The Grace of God
Notes
Transcript
The Grace of God
The Grace of God
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 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. 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. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
When we speak of God, there is one aspect for every Christian that we must stop and be in awe of. Grace. If you know what Grace is then you know why it is so amazing.
But for a moment lets be sure everyone is on the same page and has the same basic understanding of Grace. Grace sometimes gets confused with Mercy. And while they may sound similar when explained they are actually quite different and important to understand both no doubt.
Mercy is when we do not get what we do deserve. So when we read that we are sinners, that means we deserve hell for our sins against a Holy God. God is merciful, in that he doesn’t send us to Hell… So Mercy is when we do not get what we do deserve.. Does that make sense?
I have often told the story of having to spank my son for something he did, and he was yelling, “Dad, have mercy on me!” He was saying, “please don’t give me what I rightly deserve.” or “I am guilty and I do deserver to be punished, in this case spanked, but please do not give me that, have mercy on me.”
We all love when we get mercy. But grace is different.
Grace is when we do get what we do not deserve. So when the Bible says that we will not be punished in hell for our sins, it doesn’t stop there, but declares that we will spend eternity with God in heaven as a reward for the righteous life that fulfilled God’s law perfectly. But when we talk about grace this way, we need to remember that the righteous life that fulfilled God’s law perfectly and earned a place with him eternally was not our life, because we are sinful people who cannot perfectly follow God’s law… No that life we are talking about is Jesus’ life. And his reward is given to us freely, and we do not deserve it. Grace is when we do get what we do not deserve.
So that is just a little way of remembering the difference between the two, and yet we are talking about who God is and saying that he is Gracious. It is part of who God is, we are talking about the grace of God as an attribute of him.
A.W. Pink said it this way, “Grace is a perfection of the divine character which is exercised only toward the elect, or God’s people.”
So, grace is the sole source from which flows goodwill, love, and salvation of God to his people. In fact any and all blessings that we have from God is pure grace to us, because there is nothing that we can say we deserve from God. God does not owe us anything. He gave us life and we have all too often used our lives to fulfill our desires while totally ignoring him and his righteous laws to us. We do not deserve any blessings from God and yet we receive them from him. In this sense Grace is scandalous and completely opposite of how the majority of humanity chooses to deal with each other.
We live in a world, where currently, if people do not like what you have to say they not only ignore you but they attack you for not thinking like them and they encourage everyone else to do the same. We live in a world where people have been redefining terms that once meant one thing to say something different. And we live in a world where the sinfulness of humanity has escalated to a place that we not only hardly see forgiveness, but we have completely forgotten about Mercy and especially Grace.
I guess you could say we live in a world that is raging against God himself, and all of his attributes stand in direct opposition to mankind’s fallenness as a stark contrast to show what truth looks like. And this is why it is so important for us in this season to learn of who God is and think deeply about his attributes.
The question I have said that we should be asking ourselves all this summer is this - Are our thoughts of God too human?
Well, think of the grace of God, and think deeply...
“Divine grace is the sovereign and saving favor of God exercised in the bestowment of blessings upon those who have no merit IN them and for which n o compensation is demanded FROM them.”
So God’s grace is seen when he saves us and eternally blesses us, and yet we didn’t earn that and certainly he didn’t have to reward us with that.
But even more than that, the Grace of God is shown to those who not only have no positive qualities of their own, but who are throughly ill-deserving and totally hell deserving. Grace is completely un-earned, un-merited, and un-sought. Grace is un-attracted by anything IN and FROM the people upon which it is bestowed!
Because of the Grace of God, the most undeserving and unlovable people can obtain the greatest blessing and saving love from their creator for all eternity!
The thing that has always been the enemy of grace for thousands of years, is people who think they can earn favor with God by their works. And yet the Bible is very clear on this point, that this kind of thinking and teaching flies in the face of the Gospel and is completely opposite of what grace is.
6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
See grace and works cannot go together in any way shape or form. It is like oil and water, they simply will not combine. Now to be clear we are not saying that Christians do not do good works, because the Grace we are talking about now as God’s character is seen in his freely giving salvation to those who do not deserve it. And yet once he saves people, the grace which has soaked their lives becomes the fuel fort a holy life full of good works. It is just that those works earn you nothing special from God, instead they simply are basic results of a life that has been changed by grace.
“God does not need your good works, but your neighbors do.” Martin Luther
Divine grace is all about God saving people who do not deserve it… and so in our main text today we see it here...
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.
Your works do not save you and they do not promote you in a kingdom that you have freely recieved as an undeserving recipient. If they did you could boast, which means you could brag about how wonderful you are that God HAD to save you.... But that is never the story.
There are 3 things I want us to see about Grace today - that is is eternal, it is free and it is sovereign.
First...
Grace is eternal
Grace is eternal
The first thing we need to understand is that Grace was planned long before it was freely given to anyone. It was purposed before it was imparted. It was caring for us before it was carried to us.
John Piper talks about divine grace as the sustaining force for God’s people in all things, like a mighty river that has an inexhaustible source. The reason it is inexhaustible is because god is eternal with no beginning and no end, and since grace is part of who he is there is a source that can never be depleted.
But we must know that it was meant before we had a conscious thought to understand it.
9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
Yes, before the world began, God had a purpose and grace all lined up to given to us in Jesus Christ! Isn’t it good to know that Grace is not something that is dependent on us, or anything in us, or anything we can do… But rather it is who God is and it was purposed before any material consciousness began. And he gave it to US in Jesus!
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ… God’s goodwill, love and salvation comes through Jesus Christ. And this was planned before the ages began… Grace is eternal, which doesn’t only mean that we will be blessed forever by being brought to God to eternally live with him, but it existed from eternity past as well. Think about that. Grace was not something that God came up with after the fall of man sinning in the garden, but it is part of him and has always been in existence and was purposed in Jesus Christ from before the world. Grace is eternal!
Secondly...
Grace is free
Grace is free
The problem I think we have with this concept of Grace being free, is because we live in a world where that is too good to be true. And while the Bible says it is free, it often calls it a gift. We have a lot of problems reading and understanding scripture at times because we have funny ideas about gifts. While most people can understand that a gift is free, a lot of us have experienced the idea of getting a gift only after purchasing something of greater value, so as a marketing campaign or promotion we also get this free gift with our large purchase. That is not free, and it isn’t really a gift. We also typically only give gifts because it is someones birthday or anniversary or graduation, etc… which again taints our understanding of gifts.
If the only time you get a gift or give a gift is when someone has hit a milestone in life, it kind of seems as though they had something to do with the deserving of that gift. Yet a true gift is given freely and for no other reason than the givers desire to bless another.
Has anyone ever just walked up to you and said, “I want to give you this $1,000 as a gift” and then walked away? What would be our response? Why? Are their strings attached to this gift? Why would you do that? See we have problems understanding grace as being free because we don’t often experience this in our everyday life. But look at the word of God here...
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
And yet some translation have said it this way… “Being justified freely by his grace...”
The idea that a gift is free, and it comes because of the giver and not because of the receiver.
and again in our main text...
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Can the word of God be any more clear here? This is not of your own doing… this is a gift and it is not deserved… this salvation from your sins is a free offer from from to those he saves. He does this because he is good and his glory is magnificently seen in his unchanging, immutable nature.
God is so good because he saves us in his grace alone! Nothing else in needed and nothing is required, because this is about the nature of God and not the beauty of man. This makes much of God and keeps us in a place where we are in Awe of him. This is why we worship him alone!
and finally ...
Grace is Sovereign
Grace is Sovereign
It would stand to reason that if God is sovereign and grace is part of his divine nature, then grace is sovereign as well. You see, God is sovereign in his rule and his reign, and yet the word of God talks about grace this way as well...
God exercises grace and bestows it upon whom he pleases, and he has chosen to make many righteous in spite of our sinfulness. And his grace will reign over his people unto eternal life...
19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
For those who God saves, his grace will reign through righteousness leading to eternal life! Do you understand what it means when it declares the grace reigns?!
If grace “reigns”, then it is on the throne… And the occupant of the throne is sovereign! And in case you think I am making a stretch here, then I would submit to you Hebrews 4 …
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Think about this… The throne is called the throne of Grace! Because God is grace! And we should with confidence draw near, or come close to him, his throne of grace, that we may NOT GET WHAT WE DESERVE - MERCY, and also that we may FIND THAT WE DO GET WHAT WE DO NOT DESERVE - GRACE, WHY???? tTo help us in our time of need.
And so Yes Grace is eternal and it is free as a gift and it is sovereign.
Salvation through Jesus comes when a sinner recognizes their own sinfulness as an absolute offense to a Holy God that would put them in danger of being eternally sent to Hell in order to justly be punished for rebelling against our creator. When this sinner understands this, they then REPENT and cry out to God - Asking and begging God to forgive them of their sin and helping them to no longer live in this same way. When a sinner sees this and experiences this, it is because God has done a work that no man can do and they then receive eternal life in Jesus Christ.
Eternal life is a gift, therefore it can neither be earned by good works, or claimed as a right. Seeing that salvation is a “gift”, who has any right to tell God on whom he ought to give this gift?
18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
God is gracious and merciful to whomever he wills, period… His divine grace is sovereign in saving those whom he will save. And furthermore, his withholding of this same blessing is also determined by his will. He can give a gift to anyone he wants and he can even harden others to reject the same gift according to his divine will and plan. And we have no right to demand that he amend his plan because we find something wrong with it. And none of this makes his Grace any less amazing and beautiful and awe-inspiring within our souls.
Think about it - That God should have formed his own purpose from everlasting, without in any way consulting his creatures, is far too unbelievable for the broken sinful hearts of men to understand.
This is a scandalous Grace we struggle to understand, Because Grace is eternal!
That grace cannot be earned or won b y any efforts of man is too difficult to understand for rugged individuals who pride themselves on their hard work ethic, which is nothing more than self-righteousness.
This is a scandalous grace we struggle to understand, because grace is free!
That grace singles out whom it pleases to be its favored persons, causes anger that erupts into angry exchanges from haughty rebels.
This is a scandalous grace we struggle to understand because grace is sovereign!
So how should we respond to this grace of God?
Well if you have never cried out to the Lord to forgive you freely of your sins that would see you thrown into hell for eternity as a punishment for rebelling against God, then Repent! Cry out to Jesus and ask him to forgive you of your sins that his grace may daily wash over you.
And for those of us who have been partaking in this Grace already for some time, let us remember that the nature of God’s grace to us is not in vain, We should not use it as a license to continue in sin and we should certainly attempt to extend grace to others in the world around us.
Grace recieved is best experienced when it becomes a source of strength to extend the very same to others. God’s people ought to be marked by the saving grace they have recieved in that they extend grace to others. What does that mean? That we freely give to others what they do not deserve.
That we live quiet and peaceable lives and affirm the righteousness of our God as we worship him and treat others in such a way that it demonstrates the same love with which he has shown us. Brother and sister in Christ, we should practice giving the grace that freely pours out on us daily. God will not remove his salvation from his people and we should not Cancel the world that wants to cancel us.
If things never get better than they are right now, then our God be glorified and we will be gracious, humble people who continue to live in a sustaining grace that amazes us so much that we cannot help but continue to worship our God. Why? I think John Piper says it better than anyone I have ever heard explain it, so here it goes...
“Because Grace is an active, Present, transformative, obedience enabling power. Therefore this grace that moves in power from God to you is both past and future. It has already done something in you and for you, so therefore it is past. And yet it is about to do something in you and for you, and therefore it is future. Both 5 seconds from now and 5 million years from now.
God’s Grace is ever cascading over the waterfall of the present, from an inexhaustible river of grace coming to us from the future, into the ever increasing reservoir of grace in the past.
In the next 5 minutes we will receive sustaining grace flowing to us from the future, in this we trust. And we will accumulate another 5 minutes worth of grace in the reservoir of the past, for this we give thanks.”
John Piper
11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.