(Keep in mind, I mix verses frequently by choosing a variety or translations and paraphrases freely. My favorites include The Message, Amplified, Contemporary English, New Living Translation, and the NIV...New International Version.)
Ephesians 2:1-10
"It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief and exhaled disobedience. All of us lived among them at the time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts.
It's a wonder God didn't lose His temper and do away with the whole lot of us. But, God in His rich mercy, loving us so much even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ Jesus from the dead...it is through grace you have been saved. Then, He picked us up and set us down in highest heaven, in the company with Jesus, our Messiah. Now, God has us where He wants us, that He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace through faith that we have been saved, much better than we deserve.
Remember, saving is all His idea and all His work. All we need do is trust Him enough to let Him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish. It's not by works, so that no one can boast. He creates us by Christ Jesus, to join Him in the work He does and the good work He has gotten us ready to do, a work we had better be doing."
No comments:
Post a Comment