Sermon Tone Analysis

Defining God's Grace

What are we talking about when we talk about the grace of God?

There are many wrong ideas about grace amongst those who claim to be Christians.

People talk more and more nowadays about God’s grace and completely miss the justice of God, and in so doing create an idol.

Some use the concept of the grace of God as a license to sin, which is clearly spoken against in scripture.

How God’s grace works alongside His justice and His hatred towards sin is an important thing to learn if we are going to draw closer to God and to see how desperate we are for Him.

Simply put, in speaking about this attribute of God, it means that God shows favor and kindness to us in spite of our deserving the opposite.

We don’t in any way deserve it, but He still offers it freely as a gift.

It is most often defined as unmerited favor.

It is the favor of God shown to those who not only are unworthy of forgiveness, but who are thoroughly deserving of death and hell.

Whenever we think of the grace of God, what usually comes to our minds?

Salvation in the New Testament.

People think of Jesus as the one who revealed that part of God's character.

Most people do not look at the God of the Old Testament as being a God that is gracious.

But this may surprise you, God's grace, graciousness, mercy, or loving-kindness is mentioned more in the Old Testament than the New Testament.

Most people completely miss God’s grace in the Old Testament because of all of the times where God shows His justice under that covenant.

"The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness"

"Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.

For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him."

"...rend your hearts and not your garments."

Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster."

GOD'S FIRST ACT OF GRACE IN THIS WORLD: CREATION

Creation of man is a work of God's Grace.

God was not lonely and decide that because He was lonely He would make this world and put men in it.

He didn't have to do it.

But because He did, you and I could not only have life, but everything else that we have.

Paul says God gives us life, breath, and all things.

In Him we live, move, and have our being.

The reason we have light, food, water, plants, air to breathe, people (family and friends) that we can be close to, etc. is because God has been gracious and allowed it.

The reason why we have any purpose in life whatsoever is because God has given it.

These are all things that we tend to take for granted, but we need to remember that God is the one who graciously gives them.

I think it is safe to say that nothing that we have did we get on our own.

Nothing.

Either God allowed it or made it happen by His grace.

GRACIOUS IN "LAW" GIVING

Whenever we think about God’s grace, we usually don’t think about all of the laws and commands that He gives us in His word.

People today tend to look at God’s commands as being a burden and that if you even mention the idea of the law of God; you in some way nullify His grace.

But this notion is ridiculous.

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.

(NASB95)

God gave His law to His people under the Old Covenant, and He gave us commandments and laws in the New Testament, for our good.

"So the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God for our good always and for our survival, as it is today.

(NASB95)

He gives us His laws by His grace so we can know what He expects of us as His people.

He also gives us His laws by His grace so we can stay away from things that can be harmful to us.

It is like the common illustration of a mother commanding their child not to touch the hot stove.

The command was given by the loving mother so the child could be saved from unneeded pain.

The same is the case with God’s commands for His people.

They are indeed for our good always.

God gives them to us to graciously protect the relationship we have with Him.

GRACIOUS TOWARDS SIN- PATIENCE

God was also gracious in His treatment of sin in the Old Testament.

This one may surprise you.

Yes, it is true that God called for the slaughter of thousands of people (young and old) in the Old Testament because of their sin.

But we tend to overlook all of the grace that God did show towards sin.

First, what did God tell Adam and Eve would happen to them when they sinned?

He told them they would die.

And the truth is, God would have been completely righteous in killing them both and starting over with a clean slate.

Instead, he was gracious and only pronounced curses on mankind and on creation.

Think about this.

God has every right to kill everyone every time they sin, including you and me.

No one would have the right to complain if He did.

But He doesn't.

He is longsuffering, merciful, and full of grace.

And this is the attribute that He showed the most in the Old Testament, and continues to show till today.

Also think of God's grace and patience that He showed towards Israel.

In , we see that over a period of time, God brought many judgments on His people.

He didn't have to be so patient with them.

He could have destroyed them and sent them to captivity when they sinned and wouldn’t listen the FIRST time, but He did not in His grace.

GRACIOUS TOWARDS SIN – FORGIVENESS OFFERED

God showed His grace by being willing to set up a system to bring cleansing and atonement for His people.

God by His grace gave His people a way to receive forgiveness of their sin in the Old Testament through animal sacrifice.

Even before the Law of Moses, animal sacrifice was present in the patriarchal system.

God killed animals to cover Adam and Eve.

Abel brought an animal for a sacrifice.

This continued through the patriarchs until Jacob and his family went to Egypt.

Then at Sinai, God instituted a system of sacrifice designed to sanctify His people.

All of these things we have looked at so far are talking about things God did to display His grace in the Old Testament!

But, all of these displays of God’s grace under the Old Covenant have a purpose.

They all point forward to the GREATEST display of the grace of God, which happens in the New Testament.

THE CROSS

While we were still the enemies of God, Christ died for us.

We were completely helpless and without hope.

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace”

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in 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 as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

We were dead in our sins and deserving of wrath.

And one thing is true about dead people.

They cannot give themselves life.

The reason why we can have life in Christ is because God is gracious and was willing to allow Jesus to die in our place.

He raised us out of our death.

He made us alive together with Christ.

All of this was by His grace.

How would you answer the question, “Why are you going to heaven?”

Because you are a good person?

Because you obeyed the “plan of salvation?”

If you would answer in these ways, you are answering the question wrong.