The Before and After Effect
I taught a Bible study recently at a place called the Grace House, an addiction recovery home where men, young and old, come to get clean from drugs and alcohol and to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. My friends, pastors Brandon Sutton and Theron St. John both teach there while Brandon serves as the director. He himself is a former addict and has compassion for men who are enslaved. Lives have been changed by God’s grace, set free from addiction by faith in Jesus. This is all due to the faithful teaching and preaching of the gospel. It makes sinners clean. It sets captives free!
Sin: The Bad News
On that particular night, I taught from Ephesians 2:1-10 on the good news of the gospel. The passage powerfully describes the Before and After effect of salvation. First, the Apostle Paul lays out the Before picture of every person apart from Christ. Everyone is born a sinner, far from God and spiritually dead apart from Jesus (v. 1). Because of Adam’s rebellion, mankind is in a desperate state. The Before effect is grim. We are “children of wrath” under the control of the enemy, Satan, the “prince of the power of the air” (vv. 2-3). Spiritually and morally dead, we cannot come to God nor please Him in any way as strangers to the cross. Our desires are corrupt, enslaved to the sin nature engrained in us. We are hell-bound rebels, eternally separated from God. Helpless. Hopeless. Broken. This is the bad news.
Grace: The Good News
Enter the good news. The bad news gets a new story, a different headline. Two words paint the picture of a radical sacrifice. “But God” is the After effect of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul writes, “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” (vv. 4-5). What a powerful statement! What incredible love! In the greatest act of sacrifice, God the Father sent his only Son Jesus to die on a cross to pay the debt for condemned sinners. This is all of us. We have a death sentence before God. Jesus alone will set us free. Wow…let that sink in for a moment.
Jesus: The After Effect
As we read in the final verses of the passage, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (vv. 8-9). Our faith is a complete gift from God! We are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone. It is not our own doing, it is Christ’s doing. His perfect work on our behalf is enough to be saved! Our own efforts, knowledge and good deeds will never be enough. Finally, we are God’s “workmanship” that we may do good works that He “prepared in advance for us to do” (v. 10).
The After effect of salvation is nothing less than complete transformation. Our former selves, lost in sinful rebellion before God, are made new in Christ. What great news! If you haven’t received this free gift, I urge you to turn from your sin and believe in Jesus Christ today. He is the only way to God (John 14:6). He is the greatest hope we have. He paid the price for your sin if you believe in Him today. This is the greatest decision you will ever make.
Reflection
Stop and pray, reflecting on Jesus’ radical sacrifice for you. This is amazing grace! Do you believe it? Have you repented of your sins today? Receive and believe the free gift of salvation Jesus offers. Surrender it all and find eternal life in his name (Rom. 10:9-10).
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