Lesson 6 - Righteousness In Christ Alone – Part 2
Read Ephesians 2:4-10 - https://www.bible.com/bible/59/eph.2.esv

In the last lesson we looked at why we need Jesus’ righteousness rather than our own to be able to walk in righteousness acceptable to God. Our lesson ended with that wonderful phrase, “but God.” That’s where we begin today – “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

God was rich in mercy. Have you ever wondered why God created us in the first place? Why would He allow us to bring evil into His perfect creation? One of those reasons was His mercy. In a perfect world, His perfect creation, He could put on display all that He is – except for two things. He could not display His mercy or His grace. So He allowed the sin to come so that in the ages to come we would be a living display of His mercy and grace.


What makes you want to give mercy to someone? Are you merciful to someone you dislike, or even to someone you’ve never met so you don’t really care for? No. Mercy is reserved for those you love, for that special person you love deeply. That’s how God loves us – deeply, and forever.

But remember, mercy is defined as ‘NOT receiving what we deserve’. How does our passage continue? “He loved us, even when we were dead . . . made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.” Through eyes of mercy He looked at us, even when we were dead in our sins, and He didn’t want to make that death permanent. Then His grace stepped in and gave us what we didn’t deserve at all, a way out of our sin into eternal life in Christ Jesus.

God, however, wanted more than just a puppy to love him. Your puppy, when you pay attention to him or feed him, can’t help himself – he loves you for what you give him. God wanted someone to love Him who would do so from choice. So He made His mercy and grace available to us if we CHOSE to come to Him. He never forces it on anyone who chooses not to accept it. He never will.

We have another list in these verses, a list of what God has done for each of us who have chosen to accept His gift of grace:

He gave us life in Christ
He raised us up with Christ
He seated us with Christ
He demonstrated His kindness to us
He saved us by grace
He gave us the faith to believe
He created us anew in Christ

What wonderful gifts He’s already given us!
*God was rich in _____
*Mercy is reserved for _____
*God’s grace and mercy is available to those who _____ to come to Him.