Understanding Ephesians 2:8-9

You may be wondering what the meaning of this poster is that you have seen on the bus.  It may very well be that understanding the meaning of this verse from the Bible could be the greatest revelation in your life!  Is it possible that your current perception or belief about the criteria to gain entrance into Heaven is like most other people? 

The average person “hopes” that at the end life “my good deeds will out weigh my bad deeds” and God will say “you’ve worked hard enough and earned your place in Heaven”.  In other words, we consider ourselves worthy (good enough) to be accepted into God's heaven through our own ideas and efforts.  This verse and so many others from the Bible, God’s Word says otherwise.

A TRUE STORY

The last battle between the United States and Great Britain took place on January 8, 1815, in New Orleans at the Rodriguez Canal. 7,500 British soldiers under Sir Edward Pakenham made two assaults against 4,500 U.S. militia under General Andrew Jackson.

The hope of the British was to capture New Orleans and separate Louisiana from the rest of the United States. The Americans were warned of the attack by the French pirate Jean Lafitte. This information allowed the outmanned but expert marksmen from Kentucky and Tennessee to entrench themselves in the canal so that within a half hour, the two waves of British soldiers were decimated. The British retreated after General Pakenham was killed along with 2,000 of his men. The U.S. forces suffered eight dead and thirteen wounded.

The real tragedy of the engagement was that the War of 1812 was already over. A peace treaty had been signed in Ghent, Belgium, in September of 1814, four months before this battle began. Instant communication as we know and enjoy today didn't exist. In 1814, the terms of the treaty took months to be heard, so those that perished in that last battle were fighting a war that was already over!

What, you may ask, does the story of this battle have to do with a Bible verse? So glad you asked!  Since the disobedience and fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden, we have been at war against God. "God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day." (Psalms 7:11).  The wickedness of our heart is seen everyday in our rebellion against God even though He longs to have an eternal relationship with us.

The Word of God tells us plainly that the long war between God and man is over. A treaty has been signed in blood by Jesus at the cross and it guarantees eternal peace between God and the sinner. The tragedy is that most people in our world have never heard the terms of the treaty, or if they have, they have not trusted God to fulfill it.  The result is that millions of souls perish eternally because of ignorance and unbelief in the perfect plan of salvation designed by God.

Like those poor soldiers that died because they had not heard the war was over, many will not receive the truth of the Bible because they are still at war with God.

WHAT ABOUT YOUR STORY?

The Sovereign, Almighty God says that the only way to heaven is by faith in what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. In His crucifixion and suffering, Jesus stood as the Mediator between the sin of mankind and the judgment of God. His death and resurrection have accomplished all that is required for you and I to be at peace with God.

There is, however, one thing that gets in the way for so many people. Our pride prevents us from acknowledging "I'm wrong! I am a sinner, and I’m unworthy to enter God’s Heaven", and therefore, it prevents us from accepting the other fact, "God is right!"

So how will your story be written and end? Are you willing to admit that my criteria for entering Heaven is essentially the opposite of God’s criteria? You must! You cannot earn a gift, nor can you take a gift if your hands are full of something else. Let go of whatever you are trusting in to get you to heaven apart from faith in Christ. The first word Jesus spoke in His first public message was "Repent!" That means we must change the way we think and agree with what God has said about ourselves and the way of salvation. Rejecting God's way to is to condemn us to the eternal judgment and separation from God’s Heaven.

The message of this verse is that God's salvation is a gift, already paid for by the Lord Jesus and all that you and I have to do is to trust Him to keep His Word.

"If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself." 2 Timothy 2:13.

For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.    

Ephesians 2:8-9