You are not Enough

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 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.” Ephesians 2:1-5

Man is inherently sinful; it is in our very nature to reject God. I love this passage because it shows how we, as followers of Christ, are only able to have a relationship with God because he reached down to us with his immeasurable mercy. We can do nothing apart from him (John 15:5) and should be eternally grateful for his mercy upon us.

Verse 4 displays a crucial part of our salvation. Notice how it says “But God,” and not anything like “but man” or “but you.” We are so unworthy of the Gospel and are only able to take part in it because God allows us to. All we did to contribute to our salvation is sin. We rejected God and turned away, despising him who created and loves us. While we were yet sinners, he reached down to save us from our iniquity and shame. Our salvation is “not a result of works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:9)

This is the Great Exchange of the Gospel. We give God our sin and filth. We give him that which is worth less than nothing and receive that of eternal value. Therefore let us praise the Lord with grateful hearts and pursue him with the same devotion with which he pursues us. For he did not even spare his own Son to save us.

To give God anything less than our whole heart’s devotion dishonors his sacrifice for us. While it is foolish to say it is easy to devote our lives to Christ, it is worth more than anything else we could possibly imagine. Nothing of lasting worth comes easily, and neither does sanctification. We have hope, because Jesus promises to “be with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) Go live your life the way it was designed to be lived: in love and devotion to Jesus Christ. “For to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21) You will never be enough to earn your salvation. Jesus is the only one worthy and he has already paid the price we couldn’t. Jesus is and will always be enough.