Ephesians 2:1-10

At one time you were dead in your sins and evil actions, living your lives according to the ways of the world, under the control of the devil, whose spirit is at work in those who disobey God. All of us were once like that, our behavior determined by the desires of our sinful human nature and our evil way of thinking. Like everyone else, in our nature we were children of anger. But God in his generous mercy, because of the amazing love he had for us even while we were dead in our sins, has made us alive together with Christ. Trusting in him has saved you! He raised us up with Christ, and in Christ Jesus seated us with him in heaven, so that in all eternity to come he could demonstrate the amazing extent of his grace in showing us kindness through Christ Jesus. For you've been saved by grace through trusting in him—it's not through yourselves, it's the gift of God! This has nothing to do with human effort, so don't be proud of yourselves. We're the product of what God does, created in Christ Jesus to do good, which God already planned that we should do.