The Essence of Christianity
[We] were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. - Ephesians 2:3
I confess that it’s easy for me to think more highly of myself than I ought. In fact, we all tend to think this way. We want so desperately to find some good inside, something holy and righteous sourced in our souls. Otherwise, we’d have to recognize the true reality God lays out for us in Scripture:
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. (Psalm 14:3)
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way. (Isaiah 53:6a)
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)
The Apostle Paul has the right of it, though, in his letter to the Ephesians, and he minces no words. We [Christians], he writes, were children of wrath, just like everyone else that’s ever been born. He saw no good within himself, and surely these verses from the Old Testament were on the tip of his tongue as he wrote.
Yet, he also penned the next two most comforting words in the bible, in Ephesians 2:4, “But … God.” That heavenly phrase should ring in your ears, church! There is no hope for us after reading verse 3, and yet we see that blessed contrast (but). Something is different; a divine change has occurred.
God. Now, think about it: if the text here said “you,” then we’d have reason to boast in ourselves. But God. In an eternal state being dead (2:1), we have no hope of having an eternal relationship with our heavenly Father. We need someone from the outside; we need someone who is transcendent over the fallenness of this creation and our own nature—and that someone must be perfect, holy, righteous, forgiving, and compassionate.
So, this is our eternal estate—born as children of wrath, following our own way, performing works of unrighteousness. Then, miraculously, God transforms us into children of Christ, following his way, created for his good works. So, why and how have we become so valuable to God? It is solely because of his gracious intervention in our lives. He’s done it all; he gets all the glory.
Our hope of eternal life is to accept God’s free gift of faith (2:8). This passage is the very essence of the gospel—being taken from the kingdom of darkness and being transferred into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. And this, too, is the essence of Christianity—the only religion whereby instead of man making efforts to please God, he intercedes on our behalf because of his grace, to save us.
I confess that it’s easy for me to think more highly of myself than I ought. In fact, we all tend to think this way. We want so desperately to find some good inside, something holy and righteous sourced in our souls. Otherwise, we’d have to recognize the true reality God lays out for us in Scripture:
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. (Psalm 14:3)
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way. (Isaiah 53:6a)
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)
The Apostle Paul has the right of it, though, in his letter to the Ephesians, and he minces no words. We [Christians], he writes, were children of wrath, just like everyone else that’s ever been born. He saw no good within himself, and surely these verses from the Old Testament were on the tip of his tongue as he wrote.
Yet, he also penned the next two most comforting words in the bible, in Ephesians 2:4, “But … God.” That heavenly phrase should ring in your ears, church! There is no hope for us after reading verse 3, and yet we see that blessed contrast (but). Something is different; a divine change has occurred.
God. Now, think about it: if the text here said “you,” then we’d have reason to boast in ourselves. But God. In an eternal state being dead (2:1), we have no hope of having an eternal relationship with our heavenly Father. We need someone from the outside; we need someone who is transcendent over the fallenness of this creation and our own nature—and that someone must be perfect, holy, righteous, forgiving, and compassionate.
So, this is our eternal estate—born as children of wrath, following our own way, performing works of unrighteousness. Then, miraculously, God transforms us into children of Christ, following his way, created for his good works. So, why and how have we become so valuable to God? It is solely because of his gracious intervention in our lives. He’s done it all; he gets all the glory.
Our hope of eternal life is to accept God’s free gift of faith (2:8). This passage is the very essence of the gospel—being taken from the kingdom of darkness and being transferred into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. And this, too, is the essence of Christianity—the only religion whereby instead of man making efforts to please God, he intercedes on our behalf because of his grace, to save us.
Pastor Joe Pytleski
Sturgeon Bay Community Church
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