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To God Be the Glory | Ephesians 2
The Heart That Needed Jumpstarting
A story can sometimes clarify truth better than an argument. Our church recently installed a defibrillator—a small device capable of restarting a stopped heart. If someone were to collapse in cardiac arrest, that machine could, by design, deliver the electric jolt needed to bring them back to life. The person pressing the button might be praised in the moment, but the real credit belongs elsewhere—to the inventor who designed it, to those who made and supplied it, to those who had the foresight to purchase it.
Spiritually speaking, every human being enters life with a heart that has flatlined before God. Ephesians 2 begins, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.” Not weak. Not sick. Dead. We needed more than spiritual CPR; we needed resurrection. Salvation is not God helping the struggling; it is God raising the lifeless. And when the heart begins to beat again, He alone gets the glory.
Grace Alone
Paul makes it plain: “By grace you have been saved” (Eph. 2:8). Grace means unearned favor—the saving initiative of God toward those who deserved wrath, not rescue. Grace does not merely open the door; it carries us through it. It originates in the Father’s mercy, is accomplished through the Son’s sacrifice, and is applied by the Spirit’s power.
We contribute nothing but the sin that made salvation necessary. Every pulse of faith, every breath of repentance, is oxygen supplied by grace. If salvation depended even partly on our effort or virtue, then grace would no longer be grace (Rom. 11:6).
Faith Alone
Faith is the instrument, not the cause. Paul says, “Through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). Faith is not the currency by which we purchase grace, but the open hand that receives it.
Faith has no power in itself; its worth lies in its object—Christ Jesus the Lord. Even the ability to believe is given by God. The same Spirit who opens blind eyes also enables the heart to trust.
That means there is no ground for boasting—not in baptism, not in moral reform, not even in the strength of our faith. The weakest faith in a perfect Savior saves better than the strongest faith in oneself.
Christ Alone
Ephesians 2 insists that salvation happens “in Christ Jesus” (v. 6). The church does not save. Religion does not save. Only Christ—His obedience, death, and resurrection—secures eternal life. He is the defibrillator and the lifeblood.
Every work of salvation is His:
He loved us when we were unlovely.
He quickened us when we were dead.
He raised us with Him and seated us in heavenly places.
All of this is “in Christ.” Remove Him, and salvation collapses. Place Him at the center, and salvation stands secure.
To God Alone Be the Glory
When a heart begins to beat again—spiritually or physically—the natural impulse is praise. But the glory belongs not to the bystanders or the instruments, but to the One who gives life.
God alone designed the plan, accomplished it in His Son, and applies it through His Spirit. The Father ordained it. The Son achieved it. The Spirit applies it.
As Paul concludes, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). Even our obedience is God’s artistry. The saved sinner is a living display of divine craftsmanship—grace made visible.
Application: Living the “Soli Deo Gloria” Life
Reject boasting. Every heartbeat of spiritual life is a gift.
Rest in Christ’s sufficiency. Stop trying to earn what He finished.
Reflect God’s grace. Live and serve as one who has been mercifully made alive.
Rejoice in God’s glory. Our salvation story is the stage for His praise.
When the redeemed church stands before the throne and sings, “Worthy is the Lamb,” not one voice will sing, “Look what I did.” Every chorus, every heart revived by grace, will join in one confession:
To God alone be the glory—soli Deo gloria.
Do you want to support Church of The Word?
https://cotwstl.org/give/
Check out our church here!
https://cotwstl.org/
#biblestudy #faith
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By Church of The WordThe Heart That Needed Jumpstarting
A story can sometimes clarify truth better than an argument. Our church recently installed a defibrillator—a small device capable of restarting a stopped heart. If someone were to collapse in cardiac arrest, that machine could, by design, deliver the electric jolt needed to bring them back to life. The person pressing the button might be praised in the moment, but the real credit belongs elsewhere—to the inventor who designed it, to those who made and supplied it, to those who had the foresight to purchase it.
Spiritually speaking, every human being enters life with a heart that has flatlined before God. Ephesians 2 begins, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.” Not weak. Not sick. Dead. We needed more than spiritual CPR; we needed resurrection. Salvation is not God helping the struggling; it is God raising the lifeless. And when the heart begins to beat again, He alone gets the glory.
Grace Alone
Paul makes it plain: “By grace you have been saved” (Eph. 2:8). Grace means unearned favor—the saving initiative of God toward those who deserved wrath, not rescue. Grace does not merely open the door; it carries us through it. It originates in the Father’s mercy, is accomplished through the Son’s sacrifice, and is applied by the Spirit’s power.
We contribute nothing but the sin that made salvation necessary. Every pulse of faith, every breath of repentance, is oxygen supplied by grace. If salvation depended even partly on our effort or virtue, then grace would no longer be grace (Rom. 11:6).
Faith Alone
Faith is the instrument, not the cause. Paul says, “Through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). Faith is not the currency by which we purchase grace, but the open hand that receives it.
Faith has no power in itself; its worth lies in its object—Christ Jesus the Lord. Even the ability to believe is given by God. The same Spirit who opens blind eyes also enables the heart to trust.
That means there is no ground for boasting—not in baptism, not in moral reform, not even in the strength of our faith. The weakest faith in a perfect Savior saves better than the strongest faith in oneself.
Christ Alone
Ephesians 2 insists that salvation happens “in Christ Jesus” (v. 6). The church does not save. Religion does not save. Only Christ—His obedience, death, and resurrection—secures eternal life. He is the defibrillator and the lifeblood.
Every work of salvation is His:
He loved us when we were unlovely.
He quickened us when we were dead.
He raised us with Him and seated us in heavenly places.
All of this is “in Christ.” Remove Him, and salvation collapses. Place Him at the center, and salvation stands secure.
To God Alone Be the Glory
When a heart begins to beat again—spiritually or physically—the natural impulse is praise. But the glory belongs not to the bystanders or the instruments, but to the One who gives life.
God alone designed the plan, accomplished it in His Son, and applies it through His Spirit. The Father ordained it. The Son achieved it. The Spirit applies it.
As Paul concludes, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). Even our obedience is God’s artistry. The saved sinner is a living display of divine craftsmanship—grace made visible.
Application: Living the “Soli Deo Gloria” Life
Reject boasting. Every heartbeat of spiritual life is a gift.
Rest in Christ’s sufficiency. Stop trying to earn what He finished.
Reflect God’s grace. Live and serve as one who has been mercifully made alive.
Rejoice in God’s glory. Our salvation story is the stage for His praise.
When the redeemed church stands before the throne and sings, “Worthy is the Lamb,” not one voice will sing, “Look what I did.” Every chorus, every heart revived by grace, will join in one confession:
To God alone be the glory—soli Deo gloria.
Do you want to support Church of The Word?
https://cotwstl.org/give/
Check out our church here!
https://cotwstl.org/
#biblestudy #faith