David Bahn – Reflections

Ephesians 2:4-10

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 Forby grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

I had the opportunity to ask a simple, but important question of my Senior Pastor Prayer Partners this morning. I meet with these men each week for breakfast, conversation, prayer and mutual encouragement. I typically ask questions for advice on ministry decisions, or for general good natured kidding. Today I asked them the question: “What does it mean to be saved?” The comments were insightful. One said that he could not be reminded often enough of that fact: it is so important and good, but so easily forgotten. Another talked about how we who have grown up in the church don’t really have a clear idea of what it means because we have never been consciously un-saved.

Another comment was shared later in the day: We have been saved from ourselves. We don’t have to follow our own self-destructive ways; we’re not stuck in self-righteousness; we’ve been delivered from selfish ways. All this is for a purpose. We’ve not been saved just so we can be saved, but for the purposes of living under Christ in his kingdom and serving him. We serve him by doing the good works he has prepared for us to do as we walk along life’s way.

I thought about that last thought a bit more and came to a possibly helpful metaphor. Imagine your house is on fire and you could safely run in and grab only a very few items. You might grab a computer, your important documents, a favorite piece of jewelry or a collection of rare keepsakes. Most people would grab their photo albums. But you wouldn’t save these items just so that they could enjoy that status of salvation. You would save them so that you could use them, so that you could benefit from their continued safety.

We’re far more important than keepsakes, jewelry, or even photo albums. And God’s purposes for our salvation are not just for his personal satisfaction, any more than our salvation is for our personal enjoyment. We’ve been saved by God’s grace so that we may live as God’s works of art bringing grace, mercy, love, and kindness to others along the way. All that comes to us by faith – the means by which God’s gifts find their place in our hearts and lives.