"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— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
Ephesians 2:4-6
We add one further comment before we leave these verses, about the way in which this whole operation works - how we 'get in'. First of all there is the love of the Father. It is the Father who goes out and brings the poor outcast child into His house and home. And it is because of His great love wherewith He loved us that we are brought into the fold and family of God.
Then, there is the work of the Son. We should note well the past tense that Paul uses in 4 - the love wherewith He loved. God's love has its focal point in history in the death of His Son. This, as we have often stressed, is the great centrality of the gospel - not general love, but special, particular love, manifested in the death of the Cross. This rings out throughout the entire first chapter of the epistle. It is ever on the basis of Christ's finished work that the Father issues the invitation to 'come in'.
Then, there is the operation of the Spirit. It is by the instrumentality of the Spirit that God the Father brings about our redemption. This Paul has already recognised in 1:17-23, when he prays for the operation of the Spirit in our lives.
Next, there is the prayer of the Church. We must never forget that we are called to be co-workers with God in the grand enterprise of redemption. We must look again and again at Paul's prayer for the Ephesians in 1:15ff, and at its answer in 2:1ff: 'You hath He quickened'.
Finally, there is the response of faith. This, as we see in 8, is the outgoing of our hand to the Hand stretched out to save us; it is the response quickened and brought to birth in our hearts by the life-giving Spirit of God. Faith cometh by hearing.