Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
October 21, 2001 A.M.
A Better Understanding Of Grace
Reading - Ephesians 2.1-10
Amazing Grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I’m found,
Was blind, but now I see.
Our religious world today is deeply divided over the subject of Grace... And how it is applied to the sinner... We find a lot of misunderstanding about GRACE. So... The lesson this morning will hopefully give us a better understanding of God’s Amazing Grace.
What is grace?... We need a definition.
Grace is God’s unmerited favor extended to us.
Grace is something that we did not... can not... earn or merit in any way.
In fact... We do not deserve it... Nor did we even ask for it.
Scripture tells us that... While we were yet sinners... aliens... ungodly... Christ died for us.
Listen to Romans 5.6-9... You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
Truth is folk... Jesus died for us before we knew we were lost... Before we knew we needed a Savior. Christ died for us and our sins before we were even born. Grace is God's gift to us.
Someone says... But, Brother Randall that’s too good to be true! That is why it’s called the gospel... Good news indeed!... Grace is too good to be true.
-You see... Grace is God’s initiative on our behalf.
-Perhaps grace is best defined by the acronym... God’s-Riches-At-Christ’s-Expense.
-Grace is Jesus dying where we should have died.
His taking on our sin... Our guilt... The punishment that is rightly ours.
I recently read about a time in a Wednesday evening Bible class that Brother K.C. Moser, who was almost 80 at the time, was asked... What is grace? He thought for a few minutes and said... Nothing in my hand I bring... Simply to the cross I cling.
What a great definition of grace... RIGHT?
Another fact we want to notice is that grace is unique to Christianity. Grace is what makes Christianity distinctively different from all other religions of the world. Grace is a peculiar property of the Christian faith. Every other religion in the world has a system of works whereby an individual can earn or merit their salvation...
The good news of the Gospel is not... That we can be saved... Or that we can merit our salvation. But that we can be saved by grace.
Scripture tells us that...
-His righteousness...
-His goodness...
-His death...
Became the means of our salvation. Our salvation is not a result of our keeping the law... But our response to God’s Grace.
Good news!... Good news indeed!
Church... Let’s not turn Christianity into... just another world religion... or into another religion of this world. May God help us to maintain Christianity’s uniqueness... Salvation by grace!
Note with me some reasons why we have difficulty understanding GRACE.
First... Because we must see ourselves as sinners.
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 wrote... 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.
Jesus said... 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...Good news!!! Good news indeed!!.
Our text tells us that we are dead in sin... And that we need spiritual and moral renewal... We must be Changed... Transformed... Medaphorised.
How do we do it?... Well... By ourselves we cant... We can’t forgive ourselves. We don’t have the resources... The only thing that can forgive sins is the Blood of Jesus. You see... Psychology... Positive thinking... Or other do-it-yourself schemes... will not erase our sins... Not a single one!!... We can’t forgive ourselves. Only God's grace through Jesus Christ can save us.
Because we were raised to earn our own way.
Our reading says... Salvation is a true gift given to those who believe. We have allowed the world to force us into its own mold. We like to say... God helps those who help themselves. That sounds good... but it is not in the Bible... I challenge you to find this statement in scripture.
-We like to earn our own way.
-We earn grades at school.
-We earn a college degree.
-We have merit raises at work.
But... The message of grace is that God helps those who were and are hopeless... helpless powerless to save themselves.
Church... the Bible says... All our righteousness is but filthy rags in his sight. None of our good works can erase a single sin... No not one!!
Grace is our being saved... By His righteousness... By His goodness.
We are saved by His absolute perfection... Not by our meager attempts at goodness... Righteousness.
Paul tells us that... Jesus saved him, the worst, the chiefest of sinners, as an example that he can save anybody who would believe on him. Read it, that’s what I Timothy 1.15-16 says. We must not attempt to rewrite the Bible. We are saved by grace through faith... And no other way... And NO other way!
With these thoughts in mind... Let’s try to better understand God’s Amazing Grace.
First... 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...
-Sin is 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 is this... 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 twenty 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.
Next... 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... 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.
Secondly... 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 10.
Paul ask 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... Try us above that we are able to stand.
Thirdly... 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... As we strive to walk in the light of the gospel we are assured of forgiveness.
Good news!!... Good new indeed!!
I believe that... The ultimate goal of God’s grace 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 away... Behold all things are made new.
Church... There will come a time when sin and its consequences will be a thing of the past.
Number four this morning... We must understand the Obligation of Grace.
Audience... I would not be preaching the truth if I did not preach this last point.
Follow me closely now in these two thoughts...
1. 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... even if no one... not a single person responded to His grace offer.
2. 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 that Jesus came to make 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. You see... It is possible... 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.
It is true... There is a divine and a human side to our salvation. God’s grace furnishes the sacrifice for our sins. Our faith must perform the necessary conditions to make us beneficiaries of the blessings provided by His grace. For by grace are you saved... Through faith. The Hebrews’ writer plainly states... Without faith it is impossible to please God.
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.
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.
-We understand the nature of sin and its temporal and eternal consequences.
-We must recognize the remedy for sin... Is nothing but the blood of Christ.
-Then we must... IN FAITH... respond 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 today... 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 the saved?
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??
