Grace. Paul used this word in the first chapter and now comes back to it in the second. In chapter 1 he used grace as a greeting, a focus of praise, and described it as a source of blessing. Though he did not teach directly of it he gave grace an exalted place. The hints became ambiance pleasing aromas calling the reader to want more of this great thing.
Chapter 2 began with a jerk rattling the reader from the brink of pride by raising the specter of death. Including himself, Paul wrote that all had fallen under the curse of sin. Life in sin had been natural, gratifying, disobedient, but deserving of God’s punishing wrath. Importantly, and interestingly, Paul used the past tense while unpacking their collective pasts. Now, in this second chapter, he will more clearly paint grace, this time writing of it as the rationale for the salvation we possess.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by
grace you have been saved– (Ephesians 2:4-5–ESV)
Grace does not come until the end of this verse, but by placing it there Paul connected it to what he just wrote. That was how he defined, styled, grace. Let us go back through the preceding words so that we can see how Paul did this.
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