Welcome, my friend, to our program of Bible study in Search of the Lord's Way to become a Christian and to be a Christian all your life. We are studying about "The Grace of God in Man's Salvation" today. And we have nothing "newer" than the New Testament itself to say about that, but it may be "newer"-- or at least different anyway-- from what you have been hearing. Thanks for joining our study.
We are so glad you have chosen to be with us. We know you have a lot of choices. We pray we will both be blessed as we study the Bible together. We are studying God's Grace in Man's Salvation today. And as I said, we have nothing new to say about that. The apostle Paul told the elders of the church at Ephesus in that first century that he preached "the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24). He also wrote a letter to the church there in which he explained that even more. It is a part of that letter that we have chosen for out text today. While the message isn’t new, it may be different from what you have always "heard"-- or "always been told."
If you think you might want a free copy in a printed form or on a CD or audio cassette tape, please address your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. Or, if you prefer to call, please use our toll-free telephone number and we will pay for the call. That is 1-800-321-8633. Ken Helterbrand is going to lead us in a hymn now, and then I will be back and we'll read from Paul's letter to the Ephesians.
Alright, we are going to begin reading with the first verse of the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” And now with that reading, let us go to God in prayer. Holy Father in heaven, we pause a moment now for us to thank You as the offended One by our sin for the demonstration of your great and amazing grace, for providing us the way for our reconciliation and peace between us. We are thankful that we can be reconciled with You and can live at peace with You in Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son and our Savior. We pray we may impart the knowledge of this grace to others now and they may receive it by their faith in Jesus Christ today. In His name we pray, Amen!
All of the apostle Paul's New Testament letters begin with the greeting, "Grace" to you. For example, in verse two of the one from which we read just before the hymn is the greeting, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." So what does "grace" mean? Well, the word comes from the root word from which we get-- "charity" and "charm" and "charisma" and "beauty" and "gift" and even "thanks." And that is the reason you sometimes hear people saying "grace" at the dinner table. Our dictionaries give us the meaning of the words in their common and current usage. The first definition given the word in my dictionary is: "unmerited divine assistance given man for his regeneration or sanctification." Grace, then, is an unmerited, unearned and even an undeserved favor imparted by our God to us as sinners to our salvation. That is what we are talking about today. Of course, God's grace isn't always associated with man's salvation. It is sometimes a reference to other gifts or blessings that he bestows.
The first verse of our text says, "And you (and that would mean, first, the Christians-- the members of the church in Ephesus-- and, all Christians who have read those words since-- which would include us today if you are a Christian). Now let us start over and read that verse without that interruption. "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins." What does he mean we "were dead in trespasses and sins"? The word "death" comes from "Thanatos" as you probably know and is used in Scripture to indicate a separation. For example: James chapter 2, verse 26 says, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." They were still alive physically but they had been dead-- meaning they had been separated from God by their trespasses and sins. And Christians of the 21st Century were dead in their trespasses and sins, too. But, God made both the Ephesian church and present-day Christians alive. They have all been reconciled with God.
The very first sentence of the very first verse of the Bible says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Marvelous statement, wasn’t it? Marvelously powerful statement! Amazingly simple statement! But the story of creation continues throughout that chapter one. There God relates the day by day preparation of the earth for the dwelling place of mankind. "Then He said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth and everything that creeps on the earth. So God created man in His own image; in the image of God created he him; male and
female He created them" (Genesis 1:26 and 27). And verse 31 tells us that He "saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good." So, man was "very good," too, wasn't he?
Yes, men and women are different from all of the other created beings. We are "the offspring of God" and in Him we live and move and have our very being" (Acts 17:28). God is our heavenly Father (Matthew 6 and 9). God loved the man; He came down and walked and talked with him in the cool of the evening in that beautiful Garden of Eden (Genesis chapter 3, verse 8). Now, I freely admit I don't understand all there might be in that verse, but I get enough from it to know that there was a close-- oh, a very close and loving relationship between God in heaven and His offspring, mankind. In spite of that-- no, no, not in spite of it; I should say, because of it-- because of that loving relationship, God set some rules by which man and woman were to live. It isn't meanness and ugliness on God’s part that moves Him to set rules for us to live by. It is love. God loves us and He wants us to be the best we can be. Therefore, He sets rules for us.
Then, one evening when God came for His evening walk with them, He found them in disobedience. Friend, disobedience to God is sin. And sin has its wages. God says in His word, "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). There is that word “death”. It makes no difference how we rationalize it, or who is to blame, it is sin, friend. And, although "God is love" (1 John 4 and 8), God is also just and He will do right (Genesis 18:25). Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of His throne (Psalm 89:14). He told the man and the woman the day they disobeyed Him as they did, that they would die (Genesis 3:3). There is that word again-- meaning "separation." They sinned; they died. In spite of God's love for them, they died that day. They were driven out of the garden and out from the presence of God. And God took measures against any man-made scheme for their getting back into the garden and fellowship with Him. Yes! God loves the sinner! Yes, yes, He does, friend! But, when any person sins, he dies-- he's separated-- he’s alienated from God-- he’s lost. He is in a lost state, friend.
You don't hear that from any of the pulpits of America nowadays! "Well," we are told "people won't come back to hear a preacher who dares to tell them they are lost. We can't build big churches that way!" But, the lost need to know they are lost. Otherwise, why would a person "accept Christ as Savior"? Savior from what? If I am not lost, what need do I have of a Savior? If all the sinner knows is that "God loves him,” why does he need to be saved. I am no friend of yours, if I see you drowning and refuse to throw you a life-line, because of the fear I may have that it will offend you.
Someone may be thinking, "But, preacher, the passage you read for your text, says in verses eight and nine: 'By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.' Therefore, I believe and I sing 'His Grace Reaches Me’. I am a sinner saved by grace." I sing that song, too, my friend. I am not at all surprised that you believe that way. That is the way it's being preached in American churches nowadays. Let us see what else God says about it in Romans chapter 5, verse 1.
He says, "...having been justified by faith..." Now just hold a moment here, if you don't mind. We just read in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8, "...by grace you have been saved." Is God contradicting Himself? In one verse He says we are saved by grace and in another verse He says we are saved by faith. Does God contradict Himself? No, no of course He doesn’t! He didn't say in this passage or anywhere else the sinner is "saved by grace alone"-- or by faith alone-- or by anything else alone. The Christian is saved by grace through faith. In our illustration: you knew you were drowning. I was fishing nearby. And in spite of the fact that you have done me nothing but harm in our relationship together in the past, I saw you floundering out there in the water! I knew you were drowning. So by grace I threw out a lifeline. And by faith you anxiously reached out and received the gift of my grace. By my grace you were saved; but not by my grace alone. You reached out for my lifeline. You grasped it. You held to it, till you were safe in my boat with me. We wept together-- tears of joy. You were saved! Do you see then how that, by grace you have been saved, through faith. That's what God is saying to us in Romans 5 and 1. Oh, but that isn't all He says. "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Well, verse twelve continues, "Therefore, just as through one man (that would be Adam) sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and thus death passed to all men, because all have sinned.” Friend, it’s a mistaken idea that we are all dead or alienated from God at birth. We like Adam are lost; we are alienated from God when we choose to disobey God.
How, then are we saved by grace? Well, I very briefly reviewed the creation story earlier; remember? "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Before "the beginning," God designed it all. (Oh incidentally, some very prominent scientists have more recently rejected their atheism because they are convinced by some recent scientific discoveries that design of the universe demands a Designer.) And remember too, that when Adam sinned, God pronounced a sentence on him and on Eve-- and upon the serpent by whom the temptation came. And God said to the serpent, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; It shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel." And that is Genesis 3:15. Jesus Christ, my friend, is the seed of the woman. And what you are reading all through the Old Testament is God's unfolding of His plan to fulfill that promise. Jesus was born of a woman, a virgin (Luke 1:26 and 80). He was given the name "Jesus"-- meaning Savior. Satan bruised His heel when Christ was offered as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world in His death on the cross (John 1:27). It was then that Jesus "bruised" or struck the blow to Satan's head when He, by the power of God, was raised from the dead three days later (Romans chapter 1, verse 4). Although God is the offended One by our sinful disobedience, by that plan He graciously provides a way for mankind's reconciliation with Him. And that is grace. That's the grace of God in man's salvation that is described in Ephesians 2 and 8. That is exactly what God is saying to us in 2 Corinthians 5:14 through 18: "For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again... Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new.” Let us pray. Our Father who art in heaven, we are so thankful to You for your grace. We are thankful that You have revealed it in the death of your Son, and you have revealed that message to us in your written word. We pray its acceptance today by those who may be studying with us. In Jesus’ lovely name, we ask it. Amen!
Simply and briefly stated, the grace of God in man's salvation as taught in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9 is this: Hear me now, please, friend, don't misunderstand me. Despite the fact that man is the great offender, the Offended one is God. He is the One who devised the plan and made the move toward our reconciliation and peace with Him. And it is up to us sinners to make the next move. That is every person's choice. No now, God doesn't say man has nothing to do in receiving that salvation. Jesus told Nicodemus, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). So, whoever you are, whatever you have done you can be forgiven, cleansed and saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God by putting your faith in Him.
And the Scripture says, "The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, and righteously, and godly in this present age." That is Titus 2:11. That simply means the sinner must not "only believe", as has been preached for years on end, he must repent-- or change his life. We sometimes sing "Just As I Am." Well, we come to God that way, but we don't stay that way. God says, "The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. . . . And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of our God."
In accepting God's very gracious gift of salvation, a person also must let it be known-- or confess Him. During Jesus' day on earth "...even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue" (John 12:42). And Jesus said, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven" (John 3:5). And, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved..." (Mark 16:16). Oh, I hope you will today, my friend.
Say, it has been good to be with you today. We pray you have been blessed by it. We pray that you will be with us again next week when we will be back for another In Search of the Lord’s Way. God bless you now. We love you.
|