Sermon Tone Analysis

What makes a good gift?

Is it the fact that you got what you asked for?

Is it the flexibility (i.e. a gift card or cash)?

Is it the expense?

Surely expensive gifts must be great gifts.

As I’ve thought about this during the week, I came up with a few ideas of what makes a gift good or even great.

Personal - just for you

Meaningful - maybe even something you never thought of

Surprising - not so much the delivery, but the fact that you didn’t know you needed it.

Continual - We could think of this as something that keeps on giving or provides meaning for a long time.

I may have shared about this before, but I want to share a good gift that we received from a friend of ours: talk about the “&” art.

Personal - because it was from our friend, but also given to only a few people.

I’m sure she could print and publish these and may even be able to make a lot of money selling them, but, at least for now, it’s a very personal and unique gift.

Meaningful - the biblical reference and the heart behind the art (Eccl.

4:12 “And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” )

Surprising - we had seen this art on the wall at their house, but did not expect it to be something that we would have on our wall too!

Continual - our friend has an eye for design and so she helped us put that piece of art on our wall among several other photos.

What’s more is that often when I see that “&” symbol - I think of that friend and the friendship we have with her and her family.

I bring that up today because I think it relates to the next Sola that we are considering.

Sola Gratia - Salvation is a gift of God that we receive by Grace Alone.

Over the last few weeks, as we’ve considered the other solas - Scripture alone, Christ Alone, and Faith Alone, Ephesians 2 has come up a couple of times because it touches on many of these solas.

As Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus, he is clearly delineating that salvation is a gift of grace.

What is Grace?

The typical definition that I’ve frequently heard is:

“Unmerited favor” - in other words, it’s a gift - not something we earn or work for - it’s free - but as Bonhoffer might say - it’s not cheap - it cost Jesus a lot.

We often associate grace with our salvation, with general favor that we receive from God.

But there is another element of Grace...

Carl Trueman calls this “the active outworking of God’s unmerited favor in the life of the church and of the believer” (p.

24)

So there is this sort of two-fold facet to grace - the transactional grace and the ongoing grace.

So let’s consider this gift of grace.

Sola Gratia is a great gift from God because...

… it’s personal

We could contrast this with the modifier - universal.

The idea here is that this gift of grace, while I believe is sufficient for the salvation of everyone, it specific to the salvation of those who are called and respond.

This “you” here is singular.

This confession - is something you singularly must make - it’s a response to the call and gracious gift of God.

We love to quote

We love to talk about the global love of God for the the entire world.

I believe He does love the whole world.

But notice the caveat that Jesus puts here - “whoever” - this becomes an individual response to that global love.

This gift of grace is personal.

It’s not something I can give you.

I can preach and teach about it - but I can’t give it to you.

You must receive it as a gift from God.

Your parents can’t give it to you.

They can commit to teach about it and live it out - but they can’t believe for you.

While all people are fallen and sinful - the means of justification for each one is through receiving his “grace as a gift.”

Another familiar Romans passage reminds us of this personal nature of our salvation/justification.

Notice that this gift is personal because it’s selective.

We don’t give gifts to everyone.

We might try to be kind and loving to everyone we encounter, but the gifts we give are reserved for certain people, specific people.

In much the same way, God has chosen to whom he will give his gift of grace.

There is, what Reformed theologians call “common grace” - which is something God does give to all humanity.

Trueman defines common grace as:

Grace Alone—Salvation as a Gift of God (Chapter 1: Grace in the Bible)

God’s unmerited but nonsalvific (or non saving) favor toward the fallen creation that restrains evil and allows human beings to flourish in this earthly realm...

This is a gracious gift that everyone, all of humanity, whether we believe in God or not receives.

But there is also the personal, special, or saving grace which is provides salvation “through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The grace of God has some universal elements, but ultimately saving grace is personal.

Next we see that salvation by grace alone is a great gift of God because...

… it’s meaningful

Some good gifts we receive are meaningful be cause we never thought of them, but also because they tell us something of the giver.

In much the same way, the saving grace of God is meaningful because it brings life and flourishing.

Sometimes we can think of salvation as a sort of fire insurance - a means of getting out of the punishment we deserve in hell.

But it’s so much more than that.

It’s transforming and impactful in our lives today.

As we read earlier from Titus:

This is a salvation that doesn’t simply have eternal ramifications, but it has very tangible and beneficial, even meaningful, impact in our lives.

As we recognize that we don’t deserve the salvation that Jesus gives, we in turn can live grateful lives.

We also get to demonstrate that gratefulness as we put aside our fallen nature and take on godliness - living “self-controlled, upright, and godly lives” all while we are waiting for the eternal realization of our salvation.

Not only is this gift personal and meaningful, but ....

… it’s surprising

We didn’t know we needed it.

A few years ago, a friend of mine got glasses for the first time in his forties.

One of his first comments was “I didn’t know how beautiful my wife was.”

All the time that they had been married, he looked at her with fuzzy vision.

His sight was good enough to get by, but he was surprised to find out what clear vision should be like.

In much the same way, the grace of God, his salvation through Jesus Christ is surprising - in many ways - we didn’t know we needed salvation.

Sure, there may have been a void in us, but we would fill that void with a variety of things - busyness, buying things, building things.

And yet there was always something that longed for more.

Ecclesiastes tells us that...

Paul writes in Romans that we are without excuse about the existence and even the salvation of God, but we’re blinded by our own fallenness:

What’s more, we’re dead people walking - because of our sin.

And then these two little words leap off the page...

Ephesians 2:4 (ESV)

But God...

Like my friend putting on his glasses for the first time, “but God” reaveals the depth of God’s love toward us and the surprising lengths to which he will go to maintain his holiness and justice and demonstrate His love, mercy, and grace to his humanity.

Paul describes it this way in...

We didn’t know we needed this salvation and could do nothing to deserve it - God, in his love, sent his perfect Son to be the perfect sacrifice for our shame and disgrace.

God’s gift of grace is...

personal - you have to receive it

meaningful - it should make a difference in your life today and for eternity

surprising - it was unexpected and certainly undeserved.

Finally, we get to see that God’s grace is a good gift because it’s...

… it’s continual

It’s everlasting.

God’s grace through Jesus Christ grants us eternal life.

But wait, there is more.

As we touched briefly thinking about the meaningful nature of God’s grace, it impacts our lives in several ways.

God’s grace is continually manifested to us in what theologians call...