Because of God's Great Love

Heavenly Father, I believe that because

When Paul says that God “made us alive,” he

of your love for me, you sent your only Son

refers to the regeneration—or new birth—that God

Jesus Christ to die on the cross to save me

gives us when we place our faith and trust in the

from my sin. I believe that he rose again to

Lord Jesus Christ. It is this new life that enables

life, and that he invites me to live forever

us to come to Christ in faith. Thus, even faith itself

with him as part of your family. Because of

—trusting in Jesus to save us from our sins—is a

what Jesus has done, I ask you to forgive me

gift from God.

of my sin and enable me to receive eternal

Our salvation is, from start to finish, all of grace (Ephesians 2:5, 8–9). Though we have done

life. Help me to live in a way that pleases and honors you. Amen.

nothing to deserve his mercy or love, God lavishes these things on us nonetheless. Let us rejoice, then, in the “immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7)!

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for salvation and take a first step on your journey as a Christian, we encourage you to pray to God,

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perhaps using this prayer: 9 781682 163887

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© 2018 by Good News Tracts. All rights reserved. Printed in the US. Cover design: Crystal Courtney. Bible references: ESV. Adapted from “From Death to Life,” written by Erika Allen. Published by Crossway, © 2014.

before we could come to Christ for forgiveness.

“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

W

hen Adam and Eve sinned in the

Against this backdrop comes one of the most

garden, their relationship with God was

beautiful and remarkable phrases in all of

radically and tragically altered. In an instant, they went from enjoying perfect fellowship with their Creator to being estranged from him. Because of Adam’s sin, every person comes into the world with a sinful nature (Romans 5:12).

Sin affects every aspect of who we are as human beings—our body, mind, and will are all tainted. It’s tempting to think that we are born

love with which he loved us, even when we

neutral, with the ability to choose between being

were dead in our trespasses, made us alive

“good” or “bad”—between following God or not.

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 coming ages he

But the Bible says this isn’t the case. Rather, our natural inclination is to sin (James 1:14–15). And we love that sin too much to turn from it by our own power: “no one seeks for God. . . . No one does good, not even one” (Romans 3:11–12); see also (John 6:44).

might show the immeasurable riches of his

Unable to come to God or even to desire to do so, we

grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

are born spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1, 3) and are

EPHESIANS 2:1–7

“by nature children of wrath.”

Scripture: “but God . . .”

“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—by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4–5) While we were still living “in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind,” (Ephesians 2:3) and absolutely deserving of eternal punishment—God sought us out and saved us. This was “not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:5–6).

Because we were dead in our sins, God had to first bring us to life

Because of God’s Great Love This tract clearly explains how even when we were dead in our sins, God sought us out and saved us. Salvation is, from start to finish, a gift of grace.

Bible references: ESV. Package contains 25 tracts.

9 781682 163887 E VA N G E L I S M