The Giving Tree
In 1964, Shel Silverstein wrote a children’s book titled The Giving Tree that tells the story of a tree that befriends a little boy. The boy would come play by the tree every day. He would climb it, swing from its branches, eat its apples, play games with it, and take naps in its shade. The boy loved the tree very much and this made the tree happy.
But as time went by and the boy grew up, the tree saw the boy less and less often. Then one day, the boy came to the tree and the tree was excited and wanted to play and do all the things they used to do. But the boy said that he didn’t want to play. He said he wanted some money and asked the tree if it had any. The tree said it didn’t have money, but it gave him all its apples so he could sell them and make money.
Then a long time went by and the tree didn’t see the boy. But one day the boy came back and the tree was excited and wanted to do all the things they used to do. But the boy, now a man, said he needed a house and asked the tree if it could give him a house. The tree said, “I have no house…but you may cut off my branches and build a house. Then you will be happy.” So the boy cut off all the trees branches and built himself a house.
Then a long time went by and the tree didn’t see the boy. But one day the boy came back and the tree was excited and wanted to do all the things they used to do. But the boy, an old man now, said he wanted a boat that would take him far away. The tree said, “Cut down my trunk and make a boat…Then you can sail away and be happy.” So the boy cut down her trunk and made a boat and sailed away.
After a long time, the boy came back again. The tree said, “I am sorry, Boy…but I have nothing left to give you. My apples and branches and trunk are gone. I wish that I could give you something…but I have nothing left. I am just an old stump. I am sorry.” But the boy said, “I don’t need very much now, just a quiet place to sit and rest. I am very tired.” “Well,” said the tree, “an old stump is good for sitting and resting. Come, Boy, sit down. Sit down and rest.” The book ends with the boy sitting down on the tree stump and tree was happy.
God the Giving Tree
When I read this to Elisha the other night, I immediately thought about how the tree in the story is like God. God sees the need of his children and he gives himself to meet it. Like the tree, God gives himself to us. But unlike the tree, God, in Christ, gives us all of himself, not just part of himself. Like the tree, God keeps giving and giving and giving. And like the tree, God gives himself to his children even though they don’t deserve it. The boy neglected the tree so many times, even taking advantage of it for his own benefit. But the tree kept giving and giving every time the boy had a need.
God, like the tree, gives us himself even though we don’t deserve him. God lavishes himself on us despite our neglect of him, despite our wandering from him, and despite our taking advantage of him. God gives and gives and gives himself to his children, even though they don’t deserve it. God is like the Giving Tree. He sacrifices himself for the joy of his children.
The Bible calls this grace. God’s giving of himself to us despite what we’ve done and who we are is the essence of grace, and grace is the essence of Christianity. Theologian Wayne Grudem says that God’s grace is “God’s goodness toward those who deserve only punishment.”
All the other world religions essentially teach that you get what you deserve. If you’re good and do all the right religious rituals, then God will accept you. Only Christianity says that God gives you the opposite of what you deserve. In Christ, we get grace, not what we deserve. This is the heart of the gospel message, and this is the main point of our text this morning.
The Heart of Paul’s Gospel is Grace
Ephesians 2:8-10 has been called the “heart of Paul’s gospel” because it captures and summarizes his message so well. Paul’s message was a message of grace. In the previous verses, Paul has told us what happens to believers because of the grace of God. They’ve been raised from spiritual death, given spiritual life in Christ, rescued from the wrath of God, and even exalted with Jesus in heaven. God has done this and so much more for the believer in Christ.
Ephesians 2:8-10 is Paul’s summary statement and description of what he has said in the preceding verses. He tells us plainly what God has given the believer and why he has given it. These will be our two points this morning: What has God given? (vv. 8-9) And why has he given it? (v. 10)
What Has God Given?
First, what has God given the believer in Christ? (vv. 8-9) The simple answer is that God has given the believer grace. He’s given those in Christ what they don’t deserve. He’s already said this in verse 5, but this is such an important point that he comes back to it again. He also wants to show us how the grace of God relates to faith and works.
Notice that he says that we are saved “by grace” and “through faith.” The language here is very important. Faith is not what saves us. Grace is. We’re saved “by grace.” Grace is the ground of salvation, the bedrock that it’s built on. Without grace, we can’t be saved. Grace is the essence of Christianity because it’s what saves us.
But Paul also says that we’re saved “through faith.” The preposition “through” tells us that grace comes to us “through” faith. Faith is the appointed means through which God’s grace is appropriated. Faith is the channel through which the water of God’s grace flows. Faith is the human response that receives what has already been done in Christ. The grace of Christ comes to us through faith.
“Not Your Own Doing”
In order to emphasize his point that salvation is by grace, Paul adds two negative statements in verses 8-9. Because we’re saved by grace, we’re not saved by ourselves or by our works. The first negative statement (v. 8b) emphasizes God’s initiative. “This is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” What does “this” refer to? Everything that precedes it. “This” grace, “this” salvation, and “this” faith “is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”
This is crucial for our understanding of salvation. The Bible says that our faith is not “our own doing,” but is “the gift of God.” This truth adds even more beauty to God’s grace. God gives us the grace of his Son Jesus. But he also gives us the grace to trust in his Son Jesus. Paul says it this way in Philippians 1:29, “It has been granted to you that…you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.” Our belief in Jesus is granted to us. And in 1 Corinthians 4:7, he says, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” Everything we have we got from God, including the faith that channels his grace to us. This means that even our faith is a gift of God’s grace. As we probe the depths of the gospel, we realize that God is indeed like the Giving Tree. He keeps giving and giving and giving. He even gives the thing that he commands from us.
“Not a Result of Works”
The second negative statement Paul makes in order to emphasize that salvation is by grace is in verse 9. He says that our salvation is “not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” God doesn’t give us grace as a reward for our works. If salvation is because of God’s initiative, then it can’t be a reward for our good behavior. If salvation is a gift, and if a gift by definition is something that someone else purchases for us, then we don’t buy our salvation with our works.
Human works can never win God’s approval. We can win people’s approval with good behavior, but not God’s. We’ve offended God far more than we’ve offended other people. We’ve neglected him, like the boy in the Giving Tree, far more than we’ve neglected other people. We’ve wandered away from him. We’ve willfully broken his law. We’ve even used him like a genie in a bottle, as someone to just give us what we want.
How exactly could we work our way out of this situation? How much work would it take? When would we know that we’ve worked enough? What about our selfish motives in even our best works? And when we see just how bad our situation is according to verses 1-3, how could we possibly look to our behavior as the basis of our salvation? Our life and works is why we’re in this predicament to begin with. And if works could save us, why did Jesus die? And what good is grace?
“So That No One May Boast”
Paul says at the end of verse 9 that, if salvation isn’t a reward for good behavior, then there’s no grounds for boasting. Salvation by grace means that no one can boast about saving themselves. God set it up this way because his highest commitment is his own glory. Salvation is by grace so that God gets the credit, not us (1 Cor. 1:28-31). If we got one ounce of credit, his glory in salvation would be diminished. So he saves by grace, through faith, and it’s all a gift.
Unfortunately, many people have a self-confidence before God that’s dangerous. Even church-going people subtly assume that they’re good with God because of their works, or giving, or serving, or praying, or Bible-reading, or seminary training, or morally excellent life. These thoughts must be crucified. We’re in no position to claim even the slightest credit for our acceptance with God. “What do we have that we have not received?”
Grace Creates Humility
The gospel of grace kills pride and creates humility. A prideful Christian is an oxymoron. A Christian is a Christian due to no effort of their own, so pride of any form is out of place and even denies the gospel they claim to believe. Someone changed by grace sees the pride in their heart the way God sees it. Peter says that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5). God’s grace is for the humble, for those who have a high view of God and low view of themselves. God’s opposition is for the proud, for those who have a low view of him and a high view of themselves.
We all struggle with pride in many ways and the scary thing is that pride is really deceptive. It can live in our hearts and we won’t even see it. It can be growing and spreading in our lives and we can be blind to it. What are some ways to spot pride in our lives? Consider these questions: are you growing in the discipline of prayer and Bible reading? Prayer is a mark of humility because by definition it’s a confession that we need God’s help. Reading the word of God is a mark of humility because it means that we know we need God’s wisdom and counsel.
Another question: Who are most of your conversations about, yourself or the other person? A person growing in humility goes out of their way to get to know other people, looking for ways to encourage and serve them. Another question: How do you usually respond to trials in your life? A person growing in humility knows that God’s good hand is at work even in the hardest times. They recognize that God is in control and on the throne, and that he is good. They’re slow to grumble and complain, and quick to pray and even walk with joy.
One final question is this: Do you invite and pursue correction? In other words, do you want other people to speak truth into your life? Or do you avoid all such conversations? Hebrews 3:12-13 tells us to “exhort one another every day” so that we may not “be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” We aren’t the world’s expert on ourselves. We have spiritual blind spots. There are things in our lives that others see clearly but that we’re blind to. In light of this, have you put yourself in relationship with other believers to guard and fight against this?
A proud person will not see this as necessary and will continue to assume that they’re doing just fine on their own. C. J. Mahaney, in his book on Humility, says that we should consider the following questions in order to evaluate whether we’re pursuing relationships like this: “Do I confess my sin consistently? Do I confess specific instances of sin and not just general categories or general references to sin? Do others find it easy to correct me? Do others know the areas of temptation in my life at present?” There should be someone in your life that you’re having this kind of conversation with regularly. If you’re not, pray and ask God to give you the humility you need to pursue this kind of relationship. Grace creates humility, and humility takes us deep in relationships with other believers.
Why Has He Given It?
Verses 8-9 have shown us that God has given us grace, and that this grace isn’t because of ourselves or our works. It’s the gift of God and prohibits all boasting. In verse 10, we see why God has given us grace. God has given us grace so that we’ll produce “good works.” These “works” aren’t the ground of our salvation. That would contradict everything he’s already said. But they are the goal of our salvation.
These “good works” are why God saved us. They’re the result of God’s saving work in us. They’re the fruit of his grace. If we think of our life as a tree, the rain of God’s grace makes us grow, keeps us alive, and produces fruit. No rain, no fruit. A downpour of rain brings lots of fruit. The rain isn’t a reward for the fruit, it’s the cause and reason for the fruit.
What are the “good works” Paul is referring to? He doesn’t fill out the details here, but he will in the second half of the letter. The “good works” that God saves us for is the godly behavior described in chapters 4-6. Things like humility, gentleness, patience, and love (4:2), speaking truth to other Christians (v. 25), controlling our anger (v. 26), not stealing but rather working hard (v. 28), not holding grudges or slandering (v. 31), forgiving one another (v. 32), putting to death every form of sexual impurity (5:3), not talking with filthiness or foolishness or crudeness (v. 4), wives submitting to their husbands (v. 22), husbands loving their wives (v. 25), children obeying their parents (6:1), and employees serving their employers well (vv. 5-8).
God wants his new creation to look new. Not holier than thou, just holy, as God is holy. God gives us grace so that we’ll reflect his character. He saves us so that we might show the world what he looks like. Concerning holiness, J. C. Ryle said, “Your life is an argument that none can escape.” In other words, your life will say something about God. Is it saying true things? He goes on to say that he fears that “Christ’s name is too often blasphemed because of the lives of Christians.” Is your life saying things that aren’t true about God? Is the name of Jesus praised or dismissed because of your life? The actions of the Giving Tree proved its character. The actions of God have proved his character. How can it be any different with us?
God’s Grace and Our Responsibility
The final thing I want you to notice is that God’s sovereign grace is present even in our sanctification. “God prepared beforehand” the works he wanted us to do. Our life of good works is the result of God’s work. God’s grace saves us and changes us. But his sovereignty isn’t incompatible with our responsibility. The last phrase of the verse tells us that “we should walk in them.” We’re called to live out the works God has prepared for us. In other words, we’re expected to live in godly ways. We cannot sit back and do nothing and expect God to obey for us. God’s grace compels us to obey him.
In Philippians 2:12-13, Paul says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Our “good works” are perhaps the most obvious evidence of God’s power at work in us. His grace literally makes us new. Though it’ll be painfully slow, we must be growing in holiness if we want to say we have any claim to God’s grace. Good works assure us of God’s work in our lives.
God Gave Himself on the Tree
God gave much so that we might make much of him. God gave his only Son to us when we didn’t deserve him. He sent Jesus to live a perfect life, die on the cross for our sins, and rise on the third day so that everyone who trusts in him and turns from their sins can be with God forever. God gives the gift of himself in the gospel. The cross of Jesus is the true Giving Tree. God gave the life of his Son on the tree of the cross so that he might give us grace upon grace.
But he also gave us Jesus that we might live like Jesus. Peter says that Jesus “bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Pet. 2:24). God gave us Jesus in order that we might reflect his character to the world.
The boy in The Giving Tree used the tree’s gifts for his own ends. God calls us, in contrast, to glorify God in light of the gift of God’s grace. One of the primary ways we do this is by walking in the “good works” he’s prepared for us. May the Giving Tree of God’s grace compel us to live lives worthy of the God of grace.