Many Doctrines of Grace 2 - Reflections on Divine Grace
[open bibles; will read v.1-10, but focus more on v.8-9] [reminder about Q&A, prayer]
Continuing our series, “The Many Doctrines of Grace.” Two Sundays ago we asked why was necessary for us be saved. This is important question because it’s a question every person in the world is trying to answer. Everybody comes into the world looking for salvation of some sort. What do I mean by that? Well, I mean that each of us as we grow older keep looking to save ourselves out of meaningless, sorry, unhappy lives and into purposeful, happy lives.
Well, as a Christian pastor, it’s no surprise then that I would suggest that best place, in fact the only place, for us to look for salvation is God. So today we consider why and how God saves people. To answering that question must reflect on God’s grace.
Grace ties everything together. This why series called, “The Many Doctrines of Grace.” Without grace will not rightly understand concept of God’s sovereignty and election in the Bible, very likely to dismiss such things out of hand. Without grace will not understanding grace you will not fully appreciate human responsibility, very likely to take salvation for granted. Without grace will not rightly understand faith, very likely to make faith just another form of legalism and religious good works.
Grace is what makes Christianity what it is. It is most wonderful thing to talk to a non Christian about, since it reveals just how much God has done to save people.
At same time most difficult thing to talk to a non Christian about, since is hard-wired into our culture that salvation is found by doing good things. Buy fair-trade coffee, volunteer at a local non-profit, sign up to SaveDarfur on the internet, and you are doing alright, you’ve earned some grace from God. Many of us have somewhere deep inside of the thought that, “Well God should save me. I’m not that bad a person!” Of course, thinking like that will continue to keep you from truly experiencing God’s grace and true Christianity.
Rather, what we need is the honest biblical assessment of who we are in relation to God. v.1-3 describes it well to us and it also serves as a succinct summary of what we discussed two weeks ago. It’s like Paul took Romans 1-3 and boiled it down to three verses.
The reality is that we are, as it says in Eph 4:18, “alienated from the life of God.” We are total strangers to a God-centered life. In fact compared to the life of God our lives completely dead. As we sink deeper and deeper into this spiritual death, as we continue to “walk” in the death of trespasses and sins, we will eventually become eternally dead, forever separated from God and the life of God.
Three major forces at work that we human beings have followed into deadness of sin. They are:
1. “the course of this world” (v.2). Whole trajectory of our culture and society is splintered off from the path of perfect goodness and wholeness in which God originally set it. Mankind wholly caught up in that splintered path.
2. “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work” (also v.2). This is a reference to Satan. He is opposed to God and so of course looks to do anything possible to keep us walking in deadness. And we are prone to believing in his lies and following after him.
3. “the passions of our flesh” “the desires of the body and the mind” (v.3). We naturally inclined to reject God – to follow after our own sinful desires rather than God’s good and holy desires.
So that is where all human beings are. And that is where all human beings would remain. But God! Those are two of the most precious words in all the Bible. Those two words tell us that despite what you have you just read, despite how hopeless it all seemed, God has now stepped in to do something about it!
[CLICK] Ephes. 2:4-7 - But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— [6] and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7] so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Consider again v.1-3. Notice all in past tense. Paul writes this letter to Christians in the local church of Ephesus. Reminds them, and those here today who Christians, “Don’t forget where came from. But don’t think you are still there! God has acted in Christ Jesus so that we who were dead now made alive in Christ Jesus! We’ve come from the darkest depths of hell to being citizens of heaven!”
This happens because of rich mercy of God. Notice, God isn’t just merciful. He is RICH in mercy. This happens because of the great love of God. Notice, God doesn’t just love, he loves with a great love.
Important to notice these adjectives that Bible attaches to attributes of God. Without them would still be dead in our sins. Without them would have little reason to do good in our world, to talk to people about God and what he did in Jesus Christ.
It is because Bible says that God is not fast to anger but rather slow to anger and because God is not sparse in his love but abounding in love that we now with courage and passion and joy in our hearts can say, “I am now alive together with Christ – and you can be too!” Truly, the church is the abiding display to all creation of the rich abundant mercy and love of God. As commenter writes, “Throughout time and in eternity the church, this society of pardoned rebels, is designed by God to be the masterpiece of his goodness!”
For in coming ages God intends to show the cosmos “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” (2:7)
This verse reveals to us the key operating force here – the concept that brings together why and how God saved us. It is all found in the one word,3 “grace.” v.5, “by grace you have been saved.”
v.8-9 elaborate further on this key phrase. [CLICK] [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
What then is grace exactly? Grace describes “God’s unmerited goodness to mankind.” It is God giving us what we don’t deserve and could never earn. It is God showing love and favor to an unlovable and unfavorable people.
Now this unmerited goodness and favor of God can be seen broadly and traced back extensively. Just think back to the opening chapters of Bible, to the dawn of human history. The world created “good” by God, mankind was created to be “good” and enjoy “goodness.” This is God’s grace! Man did nothing to earn the privilege of living in a good world made especially for him. How could we, we didn’t even exist!
Think also of great blessing of being made in the image of God. Again, that is God’s grace! Out of all the creatures in creation, man alone was given the opportunity to reflect God himself!
Now think of what happens in Gen 3. Man sins, rejects life with God. Quick justice would demand that mankind be wiped out immediately. Remember God’s warning in Genesis 2 – if you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will surely die. Adam and Eve broke a very clear command of God. The punishment of death should have been immediate and swift.
Instead God sacrifices animals and provides clothes for Adam and Eve. And he promises the coming of someone who crush the head of Satan, this someone being Jesus. This is true grace.
Consider Old Testament in general. Certainly there many examples of God judging people, often severely. Yet really, if you think carefully, the Old Testament is really a consistent record of a God who is extremely patient and abundantly gracious and merciful.
In fact, it is in Old Testament that frequently find the phrase “the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” Just see Exodus 34:6, Ps 103:8, Joel 2:13, Jonah 4:2, just as a few examples. Even more, God is revealed to be someone who enjoys showing mercy, “mercy” being the word to describe God’s unmerited goodness to people who are in desperate situations. Micah 7:18 8 Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.
The Bible all about God and his grace! But really the grace of God most clearly shines out when we consider the heart of the biblical message, which is the gospel. The Bible quite appropriately speaks of the gospel as being “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).
Yes man absolutely sinful and totally responsible for his sin. Yet God shows himself to be fully gracious and responsible for providing the means in his Son Jesus by which man might be saved from his sin.
That is what v.8-9 zero in on. God’s grace most displayed in his saving of people like you and me. John 1:16-17 - And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. [17] For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Sin is great and mighty force that threatens to swallow up the human soul. Thank God that greater still is God’s grace! As v.7 points out, God’s grace is of “immeasurable riches.” This fits well with what Paul says earlier in ch. 1. [CLICK] Pay attention to the word “grace” in these verses. Paul goes out of his way to underscore the greatness and overflowing abundance of God’s grace. Ephes. 1:5-8 - He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, [6] to the praise of his GLORIOUS grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. [7] In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the RICHES of his grace, [8] which he LAVISHED upon us, in all wisdom and insight [CLICK]
Now all of this, all of what God did in Christ Jesus and also even the faith to believe in and receive what God did in Christ Jesus, all of it is ENTIRELY the gift of God. What you do, “your works,” has nothing to do you’re your salvation.
The director, the screenwriter, and the lead actor in the drama called “Salvation” is God. Not even the slightest credit should be given to us. God rightfully gets all the credit and all the glory.
Now, reality is that this hard for many people to fully grasp. We are “credit-seeking, glory-hoarding” society. We want people to see that we good people, that we socially conscious. And it’s not like we looking for a reward or anything. But deep down we like to feel that we deserving in some measure.
See, if could somehow earn your salvation, if deserved it somehow, wouldn’t be grace. Romans 11:6 points this out as talks about God’s dealings with Israel. “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.”
Now if you begin operating on the scale of getting what you think you deserve, Bible makes it clear. “the wages of sin is death” Rom 3:23. That is what we owed, that is our true wages – death! Illus – Extension for junior paper; learned quickly that was not owed to me, if decided to give it me would because was gracious.
The just punishment for our sins is what’s owed to us. Grace then has nothing do with what is owed to us. It can never been earned, it can only be given by God and gratefully received by us through faith.
So, what should we do in light of these truths? [CLICK] Appreciate the magnitude of your sin…then grab strongly hold of the even greater magnitude of God’s grace to you in Christ Jesus!
Appreciate the greatness of your sin. How utterly unlike God has made you. How fully immersed you within it. How eagerly and regularly you push God out of your life and put false hopes, satanic lies, selfish motives in his place. Let the full weight of that sink in.
Then let the flood of God’s grace wash it all away! etc… As continue to explore whole concept of salvation, how God saves us and how we receive this salvation, divine grace must always be where start and where we end.
To facilitate appreciation of and enjoyment of God’s grace in your life, let me suggest the following three principles:
[CLICK] Live in grace. Grace does not just describe our salvation. Grace also describes God’s initiative to prepare now to do good works in Christ Jesus (v.10). We were dead before, unable to do good in way God originally created to. We are now made new, our humanity reclaimed. We now able to be and do God’s good.
Look to God’s grace to deal with and eliminate lingering remnants of sin in your life. Look to his grace to motivate you and equip you to do God’s good works which he has already specially designed for you. Look to his grace to encourage you to treat other people with the same grace that has been shown to you.
But most especially remember where grace has placed you. God saved you in Christ Jesus. It is his life that exists within us. It is his life which we must embody and now display to our world.
The ability to kill your sin and to do good works and to forgive others as you’ve been forgiven, all that comes as more and more live out the life of Christ within which you have already been placed. Live in Christ, and you will find yourself knowing and enjoying “grace upon grace,” no matter your circumstances.
[CLICK] Display grace. For God’s intention is to have Christians be a display of the immeasurable riches of his grace throughout the ages. How utterly sad and pathetic it is then when the local church devolves into a display of such subhuman characteristics like gossip, selfishness, pride. When we are quick to identify sin but not quicker to forgive and seek reconciliation.
Rather, look for evidences of grace in the lives of others and actively encourage their continued growth and dependence on such grace. As one pastor put, “discern, identify, draw attention to, and celebrate evidences of grace within the church.” Any time you see even the smallest ember of grace burning in a person’s life be quick to blow on it, to fan it into a full bonfire that would even more display the grace of God in Jesus to our world.
Every teaching, every relationship, every ministry, every casual conversation of this church should be full ravishing display of God’s grace! If his grace towards us is lavish and immeasurable then it should be easily seen in our community. Ask yourself – if one of our visitors, perhaps one of visitors here today, were to describe this community, how would they answer? If the only person they interacted with was you, how would they answer?
May we be a church that passionately displays the grace of God!
[CLICK] Speak of grace. Speak of it regularly and often. All the time we should be talking about God’s grace, but most especially to those we know who have never fully experienced it. To display God’s grace requires actions and words.
Let me speak directly for a moment to those here who not Christians. There can be nothing more marvelous than knowing the grace of God, to save you from life apart from God to a life full of God. Talking not just a vague mystical sense of God. We are talking about truly KNOWING God, every day, all day, no matter the time, no matter how you feel.
God has made this possible in Jesus Christ. But it is only possible for you to receive it through faith. As Romans 4:16 would put it, “That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace…”
Faith is simply us responding to what God has graciously done on our behalf. Faith not something itself that earns us anything. Rather, we should see it our humble recognition of God’s saving action. We are saved through faith…“so that no one may boast.”
You feel you don’t have faith to respond to God, accept what he has done for you. Pray right now, ask him for it as best as you know how. And he will give it. Then turn to him, believe in him and the salvation he gives through the death of Jesus on the cross for you, and step into the new life you can now life in the risen Lord Jesus.
And join then in the chorus of people spanning centuries on centuries, all praising God for his grace!