Salvation: Works or Grace
Donny Haynes
Ephesians - From Rags to Riches • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 50:43
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Consider a few reminders of what we have discovered about God’s grace.
• Grace has given us all spiritual blessings through Jesus—Eph. 1:3
• Grace chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world—Eph. 1:4
• Grace has determined that we will be like Jesus, and with Jesus, one day—Eph. 1:5, 11–12
• Grace has made us accepted in Jesus—Eph. 1:6
• Grace proved the blood of Christ that washed us from our sins—Eph. 1:7
• Grace reached out to us when we were dead in our sins and headed to Hell—Eph. 2:1–4
• Grace loved us—Eph. 2:4
• Grace gave us life—Eph. 2:5
• Grace has secured our future—Eph. 2:6–7
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
The Way of Salvation
The Way of Salvation
Ephesians 2:8 (KJV 1900)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
“Through faith”—If salvation does not result from being religious, being a good person, or doing good things, where does salvation come from?
Paul says it comes to us “through faith.”
What is “faith?” The word “faith” refers to “a conviction of the truth of something; belief.”
Saving faith is simply coming to the place where one believes, with absolute conviction that everything the Bible says about Jesus is true. That’s it! The absolute conviction is what leads to obedience and proven in action.
Salvation is not the result of doing anything; it is the result of a lost sinner simply taking God at His Word. That is the clear teaching of some of the greatest, clearest verses in the Bible.
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
The Bible is crystal clear on this matter. The way of salvation is simply taking God at His Word and believing the Gospel.
What is the Gospel?
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Some people will object that they can’t believe in Jesus. They think can’t have faith in something they did not see and don’t know to absolutely true.
The truth is, every day of our lives is a series of acts of faith.
• We eat our food having faith that it is not contaminated.
• We swallow water believing by faith that it is safe to drink.
• We take the medicine the doctor prescribes by faith not knowing all the side effects, or whether it will cure or kill us.
• We put our money in the bank trusting by faith their promises to keep it safe and give it back when we ask for it.
• We get in our car, put the key in the switch and turn it by faith, taking for granted that it will crank.
• Even the act of sitting down on a chair, or a pew, is an act of faith.
Salvation comes when a lost sinner simply takes God at His Word and believes what the Bible says about Jesus Christ.
• God says He was born of a virgin.
• God says He is the sinless Son of God.
• God says He died on a cross to pay for the sins of the sinner.
• God says He rose again from the dead.
• God says He ascended back to Heaven.
• God says He is coming again to get His people.
• God says that anyone who believes in Jesus will be eternally saved.
• That, and not works, is what saves the soul!
Faith believes that those who believe what the Bible says about Jesus will be saved.
Faith also involves trust.
Do we believe Jesus is who he says he is?
Do we believe he died for our sins?
Do we believe he was resurrected and lives today?
Have we trusted him to save us?”
The only way out of the darkness of sin into the Lord’s salvation is by trusting Jesus alone to save your soul. What are you trusting today? Are you saved?
Our works will never get us into Heaven. The only way into Heaven is by faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross. Paul says it this way in
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
When faith brings us to Jesus, we are given His righteousness,
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
The Wonder of Salvation
The Wonder of Salvation
Ephesians 2:8 (KJV 1900)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Salvation is a by Grace
Salvation is a by Grace
The word “grace” refers to, “the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.”
Grace is “the unmerited favor of God for the undeserving.”
The grace of God means that God reaches out to those who deserve nothing from Him but His judgment and condemnation.
The grace of God means that God turns His favor toward those who deserve His wrath.
It means that God reaches down to those who cannot reach up to Him.
It means that God goes to those who will not come to Him.
Lost sinners are dead, radically depraved, totally deceived and utterly doomed in their sins, but God, In His grace, reaches out to save them by His amazing, abundant grace.
Salvation is a Gift
Salvation is a Gift
Ephesians 2:8 (KJV 1900)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
A gift is something that you simply receive.
Jesus Christ is God’s gift to us. Salvation through Christ has been wrapped up as a gift and God hands it over to us.
But note: a gift is not ours until we believe it is ours and we take and receive it.
Suppose I hand you my Bible and say, “Here, this is yours. I give it to you as a gift. It is yours; take it.”
What is necessary for the Bible (the gift) to become yours? You have to believe it is yours and reach out and receive it.
You could say, “No thank you …
• I do not believe you
• I don’t want it
• I deny its existence
• I don’t have the time to use it”
If this is your attitude, what happens to the gift?
It never becomes yours. In my mind I gave it to you, but you never received it. You either did not believe it or did not want it.
This is what is meant by faith. If you believe, really believe that Jesus Christ died for you, you will reach out and receive the gift of God’s grace.
• Grace has secured our salvation—Eph. 2:8–9
The Workmanship of Salvation
The Workmanship of Salvation
Ephesians 2:10 (KJV 1900)
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
The word “workmanship” means, “that which is made, a work, a work of art”.
It comes from the word that gives us the word “poem”.
It refers to a “piece of literary workmanship.”
It came to refer to an author’s “magnum opus,” or his greatest literary achievement.
In other words, it refers to his “masterpiece.”
The word “created” means, “to form or to shape.”
It refers “to making something out of nothing.”
It speaks of “a new thing.”
That’s what the child of God is!
One moment he is dead in trespasses and sins and the next he is alive in Jesus. The believer instantly becomes a child of God and is forever changed by the power of God.When a sinner is saved, it is the greatest of all miracles, and it is the greatest demonstration of God’s creative power. When God saves a sinner, a new person is formed, 2 Cor. 5:17.
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Something that has never before existed comes into being at the instant of salvation.
The word “for” carries our thoughts back to the preceding verses.
In verse 8–9 Paul told us that God’s salvation is not the result of works. In other words, we did not save ourselves. We did not pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We did not turn over a new leaf. We did not just decide one day to change out lives.
Salvation occurred when God Almighty came to us in grace, drew us to Jesus and gave us the faith to believe in Him. We are “new creatures,” but we did not make ourselves! We are the work of His hands, and we owe Him all the glory! There is no room for us to brag about who we are or what we have in Him.
Unto Good Works
Unto Good Works
Ephesians 2:10 (KJV 1900)
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Works do not save us, but works are a sure product of our salvation. As surely as you are truly saved, “good works” will mark your life.
The word “good” means, “that which excels; is useful; of a good nature.”
The word “works” refers to “employment; that with which one is occupied.” In other words, it refers to how you spend your time.
• The child of God will evidence a life that is occupied with deeds that reflect well on the Lord Jesus Christ, Phil. 1:27.
27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
The good works of our new life in Christ Jesus stand in contrast to the old works of the flesh, Eph. 2:2–3; Gal. 5:19–21.
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
The new life God places within us when He saves us always manifests itself in “good works.” When we are in truly Jesus Christ, our walk will be different, Ill. Eph. 2:2; 4:17.
• The new life He creates within us when we are saved will always work its way out through us in our works.
Whatever is on the inside of man always works its way to the outside.
The message is simple: repent or perish! And, if you truly repent and believe on Jesus Christ, “good works” will mark your life. Not the works of the flash, but the works of a new man, who is walking in faith!
A Good Walk
A Good Walk
Ephesians 2:10 (KJV 1900)
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Referring to those “good works” Paul says, “which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” This statement makes a couple of truths abundantly clear.
• First, this statement makes it clear that God expects His people to “walk in” “good works.”
The word “walk” means, “to make ones way; to regulate ones life; to make full use of opportunities.” The word is in a tense that suggests a “once for all decision to walk in good works.”
In other words, it isn’t something a person turns on an off. You don’t walk for God for six months, then for yourself for ten years. It refers to “a fixed way of life that is committed to living the way God intends for His people to live.”
How does God expect His people to walk?
• In Love—John 13:35; Rom. 5:5; 1 Cor. 13
• In Obedience—John 14:15, 21
• In Faithfulness—1 Cor. 4:2
• In Holiness—1 Pet. 1:16
Sanctification is a process. God saves you from a life of sin and He begins the process of transforming your life. He remakes you into the image of His Son,
Galatians 4:19 (KJV 1900)
19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,
Romans 8:29 (KJV 1900)
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
We are not perfect the instant we get saved, but we are changed. That change should manifest itself in an ever-increasing holiness before God and before the world.
The phrase “hath before ordained that we should walk in them” reminds us that we were not saved by any accident. It was in God’s plan to save us by His grace so that we might live for Him. Before we ever came to Jesus by faith, God had already planned the path He would have us walk in life.
The Lord has planned our path through this world.
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: And he delighteth in his way.
We may make our plans and do set ourselves to do the things we want to do, but in the end, the Lord’s will for our lives will be the final outcome.
9 A man’s heart deviseth his way: But the Lord directeth his steps.
Find the path God has laid out for your life and walk in it for His glory! The fact is, a legitimate faith will always manifest itself in good works.
If works are missing, so is saving faith, James 1:17–26.
A faith that is real reveals itself through works that are righteous! When God, through His grace, saves a sinner from the deadness, the deception, the depravity and the doom of his sins, He does not save that person to live as they please.
• He brings them out of death so they can live a new life through Christ!
• He brings them out of deception so they can know the truth.
• He saves them out of depravity so they can walk in righteousness.
• He saves them from their doom so they can enjoy the blessings of His salvation.
• God does not save us so that we can live for ourselves; He saves us so we can live for Him!
• He saves us so that we can walk in newness of life.
• He saves us so that He can use us for His glory in this world!
• He saves us to put us to work for Him in bringing a lost world to Jesus Christ.
As we close, here a couple of questions you need to consider.
1. Have you been saved and changed by God’s grace?
If not, you need to come to Jesus today. If you will come to Him, He will save your soul.
2. Is your life marked, not by perfection, but by a profound change and by works that glorify God?
If it is, you should thank God for that is evidence of your conversion, if it is not, then you should come to Jesus because your lack of works is evidence of your lost condition.
3. Are you doing everything God has called you to do? If you are not, let me invite you to fully surrender to His will and allow Him to take the reigns of your life for His glory.
4. Are you grateful to Him for His work of grace in your life?
If you are, come to Him today and thank Him for His life-changing work on your behalf.