RECLAIMED

The Book of Ephesians is a powerful little book. Only six chapters long, it’s divided in half, with the first three chapters focusing on our identity in Christ and the last three chapters turning the focus to how we live out this new identity. Character and commands. Our position in Christ determines our practice of Christian living. Indicatives (statements about who you are) are foundational for the imperatives (statements about what you should do).

This week you’ll turn your attention from your old identity to your new identity in Christ.

Read Ephesians 2:1-5 and use verses 4-5 to fill in the blanks below.

But __________,

who is _________

in __________

because of his great __________

that he had for us,

made us __________

with __________

Even though we were __________

in __________

You are __________

by __________

Rewrite Ephesians 2:1-3, personalizing it by using “I was” and “my” instead of “you were” and “your.” These exercises make the truth of Scripture seem real, as if God’s Word is alive in your life instead of remaining an idea in a book about people in general.

Rewrite Ephesians 2:4, personalizing it by using me instead of us.

Rewrite Ephesians 2:5, personalizing it by using “I am” instead of “You are.”

When you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. - COLOSSIANS 2:13-14

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. - ROMANS 6:23

What did God do to transform your identity by His grace? How did He bring you to life when you were spiritually dead? What happened to the curse of sin?

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God warned Adam in the garden that sin would result in death. You’ve seen that both spiritual death and physical death were consequences of his sin. When you read the words trespasses or debt, imagine that you’ve entered a garden despite warning signs and have eaten fruit that wasn’t yours. You’ve trespassed and incurred a debt. The bigger problem is that once it’s happened, it can’t be undone. You can’t put the fruit back or promise never to do it again. A price has to be paid.

When you chose to make your own decisions regardless of what God said, you earned the same penalty as Adam, Eve, and every person since their initial rebellion. You desired to be your own boss and incurred a debt you could never repay. The wages earned for all the hard work you’ve done to satisfy your desires was death. Sin is a cruel, unforgiving master. But the wage is fair. It was earned. People are owed what they’ve worked for.

Jesus paid the debt you owed. He bought you back out of slavery from your own desires. He died on the cross so that you could receive eternal life instead. There’s no removing the nail to take back your debt. It’s finished. Settled. Paid in full. Conclude your study today by praising God for erasing your debt and giving you freedom and new life in Christ.