So what can we do in the face of this enemy that is warring against us.
By ourselves we can do absolutely nothing. Our efforts will fail miserably. We need a saviour, Someone much stronger than we are and stronger than our enemy to save us.
Starting in vs 4 our Saviour comes and not just His actions but His Character; And these should sound familiar to us as we looked at 15 Characteristics of God in Janauary So here's a re-cap
God who is rich in Mercy, God is not just merciful he's is rich in it and does not want to treat us as our sins deserve
His Great Love, God's love is so vast and beyond our full understanding, the best representation of it is this willing sacrifice of Himself, His Son , while we were His enemies
He has chosen to make us alive ( remember apart from this Saviour we are walking zombies) because of His RIch Mercy and His Great Love.....absolutely nothing on our part motivates this, its because of His character.
We are saved by His Grace, this lavish, beautiful , unmerited gift that God offers in the Sacrifice of His Son.
Apparently we who are Christians are already seated with Christ in the Heavenly realms...this is the concept of "Already but Not Yet" that Scholars use to describe people who are saved and in God's Church, that we are already with God but just not yet with God. Its a strange truth that we live out in the body of Christ the Church
vs 8 is a summary of this idea that its through God's gift that we are saved, the only requirement on our part is Faith....not works, our own personal righteous deeds , that we think makes us good and innocent people, but its grace that saves us, if we choose to accept it through faith.
And what is this faith, Faith is hearing the message/words of God, believing in them and acting upon it. This is worth making a distinction, because many in the "Christian" world believe that all you must do is believe, or say a prayer, when this would not be faith by itself, God's Word gives clear commands as to how one becomes saved by Grace. Peter when giving the first message to what would be the newly formed church in Acts 2 says
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
I mean come on, how clear can you get, added to which every example of people being saved in the new testament points to these truths. Yet man in his desire for the knowledge of good and evil or rather to redefine good and evil continuously is looking to create his own way of doing things rather than the way prescribed by God. We must have genuine faith, which is obedient actions in conformity to the Words of God.
The passage goes on to share that even though we are not saved by our works but we're saved for works. Sounds kind of contradictory, but its not. We're not saved by our man made works of righteousness, our systems, thoughts, ideas of what is good and what is evil, but rather through God's Grace through faith, us submitting to Jesus and His Lordship over our lives. Somehow, as we enter this process God opens up His plans for our lives, that we each as individuals are God's creation, His handiwork as some translations say, that we are to do work that He prepared in advance for us to do.
Yes you have not happened by luck and chance, God wants people who would show true faithfulness to Him and obey Him. He'll open up His plans to You and lead You into a full life in Christ Jesus. Each one of us individually God has a plan of Grace and Peace as an individual.