin

c. But God has intervened, turning death to life, despair to hope.

B. First Great Word of Salvation is MERCY

1. Mercy is our first need. If a man who deserves punishment is to escape it must be through the extension of mercy.

a. Scriptures abound in allusions to His mercy

b. Psalm 103:8 - Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger, plenteous in mercy.

c. Ps 103:17 - The mercy of the Lord is everlasting

d. II Cor. 4:1 - We have received mercy

a. I Tim. 1:13 - I obtained mercy

f. James 5:11 - The Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercies

g. Notice in our text we are told; God is rich in mercy

C. Second great word is Love

1. It is the great Christian conception that God is love. Sin is therefore a crime, not against law, but it is impossible to make atonement for a broken heart; and sin is not so much breaking God's law, we can pay the penalty, either of fine or imprisonment which the law lays down, and then the law has no further claim on us; we are free of the law. But suppose we break someone's heart. We can never atone for that. Let us take a crude and imperfect analogy. Suppose a motorist by careless driving runs over and kills a child. He will be arrested; he will be tired; he will be found guilty; he will be sentenced to such and such a term of imprisonment, or to such and such a fine; and his licence may be taken from him for such and such a period. But after he has paid the fine and served the imprisonment's term, the law has no further claim on him. As far as the law is concerned, the whole matter is over. But it is very different in relation to the mother whose child he killed. He can never make things up to her, he can never put things right with her. By serving a term of imprisonment or by paying a fine. It is against her love for her child that he has committed this crime; and the only thing which can restore his relationship to her is an act of free forgiveness on her heart, that is the way we are to God. It is not God's law on which we have sinned, it is against God's heart.

D. Third Word is Grace

1. Grace is God's undeserved favor

a. The Greek word for grace is CHARIS

b. The Greeks would refer to that burst of generosity that would bestow a lavish gift

without thought of reward or return

c. It also referred to the forgiveness of a debt. A man could not pay another but in

grace the owner forgave the debtor.

d. Finally it came to mean the mercy of God in forgiving us and saving us.

e. All of us like autumn leaves are perishing but God in his goodness and mercy has

saved us.

III.

A. Three Great Results of God's grace, love and mercy

1.They deal with the past, present and future

2. We WERE raised from the dead (5)

a. This is a completed fact

b. We deserved death but Jesus tasted death for us

3. We are NOW seated with Christ in heavenlies (6)

a. The one who love me has now united me to him

b. In Christ I am seated in the heavenlies because He guarantees my being there

4. We will be on Display (7)

a. The church of Jesus Christ will be the instrument of displaying His grace and

kindness