What Does it Mean to Be Saved? | Ephesians 2:1-10

Pastor Josh Smith on Ephesians 2:1-10 at Arroyo Church in Livermore, CA - what you are saved from, what you are saved by, and what you are saved for. Early on, Josh points to an everyday moment: if someone helps you out and then says "I really saved your skin today," it stings, but if you help them and they say "you really saved the day today," it feels great. "In our pride, we don't like to have the idea in our head that we need to be saved." We would rather be the Savior, but "the central message of Christianity is that you are not the Savior. Rather, you are the one needing saving." In this fourth message of "Grace for You," our verse-by-verse walk through Ephesians, Josh answers the question in three parts. WHAT PASTOR JOSH COVERS 1. Saved from sin - Ephesians 2:1-3 Sin means to miss the mark; transgression means to cross a line. Josh pictures the limit line at a red light, there to protect you: "God has set limit lines for your life" because he cares, and sin crosses them anyway. Missing the mark goes wider, down to the good we leave undone and our blind spots. Verses 2-3 name three enemies that surround us - the world, the devil and the flesh - and the greatest? "It's not the devil it's not the world. It's you." Move to Texas and "you're still with you." Sin leaves us dead and deserving of wrath, so "you don't need a life coach for your life to be put back together you need a Savior." 2. Saved by grace - Ephesians 2:4-9, Romans 8:39 Verse 4 turns the story with one word: "but." Like a game won on the last play or a couple reconciled two days before their divorce was final, God interrupts the story, and "God is a better Savior than you are a sinner." Grace is "God's unearned love in your life," and it sets Christianity apart: "you don't work your way to God, God works his way to you." Your job may treat you by your works, but God "loves you as much on your good weeks as he does on your bad weeks" - "100% his grace 0% your works." You can't achieve it, "but you can receive it by faith"; like a birthday card tossed out unopened with a million-dollar check inside, "faith is what opens up the gift." Grace brings confidence, since nothing "in all creation" can separate you from God's love, and humility: "you can't be prideful and be a Christian at the same time." 3. Saved for good works - Ephesians 2:10, Galatians 5:22-23 Many Christians love verses 8 and 9 and skip verse 10, but "if somebody tells you that grace means you can just sit in your sin and in your selfishness they're lying to you." The clarification: you are not saved by good works but saved to do them. "Good works are not the root of your salvation"; they are its natural fruit. Chop the tops off backyard weeds and no orange tree sprouts; God pulls the root and plants the Holy Spirit, who grows love, joy, peace and patience. The motivation: gratitude and trust, not fear and obligation, because "the same grace that saves you is the same grace that strengthens you." Some in North Korea obey a dictator out of fear; if your boss forgave a billion-dollar debt you could never repay, you would gladly work for him for life. KEY TAKEAWAY "God is not sitting on the sidelines waiting for you to save yourself." In Batman Begins, young Bruce Wayne falls into a well he cannot climb out of, and his father comes down for him. The movie's famous line says we fall so we can learn to pick ourselves up, but Bruce didn't. So "why do we fall? So that we could learn that only our Father can pick us back up." Wherever you are, "stretch out your empty hand by faith and grab hold of the one that has already descended down to you." SCRIPTURE IN THIS MESSAGE Ephesians 2:1-10 | Romans 8:39 | Galatians 5:22-23 SERIES Grace for You - a verse-by-verse study through Ephesians. READ THE FULL RECAP https://www.arroyochurch.com/arroyobl... SERMON NOTES https://links.arroyochurch.com/notes/... NEW HERE? PLAN YOUR VISIT https://www.arroyochurch.com/#ac-visi... Website - https://www.arroyochurch.com Give - https://www.arroyochurch.com/give All our links - https://links.arroyochurch.com Instagram -   / arroyochurch   Facebook -   / arroyochurch   JOIN US IN PERSON Sundays 10:00 AM - 945 Concannon Blvd, Livermore, CA 94550 Arroyo Church is a Bible-teaching church in Livermore, California, serving families across the Tri-Valley - Pleasanton, Dublin, San Ramon and the surrounding East Bay. Whether you have walked with Jesus for years, are coming back after time away, or are just curious who He is, there is a seat for you. #ArroyoChurch #Livermore #Ephesians #Salvation #GraceForYou