Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
April 29, 2001 a.m.
A Better Understanding Of Grace
Reading - Ephesians 2.1-10
It is difficult for all of us isn’t it... To think of ourselves as sinners... But that’s what the Bible says we are...
-Paul says, For all have sinned... and come short of the glory of God... There is none righteousness... No not one.
-Old Testament Isaiah wrote... Your iniquities have separated between you and your God... And your sins have hid His face from you.
Now church... To think of ourselves as sinners does not degrade us.
The Bible is not written to condemn us... But to tell us of our worth.
The Psalmist said... What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man that thou visited him? For thou has made him a little lower than the angels, and has crowned him with glory and honor. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
You see... God thought we were worth saving.
The laws of God are not designed to fill us with guilt... and rob us of happiness.
The Bible is written because God believes that all men are worth redeeming.
Our text this morning tells us that we are dead in sin... And that we need spiritual and moral Renewal... Regeneration... Changed... Transformed... Medaphorised.
How do we do it?... Well... By ourselves we can’t... We can’t forgive ourselves.
We don’t have the resources... The only thing that can forgive sins is the Blood of Jesus.
Psychology...
Positive thinking...
Or other do-it-yourself schemes...
Will not erase our sin... Only God's grace through Jesus Christ can save us.
With these thoughts in mind... Access a worship bulletin and let’s study this together.
To really appreciate grace... We must understand the consequences of Sin.
God did not arbitrarily make laws condemning what He disliked and approving the things He enjoyed. You see... The reason sin is wrong is because of its very nature...
Sin is harmful...
Hurtful to humans.
Those things that by their very nature bring pain, heartache, sorrow, death, eternal separation... God has called sin and forbidden us to partake... Even though they bring momentary pleasure.
The consequences of our sin are much more than we could ever imagine.
Ask the person serving a life sentence in prison.
The teenager who has just given birth out of wedlock.
The individual dying from AIDS as a result of their immoral behavior.
The divorcee whose marriage was destroyed by alcohol or drugs.
Or the person grieving over a misspent life.
Ask these about the consequences of our sin.
What we must know this morning is that the eternal cost of sin is much worse that any of these... much worse that we can even imagine.
Listen to David from Psalm 130... Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice! If you, O LORD, remember our iniquities... Who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness
Revelation 20 tells us... Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. The sinner will experience the wrath of God... Eternal death... Eternal separation from God. You see... Suffering in this life... and eternal Hell is the natural consequence of sin.
Secondly... Let’s see if we can understand the Purpose of God's Grace
First... God's grace is designed to relieve us of our guilt-stricken conscience.
Isaiah wrote... The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt... There is no peace to the wicked.
This scripture tells us that.... Sin robs us of our inner peace and happiness.
The good news of the Gospel is that God’s grace restores this inner peace and happiness.... In Him... In Christ... We have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace... There is therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.
Because of the Blood of Jesus we are forgiven... Inner peace...Contentment... Happiness... is restored. Isn’t this good news?... This is the reason it is called the GOSPEL.
Second... God's grace empowers us to live the Christian life.
Paul speaks of God’s grace enabling him to overcome his thorn in the flesh in 2 Corinthians ten.
Paul asked God to remove the thorn three times... and God said (WHAT?)... My grace is sufficient for thee... My strength is made perfect in your weakness. Paul goes on to tell us that we can rest assured that God would not allow Satan to tempt us above that we are able to stand.
And third... This morning... God's grace assures the Christian of continual forgiveness.
It’s impossible for us to live life completely free of sin. John told the first century Christians... That when we claim to have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us... But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness... For if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, continues to cleanse and purify us from all sin.
You see... When we strive to walk in the light of the gospel we are assured of forgiveness.
I believe that the ultimate goal of God is to destroy all sin... And its consequences once and for all... And He will... And He will. The reason we know this is because of what we read in Revelation 21... John said... I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.... I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying... Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God himself will be with them and be their God... And He shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain... For the former things are passed... And nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
Number four this morning... We must understand the Obligation of Grace
God’s grace is UNCONDITIONAL in the fact that it is a reality... Whether or not we take advantage of it... God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.
Jesus came and died on the cross... Shed His blood for our sins even if no one... not a single person responded to His grace offer. But on the other hand God's grace is conditional... In that we must respond to it. This means that there is something that we must do to obtain the salvation He made possible.
Audience... The Bible teaches that Salvation is freely given to all... But there are conditions that we must meet in order to receive His grace gift.
Salvation can come through the grace of God... And yet still be conditional.
For instance...
Listen to Ezekiel... But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
The wicked can be saved provided they turn from their wickedness.
Jesus said, Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Salvation is within the kingdom and only those who do the will of God may enter the kingdom.
The Hebrew writer wrote... He (Christ) became the author of eternal salvation unto
all them that (WHAT?)... Obey him. This verse tells us that... Our salvation is based upon our obedience.
Titus 2.11 & 12 tells us that... The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. But the next verse tell us that this grace teaches us to say NO to ungodliness... To say NO to worldly passions... and to live self-controlled upright and godly lives as we wait for the coming of Jesus.
Our text says... We are saved by grace... Through faith. God's grace is powerless to save without our cooperation.
You see church... There is a divine and human side to Salvation.
God’s grace furnishes the sacrifice for our sins... And set the conditions of salvation.
On the human side, faith must perform the necessary conditions to benefit from the blessings provided by grace. “For by grace are ye saved through faith.”
God has always saved in this exact same way... By grace through faith.
-God told Noah to build an ark for the salvation of himself and his family...
And Noah through faith was obedient to the commands of God... By faith Noah, being
warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving
of his house... And became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
-God told the Israelites in Egypt to smear lamb's blood over the lintels of the doors to
avoid the death of their firstborn.
-Naaman was told to dip seven times in the Jordan River to be healed of his leprosy.
Through faith Naaman was obedient to the commands of the prophet and was healed.
-In the first three verses of our text... The Ephesians were dead in sin... But they
had received God's grace and were made alive again. Through faith they obeyed God's commands... and received the benefits of His grace.
In my hand I have a ten dollar bill... It is mine. I can do anything I want to with it. My decision this morning is to give it to Christopher Marshall. This is my grace gift. Christopher has to do nothing to earn it... In fact there is nothing he can do to merit the ten dollars. But... My condition is that he come up here and receive the ten dollars. Christopher, do you believe I’ll give you this money if you will come get it?... Do you believe it strongly enough to act upon your belief and come get it? Them come get your grace gift.
Audience... Listen to me... Isn’t this exactly what Paul said in our text... Saved by grace through faith. Isn’t this what Paul says in Galatians 3.26 & 27?... We are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus... For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Folk... The grace of God is freely and fully extended to every individual upon the same terms...
-One must come to the realization that he is a sinner.
-One must bring himself to understand the nature of sin and its temporal and eternal consequences.
-One must recognize the remedy for sin... Is nothing but the blood of Christ.
-Then one must respond in faith to the terms God has given.
-Then and only then will we be resurrected from the grave of sin... Raised to walk a new... changed... transformed life.
Paul told the Ephesian Elders... And us here this morning... “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.”
How many of us would like to respond to the word of God's grace and allow it to build us up and give us an inheritance among all them that are sanctified?
If you’re here this morning and not a child of God... We give you the opportunity to respond to God’s grace through faith, repentance and New Testament baptism.
As a child of God... If you need to acknowledging sins... God’s promise is that He will forgive and purify you from all unrighteousness.
The invitation is for each of us to respond to God’s grace as we stand and sing this invitation song together.
Will you come??
