06-Ephesians: "But Now: Two Words That Bring Us Home." | Ephesians 2:11-13

In Ephesians 2:11–13, we hear Paul give the church one weighty command: remember. Keep remembering. Never forget who you were before grace found you.Once you were far off. Gentiles in the flesh, outside the covenants, strangers to the promises, with no hope and without God in the world. The religious crowd of Paul's day had traded faith for flesh, leaning on circumcision and bloodline while missing the very Messiah they had waited centuries to see. So Paul takes us back to Abraham, who believed God and was counted righteous before he was ever circumcised. Righteousness has always come the same way: grace through faith, never by works, never by trying harder.Then come two of the most beautiful words in the chapter. But now. "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." The blood is the price of your citizenship, the payment that grants the outsider a place inside the family of God.There has only ever been one door into the household of God, and the door is a Person. Ruth came in by it. Rahab came in by it. Every saint before the cross looked ahead to it, and every believer since looks back to it. Jesus said, "I am the door," and "I am the way, the truth, and the life."If you have been measuring your standing with God by your performance, this message calls you to rest in something far more secure than your own effort. Jesus is enough. Come to the one door, and be brought near.Key Texts: Ephesians 2:11–13; Ephesians 2:4–10; Genesis 15:6; Genesis 17:6–11; Romans 4:1–16; Acts 22:22–29; John 10:9; John 14:6#Ephesians #Ephesians2 #BroughtNear #GraceThroughFaith #Gospel #Jesus #BibleTeaching #Sermon #ChristianLiving #Salvation #FaithNotWorks #Discipleship #SonriseChurchUtah