Ephesians 2: 4-10, salvation by grace through faith
VV 4-5, 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Because of God’s abundant mercy and great love, he saved us by grace through faith in Jesus Christ’s substitutionary atonement.on the cross. God justified us even when we were still sinners.
Romans 5:8, ”But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”.
VV 6-7, and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Because of God’s abundant mercy, great love, and saving grace, He will resurrect and seat us together in God’s heavenly throne in Christ’s millennial kingdom.
VV 8-9, 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9 is a memory verse. Greek for grace is “charis”, which means unmerited favour given as a gift to someone who does not deserve it. Grace is getting what we do not deserve. Salvation is a gift from God that is not earned by doing good work. Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Greek for faith is “pistis”, which means believe or trust.
Galatians 3:6-7, “just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham”.
Romans 3:28, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law”.
Romans 4:5, “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness’’.
Romans 5:1, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
V 10, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Greek for workmanship is “poima”, which means poetry. We are God”s poetry in action. God predestined, prepared us beforehand, created us, and saved us for good works, not by good work. Good works come after only salvation and not before. We must never boast about our salvation because this is from the grace of God. We did not earn it and we did not deserve it. We must always boast about Jesus Christ who saved us and died for us on the cross.
Romans 4:2, “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God”.
V 1, And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
God revived our spirit man. When we were born spiritually dead due to trespasses and sins. Greek for trespass is “paraptoma’’, which means crossing over the forbidden line. Trespass is usually an intentional act. Greek for sin is ‘’harmatia”, which means missing the mark or missing the bull’s eye. To sin is to miss the bull’s eye of God’s perfect standard. Sin is an unintentional act.
Romans 3:23, ‘’for all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God”.
Romans 6: 23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
V 2, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
We once walked aimlessly, according to satan’s agenda, the prince of the world. We were once “the sons of disobedience”. We once walked in transgressions and sins, slaves to satan, the “prince of the power of the air’’. But when we are born again, God gave us new lives in Christ through spiritual rebirths and regenerations.
1 Peter 1:3, NIV, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead’’.
1 Peter 1:23, “having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever”.
Titus 3:5, “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit’.
V 3, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
Our lives were once dominated by the evil desires of the flesh. We may be walking and talking but we were dead in sins and separated from God. We were once the walking dead, alive in the flesh but dead in the spirit. When we became Christians, the Holy Spirit comes into us and gave us new spiritual lives in Christ. Even after salvation, the flesh and the spirit are still warring with each other. Now that we are made alive in Christ, born again, regenerated by the Holy Spirit, we became slaves to our new master, Jesus Christ. He operates by grace and gives us eternal life. We are no longer slaves to satan, who operates by law and death. Once we were children of wrath, but now we are children of God.
Galatians 5:16-17, “I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law”.
John 3:6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”.
James 1: 14-15, ”but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has been conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death’’.
VV 15-16, 15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
Paul prayed for the Christians in Ephesus and the surrounding regions of Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. Paul commended them for their faithfulness and love towards other Christians. Paul called Christians, saints, “hagio” in Greek, which means consecrated, holy, or separated to God.
VV 17-21, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
God is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul prayed for the Father to give them the spirit of wisdom, revelation, knowledge, spiritual insight, and the hope of heaven.
V 19, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
Paul prayed for them to receive the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. the power that raised Jesus from the dead.
Philippians 3:10-11, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain[a] to the resurrection from the dead”.
Romans 8:11, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies [a]through His Spirit who dwells in you”.
VV 20-21, 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
God had exalted Jesus Christ above all principalities and power and had seated Christ at His right hand in the heavenly throne.
Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”.
VV 22-23, 22 And He put all things under His feet and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
God had subjected all the principalities and powers to be under the dominion of Jesus Christ. Psalm 110:1, The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
God made Jesus Christ be the head of the church, His body.
Colossians 1:18-20, “And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross”.
The key phrase in this passage is “in Him” and “in Christ”, which appeared 7 times. This is Paul’s prayer to God the Father. Paul mentioned the Father in verses 3-6, Jesus Christ in verses 7-12, and the Holy Spirit in verses 13-14.
VV 3-6, 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
Greek for blessed is “eulogos”, from which we get the word eulogy. ”Eulogos” means to speak good of someone. God is good and blessed. God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Greek for Christ is “Christo”, Hebrew is Messiah, which means the anointed One. The Father blessed us (Christians) with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm. The Father chose us before Genesis 1:1, ie before creation. He sanctified and consecrated us.
1 Cor 1: 21-22, “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight’.
Jude 24: “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy”.
By grace, the Father predestined and adopted us into His family as His children through Jesus Christ, according to His will. Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
VV 7-10, 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him.
On the cross, Jesus Christ redeemed and purchased our freedom us with His blood. Greek for redemption is “apolutrosis”, which means freedom procured through the payment of a ransom. Redemption is a slave market word. In first-century Israel, slaves were bought and sold in the slave market. A slave would be set free if someone redeemed him by paying the price required. We were once slaves to sin. Jesus Christ died on the cross, paid the penalty for our sin, and set us free from sin.
Romans 6: 23, “for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord”.
According to the riches of His grace, Jesus Christ generously gave us wisdom and understanding and revealed the mystery of His will to us. In His second coming, Jesus Christ will gather all Christians in heaven and on earth to Him.
VV 11-14, 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
In Christ, according to God’s will and divine predestination, we have received an inheritance.
Romans 8:16-17, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together”.
In Christ, we heard the truth of the gospel, believed, saved, and sealed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee of heaven to Christians. Greek for guarantee is “arrabon” which means down payment or deposit. When you buy a house, you pay the down payment as an earnest deposit and pledge that you will purchase the house. God gave us the Holy Spirit as a guarantee that Christians will be resurrected and glorified in Christ’s second coming.
2 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever”.
2 Corinthians 1:22: “Who has sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.”
2 Corinthians 5:5, “Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee”.
Do not be caught up with the Calvinist-Arminian debate. Calvinism and Arminianism are two extremist positions on salvation. Divine predestination and human decision worked together in unison for the salvation of a soul. Predestination will not preclude anyone who comes to God of his own free will. God gave us the freedom to choose but will not force His will on anyone. He made salvation available to whoever believes.
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”.
Ephesians is one of the 4 prison epistles of Paul, viz. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Paul wrote these 4 epistles between 60-62 AD under house arrest in Rome. Ephesians is believed to be a circular letter for the churches in the regions of Ephesus.
Ephesus was a flourishing commercial center in Asia Minor, which is present-day Turkey. This was home to the temple of the Roman goddess Diana or Artemis and the 25,000 seats Roman amphitheater. Paul founded the Ephesian Church on his second missionary journey recorded in Acts 18:18-21. He returned to Ephesus on his 3rd missionary journey and stayed on for 3 years, teaching, preaching, and building up the church, Acts 20:31.
VV 1-2, 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul, the author of Ephesians, was an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, the Father. Greek for apostle is “apostolos”, which means a messenger or an ambassador. Paul was chosen to be an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, the Father. Ephesians is addressed to the faithful Christians or saints in Ephesus. Greek for saints is “hagios” which means sanctified, consecrated, or set apart. Christians are sanctified, consecrated, and set apart for the work of God. Paul proclaimed grace and peace to his audience. Greek for grace is “charis”, which means God’s unmerited favor. Greek for peace is “eirene”, which means a state of tranquility. Grace always comes before peace. Salvation and justification by God’s grace result in peace with God, peace from God, and peace of God.
Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God”.
Philippians 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”.
VV 8-9, 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
Paul implored the Philippians Christians, (and us), to meditate on things that are noble, just, pure, lovely, good, praiseworthy, to learn, emulate, and imitate him in words, actions, and deeds.
VV 10-13, 10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, you lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Greek for abased is “tapeinoo”, which means in humble circumstances. Greek for abound is “perisseuo”, which means in abundant circumstances. Paul rejoiced in Christ and was contented in all circumstances, in poverty and in prosperity, in hunger and in fullness, in good times and bad times, in freedom and in prison.
1 Tim 6: 6-7, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out”.
Philippians 4:13 is a memory verse, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.
VV 14-16, 14 Nevertheless you have done well that you shared in my distress. 15 Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. 16 For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities.
The Philippians church supported Paul financially in his second missionary journey when he was ridiculed, persecuted, beaten, and imprisoned by the Jews in Philippi. They supported him when he had left Philippi for Thessalonica.
VV 17-20, 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. 18 Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. 19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Paul was not greedy for money but encouraged them (and us) to give generously out of a grateful heart, to receive God’s blessings in return. He thanked them for their timely and acceptable offering through Epaphroditus.
2 Cor 9:6, “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully”
Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
Philippians 4:19 is a memory verse, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”.
VV 21-23, 21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you. 22 All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar’s household. 23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Greek for saint is “hagios”, which means consecrated or holy. Pauline theology considered all Christians as saints.
Ephesians 1:1, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus”.
Paul sent greetings from all his coworkers in Rome, including Christians in Caeser’s household, who were converted and saved through the Roman Pretorian guards, who were converted and saved by Paul. Paul ended this epistle with a doxology, benediction, prayer, and Amen.
On 26th December 2019, I attended a post-Christmas, pre-New Year celebration dinner with my cardiologist colleagues in a hotel in Ipoh.
After dinner, when I was leaving the restaurant, I tripped and fell. I cannot quite remember how I fell. I must have momentarily lost consciousness, and when I came to myself, I saw my friends looking at me and calling out to me.
I could see and hear them, but I had a strange feeling. I could not feel my body from below the neck, and this was frightening! It was as though my head was cut off from the rest of my body. I could not move my hands and feet. I had no sensation whatsoever below my neck. It dawned on me then that I was a tetraplegic – the fall must have resulted in neck injury and spinal shock.
My colleagues called for an ambulance and transferred me to KPJ Ipoh Specialist Hospital. The paramedics were very careful not to move my neck and protected it with a cervical collar. I was immediately taken for an emergency MRI brain and neck scan and subsequently admitted to the ICU.
The MRI scan showed no head trauma, but there was a prolapsed intervertebral at the C3/C4 level causing a 90% compression of the spinal cord, confirming the diagnosis of a prolapsed intervertebral disc with cervical myelopathy at the C3/C4 level. By then, it was already past midnight.
The Spinal Surgery
The next morning, I was taken for a CT scan of the neck to delineate the prolapse intervertebral disc in more detail. By then, the spinal shock had resolved but I was still tetraplegic. The spinal surgeon who attended to me advised urgent spinal cord decompression surgery to remove the prolapsed intervertebral disc and to decompress the spinal cord.
He explained that this was a delicate and precise operation, and indicated that there was a risk of permanent spastic tetraplegia in the event of complications arising during the operation. At 8pm on 27th December 2019, I was wheeled into the operating theatre for my scheduled operation. I heard the anesthetists in attendance saying that they were giving me pure oxygen, and will be putting me to sleep.
Rehabilitation and Recuperation
The next thing that I remember was the doctors calling my name, asking me to wake up, saying that the operation was over. When I opened my eyes, I saw the doctors, nurses, paramedics, and the clock in the operation theatre – indicating that it was 11pm.
I was wheeled back to the ICU. After eight days in the hospital, I was well enough to be discharged on a wheel chair. After six more weeks of outpatient physiotherapy and rehabilitation, I finally recovered and was discharged from physiotherapy.
At that time, the Covid-19 pandemic kicked in, and the whole country was under lockdown. It took me another two months more before I became fully ambulant. It is now 12 months after my operation, and I am fully ambulant.
Thanks from a grateful heart
I truly want to thank God for saving my life. He rescued me from spinal shock and spastic tetraplegia. God also saw me through the successful spinal surgery and post-operation rehabilitation. My gratitude to all my cardiologist colleagues for calling the ambulance and protecting my neck during the ambulance transfer.
I also want to thank my wife, my sons, my daughters-in-law, my sister, my nephew, my relatives, my in-laws, my friends, my colleagues, my pastors, my church members, my school classmates, and my university classmates for their support. And I am very grateful for all those who prayed for me, cared for me, visited me, cooked for me, bought food for me, supported me, encouraged me, and reassured me.
And finally, I want to thank the spinal surgeon, neurosurgeon, neurologist, anesthetists, radiologists, staff nurses, nursing aides, paramedical staffs, radiographers, physiotherapists, KPJ ISH hospital directors, and all the other hospital staff, who attended to me during my hospitalization.
Nothing short of a miracle
According to one of my cardiologist friends who was with me during the dinner, and who was an eye witness to the accident, I fell with my head facing downwards hitting the floor, and I seemed lifeless for about 2 to 3 minutes. He said that at that moment, he thought I had died and was very worried for me. Fortunately, I revived spontaneously.
According to my eldest son, who is an anesthetist in New Zealand, injuries such as this almost always result in permanent tetraplegia. He is convinced that my complete recovery in such a short time is indeed a miracle.
Living in the goodness of God
So many people prayed for me, through WhatsApp messenger and in person. My wife and sister were very supportive throughout my hospital stay and post-operation. My in-laws were also very supportive throughout my ordeal. They drove me to various places outside Ipoh during the Chinese New Year of 2020 for food and recreation, just to cheer me up.
I thank God for preserving my life so that I can continue to serve Him. God is good! His love, compassion, mercy, and grace were lavished on me. God’s eyes were on me throughout my ordeal – I experienced such amazing grace. Once I could not walk but now can walk! I hope this testimony will be an encouragement for you as it has been and continues to be for me.
Retired and refired
On 11th January 2020, I celebrated my 68th birthday. It also marked the day I hung up my stethoscope for good and promoted it into a museum piece, after 48 years of practicing medicine. I resigned from my position in Perak Community Specialist Hospital and KPJ Ipoh Specialist Hospital and officially retired from medical practice for good.
After retirement, I began serving the Lord in St. Andrews Presbyterian Church Pengkalan, Ipoh, as a lay preacher, bible teacher, worship leader, and bass guitarist. I also became an author and self-published several books. Retirement gave me the time that I needed to do the things I previously could not do.
Over the past 12 months, I have authored 8 books including Expository Commentaries on the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Acts of the Apostles and Romans, Expository Preaching, Daily Devotions from the Gospel of Mark, and Memoirs of a Doctor.
I wish to praise My God for His abundant blessings that He has bestowed upon me and my family.
