Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / February 27 - Ephesians 2

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February 27 - Ephesians 2 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

• 0:12
  Hello friends, it's Shawn. Here it is a Tuesday.
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  It is the 27th of February. Oh, we're getting close to the
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  end of this very short little month.
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  We are still going through the book of Ephesians.
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  What a crackerjack it is and I have a cup of tea in hand.
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  How could today get any better than this?
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  I just don't even know. Friend.
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  Things are good. So glad you could join in.
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  Click on play and invite click. How many of you actually
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  clicked? That's not even a thing anymore,
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  is it? I reckon you have.
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  Now I'm sure some of you clicked if you clicked.
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  Good on you for clicking. The rest of you tapped or talk
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  to Alexa or Siri, but here we are nonetheless.
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  Whatever technological verb you use to get us here today, we are
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  going to continue reading through this letter that Paul
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  wrote to his church. And today, as we read the second
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  chapter, we will read perhaps for me one of the most crucial
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  passages, which is 8:00 and 9:00, which talks about God's
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  grace being the active agent that saves us nothing that we do
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  and these friends, is good news because I know I need all the
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  help I can get, and it's great to know that I don't rest on my
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  own efforts, but I rest in the grace field embrace of a loving
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  God. So enough for me.
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  Let's read it together. Ephesians Chapter 2.
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  Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many
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  sins, you used to live in sin just like the rest of the world,
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  obeying the devil, the commander of the powers and the unseen
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  world. He is the Spirit at work in the
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  hearts of those who refuse to obey God.
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  All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires
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  and inclinations of our sinful nature.
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  By our very nature, we were subject to God's anger just like
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  everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and
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  He loved us so much that even though we were dead because of
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  our sins, He gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.
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  It is only by God's grace that you have been saved.
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  For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us
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  with Him in the heavenly realms. Because we are united with
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  Christ Jesus, so God can point to us in all future ages as
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  examples of the incredible wealth of His grace and kindness
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  toward us, as shown in all He has done for us who are united
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  with Christ Jesus. God saved you by His grace when
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  you believed, and you can't take credit for this.
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  It is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for
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  the good things we have done so none of us can boast about it,
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  for we are God's masterpiece. He has created us a new in
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  Christ Jesus so we can do the good things He planned for us
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  long ago. Don't forget that you Gentiles
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  used to be outsiders. You were called uncircumcised
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  heathens by the Jews, who are proud of their circumcision,
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  even though it affected only their bodies and not their
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  hearts. In those days you were living
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  apart from Christ, you were excluded from citizenship among
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  the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant
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  promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without
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  God and without hope, but now you have been united with Christ
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  Jesus. Once you are far away from God,
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  but now you have been brought near to Him through the blood of
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  Christ. For Christ himself has brought
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  peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into
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  one people when in his own body on the cross he broke down the
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  wall of hostility that separated us.
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  He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and
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  regulations. He made peace between Jews and
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  Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two
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  groups together as one body. Christ reconciled both groups to
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  God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward
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  each other was put to death. He brought this good news of
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  peace to you, Gentiles who are far away from him, and peace to
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  the Jews who are near. Now.
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  All of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit
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  because of what Christ has done for us.
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  So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners.
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  You are citizens along with all of God's holy people.
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  You are members of God's family. Together we are His house, built
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  on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets.
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  And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself.
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  We are carefully joined together in Him becoming a holy temple
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  for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are
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  also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his
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  Spirit Jesus.
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  You come with such rich gifts overflowing.
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  Santa's got nothing on you. No bag, no sleigh could hold the
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  grace, the love, the inclusion that you bring to us.
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  And you don't only reconcile us to a loving father, but you
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  reconcile us to each other. You bring us together as
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  brothers and sisters in you, no matter our background, no matter
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  our past. We are here, all members of your
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  family, all members of your holy people.
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  We are so grateful, Jesus, for everything that you achieve for
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  us on that cross, when you sacrificed yourself for us, when
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  you tore asunder all that would separate us from God.
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  And now you present us flawless, loved, forgiven, and justified
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  through you. You are just spectacular and we
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  love you and we praise you. And it's all in your name that
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  we pray. Jesus, I mean.