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Introduction: In What's So Amazing about Grace?, Philip Yancey recounts this story
about C. S. Lewis:
During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from
around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the
Christian faith. They
began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had
different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection?
Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The
debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the
room. "What's the rumpus about?" he asked, and heard in
reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity's unique
contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, "Oh,
that's easy. It's grace." After some discussion, the
conferees had to agree. The
notion of God's love coming to us free of charge, no strings
attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The
Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of Karma, the Jewish
covenant, and Muslim code of law—each of these offers a way to
earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God's love
unconditional.
1.
THE NEED FOR GRACE A.
THE BIBLE DESCRIBES MAN’S TRUE CONDITION... 1.
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
- Romans
3:23 2.
“For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble
in one point, he is guilty of all.” - James
2:10 3.
“For the wages of sin is death...” - Romans
6:23 4.
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not
hear.” - Isaiah
59:2 5.
“But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses
are like filthy rags;” – Isaiah
64:6 B.
WHAT THESE PASSAGES REALLY MEAN TO US... 1.
We
must all plead guilty! a.
Every accountable person has sinned b.
We can never demand entrance into heaven because we are
somehow good enough c.
Even the very best of us is without merit in God’s sight! 2.
Our
sins have alienated us from God! a.
By our transgressions, we lose that precious relationship
with God b.
We experience “spiritual” death, or separation from God;
which if left unchecked, will result in eternal separation from
God (i.e., hell) c.
While in this state of “spiritual” death, we are
dead to God; our prayers are not heard - cf. 1
Peter 3:12 3.
As
sinners, we cannot accomplish the removal of our guilt on our own! a.
We cannot run away from this guilt b.
We cannot work our way out of this guilt c.
That is where God’s grace enters the picture. Through His
grace, not only can He forget about our sins, He can save us from
them
i.
We sing about “Amazing Grace” – Yes it is!
ii.
We sing “His Grace Reaches Me” – thanks be to God! [So don’t be self-deceived by notions of our own goodness.
We are sinners in need of salvation! It is fair to say, then, that
the first requirement of salvation is recognition of our
true guilt. Once we acknowledge our sinfulness, we are in a
position to appreciate...] 2.
THE PROVISION OF GRACE A.
OUT OF LOVE, GOD HAS PROVIDED HIS SON... 1.
Because
God loved us, He sent His Son to die that we might have eternal
life - John
3:16; 1 John 4:9 2.
Because
God loved us, He made His Son a propitiation for our sins -
1
John 4:10 a.
A “propitiation” is a sacrifice designed to appease b.
Therefore God has offered His Son as a sacrifice designed to
appease Himself, which leads to a related point... 3.
Because God loved us, He gave us a gift. It was a free gift,
but still a costly one. a.
It is like the lady who went to the store to buy a sweater.
She was on a tight budget so went to the clearance rack first. She
found a sweater she liked and saw it was only $8. She bought it
and took it home. When she got home she put the sweater on and
realized how smooth and elegant the sweater was. She then noticed
it’s original price was $124. What she thought was a cheap buy
was actually something quite expensive. b.
Often times we may treat Jesus’ blood as a cheap buy. His
grace, though a free gift to us, carried a high price tag – the
life of Jesus Himself. [But not only out of love, but…] B.
OUT OF JUSTICE, GOD HAS PROVIDED HIS SON... 1.
To
satisfy His justice, God provided redemption through the blood of
His Son - Romans
3:24-26* 2.
God’s grace therefore functions in this way: a.
God’s justice requires an appropriate sacrifice for sin b.
Because He loves us, He provided His Son as a sacrifice for
sin c.
God recognizes the death of Jesus on the cross as a suitable
ransom for our sins, paid in full! [So to satisfy both His justice and His love, God has
graciously provided salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. What
we cannot earn, God has provided! But the provision of grace is
not unconditional (otherwise all would be saved). Therefore we
need to consider...] 3.
THE RECEPTION OF GRACE
A.
RECEIVING GOD’S SAVING GRACE REQUIRES OBEDIENCE... 1.
For
Jesus is “the author (or source) of eternal salvation to all
who obey Him,” - Hebrews
5:9 2.
Freedom
from sin comes when one is willing to obey from the heart - Romans
6:17-18* 3.
Such obedience involves: a.
Trusting
in Jesus as the Son of God who died for your sins - John
3:16 (quote) b.
Confessing
your faith before men - Romans
10:9-10* c.
Repenting
of your sins - Acts
17:30 (“Truly, these times of ignorance God
overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent”) d.
Culminating
with being buried with Christ in baptism for the remission of your
sins – Mark
16:15-16; Acts 2:38; 22:16 (quote) B.
HOWEVER, SUCH OBEDIENCE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH EARNING
OR MERITING SALVATION...! 1.
Salvation
is by grace, and “not by works of righteousness which we have
done” - Titus
3:4-5a 2.
But by God’s mercy, He saves us “through the washing
of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” - Titus
3:5b a.
When a penitent sinner, who trusts in Jesus, is baptized into
Christ.... 1)
He
or she is united with Christ by baptism into His death, and
therefore rises to walk in newness of life - cf. Romans
6:3-8 (quote) 2)
He
or she is “clothed” with Christ, able to enjoy all the
blessings made possible by Jesus’ death and resurrected life! -
cf. Galatians
3:26-27; Hebrews 7:24-25 b.
Through
such a “washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy
Spirit”, one is truly “born again of the water and the
Spirit”! - cf. John
3:5 ·
When a pastor named Michael was still in seminary, he took a
required course in "clinical pastoral education." Each
seminarian was assigned to be a chaplain in a hospital or other
institution, and one night each week was on call for emergencies.
Late one night, the phone rang, and Michael was called to Alexian
Brothers Medical Center in the Chicago suburbs. A 16-year-old girl
had been driving at night with friends, and she had backed into a
light pole. The pole had broken off and then fallen forward,
crashing down onto the car. A 12-year-old friend in the car had
been severely injured; in fact, she was brain dead when she
arrived at the hospital. Michael walked with the 12-year-old's
family as they went through the wrenching process of realizing the
truth and allowing the life support to be removed. The following
morning, Michael visited the hospital room of the 16-year-old
driver. Physically, she was recovering well, but emotionally, she
was distraught knowing that her actions had killed her friend.
"I'm going to be like a daughter to her parents," she
told Michael. "I'm going to go over to their house every day
and baby-sit for them. I'll wash dishes for them every night. I'll
go over there every week and mow their lawn." Michael
gradually helped her realize the truth that no matter what she
did, she could never replace their daughter. She could never do
enough to make up for her actions. All she could do was ask for
forgiveness and hope that the parents would find it in their
hearts to forgive her. The parents who lost their daughter,
amazingly, did forgive this girl. She was set free from trying to
pay back a debt she could never repay no matter what she did. In
our relationship to God, we have sinned so greatly that nothing we
do could ever make up for it. But there is a way out: God is
willing to forgive us. Conclusion:
1)
They consider themselves good, moral people 2)
Yet, in nearly every example of salvation in the book of
Acts, those being saved were deeply religious and very moral
already! 3)
And as Isaiah said, “all our righteousnesses are like
filthy rags”!
1)
They may think that they are too sinful to receive God’s
grace 2)
Yet
God desires all to be saved, and has provided Jesus “a
ransom for all” - cf. 1
Timothy 2: 3-6
1)
Many are told to “Say the sinner’s prayer”, but are not
told what Jesus and His apostles commanded people to do to receive
God’s saving grace 2)
People
need to listen to Christ and His apostles, not modern preachers! -
cf. Mark
16: 15-16; Acts 2:36-38; 22:16
Dear friends, what is your relationship to the grace of God? Have you received the gospel of the grace of God? Are you standing in the true grace of God?
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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