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Saved By Grace: What does it actually mean to be \u201csaved\u201d in a Christian sense? The Biblical picture of life in this broken world is bleak \u2014 that apart from Christ, we are spiritually dead. Is there any hope? Yes! The gospel says that because of God's love and mercy, salvation is offered as a gracious gift to be received by faith. The gospel changes everything. Recorded on May 12, 2024, on Ephesians 2:1-10 by Pastor David Parks.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOur series,\xa0Ephesians: The Gospel in Life, serves as an epilogue to\xa0Finding Life in Jesus\u2019 Name\xa0from John\u2019s gospel. The Apostle Paul\u2019s letter to the Ephesians reveals much about how the life found by faith in Jesus actually works. This series will touch on themes of grace, identity, purpose, family, the church, spiritual warfare, and more. If you\u2019re considering the life of Jesus or if you\u2019re ready to follow him today, this series is for you.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSermon Transcript\n\n\n\nWell, for the next few months, we\u2019ll be working through a sermon series called The Gospel in Life from Paul\u2019s letter to the Ephesians in the Bible. If you missed either of the first few sermons, you can always go back and watch or listen to the podcast to catch up if you\u2019d like. But today, we\u2019re going to try and stare into the sun for the next 30 minutes or so. Today, from one of the most important passages in the whole Bible, we\u2019re going to consider the heart of Christian salvation. What does it actually mean to be \u201csaved\u201d in a Christian sense? Just what is it that God saves us from? How has he saved us? And what has he saved us for? Well, in case you\u2019re thinking, \u201cI don\u2019t really need this message. I\u2019m already a Christian.\u201d just remember, Paul is writing to Christians, to his brothers and sisters in Christ, in Ephesus. They\u2019d already heard and believed the gospel. But today, in Ephesians 2, we\u2019ll see that everybody needs the gospel, even Christians. We never graduate from our need for the gospel. If you have a Bible/app, please take it and open it to Ephesians 2:1.\n\n\n\nEphesians 2:1\u20132 (NIV), \u201c1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.\u201d \u201cAs for you\u201d probably refers to the gentile Christians in the church at Ephesus, but he\u2019s not leaving himself or Paul\u2019s fellow Jews from the need for the gospel, as we\u2019ll see shortly. But here, Paul starts with the bad news. \u201cAs for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.\u201d What does this mean? Well, a transgression simply means crossing a line that shouldn\u2019t be crossed. You commit a transgression when you drive your car through a guardrail on the highway \u2014 that never ends well. A moral transgression would be crossing a line that God has drawn, breaking a command of God, such as lying, cheating, stealing, coveting what isn\u2019t yours, dishonoring your parents, and so on. These are all transgressions, but sin is very similar. The word for sin was originally an archery term meaning falling short of the mark. In Christian thought, sin means falling short of God\u2019s standard for what is right in thought, word, or deed. Jesus taught that the whole Law could be summed up in two commands: first, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the second, to love your neighbor as yourself. So sin means falling short in some way in our love for God or our love for others. Now, everyone knows that transgressions and sins are bad. God made human beings with a conscience. You don\u2019t have to be a Bible scholar to know right from wrong. But here\u2019s the real problem: Paul says that if you cross a line you shouldn\u2019t cross or if you fall short of what\u2019s right, it\u2019s not just that you\u2019re guilty, and it\u2019s not just that you ought to be ashamed \u2014 it\u2019s that you\u2019re dead. You might be physically alive, but you\u2019re spiritually dead. You\u2019re a cut flower. You might even look quite youthful/beautiful on the...