You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ —by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
Reflection
So many people of faith have gone to prison: the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr; Dietrich Bonhoeffer; Corrie ten Boom; John Bunyan; William Tyndale; pretty much all the original apostles; and of course, St Paul. It almost seems that to be a good Christian, one needs to get imprisoned every once in a while. None of them—nor the long list Google will give you if you search for ‘Christians who have gone to prison for their faith’—went for the experience. They went because they knew one thing: by God’s grace, out of God’s great love, they were always and already alive, seated in Christ Jesus in the heavenly places. Not because they did good things to earn their spot—like you and me, they were well aware of their own sin and shortcomings. They were alive in Christ because God loved them and would always love them. And because they knew that, there was nothing, nothing at all, that they themselves, or racist politicians, Nazi agents, narrow-minded religious enforcers—nobody—could say or do that would separate them from the love of God in Christ. So while they no doubt trembled, they did what God called them to do in their time, with courage, and did not let the fear of prison, or in some cases execution, stop them.
You might not face imprisonment today for your faith. You might be answering emails, balancing accounts, flying an aeroplane, teaching, caring, delivering food, or sorting out someone’s plumbing. You may do so weighed down by regret for things you have done or left undone—things you believe can never be forgiven. Yet the writer of this letter, himself a prisoner, does not qualify the statement: ‘God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.’ You already and always have the same grace of God in Christ Jesus that Paul, Bonhoeffer, and all the others had. Out of God’s love for you, you have been raised up, called by name, and are seated in Christ Jesus in the heavenly places. Hold fast to that truth.
Prayer
Holy One, help me to remember that in Christ, your grace overflows and I am greatly loved, already and always. Amen.
