Grace to Change Sinners, Part 2

We need revival: -when we do not love Him as we once did. -when earthly interests and occupations are more important to us than eternal ones. -when we would rather watch TV and read secular books and magazines than read the Bible and pray. -when church dinners are better attended than prayer meetings. -when concerts draw bigger crowds than prayer meetings. -when we have little or no desire for prayer. -when we would rather make money than give money. -when we put people into leadership positions in our churches who do not meet scriptural qualifications. -when our Christianity is joyless and passionless. -when we know truth in our heads that we are not practicing in our lives. -when we make little effort to witness to the lost. -when we have time for sports, recreation, and entertainment, but not for Bible study and prayer. -when we do not tremble at the Word of God. -when preaching lacks conviction, confrontation, and divine fire and anointing. -when we seldom think thoughts of eternity. -when God’s people are more concerned about their jobs and their careers, than about the Kingdom of Christ and the salvation of the lost. -when God’s people get together with other believers and the conversation is primarily about the news, weather, and sports, rather than the Lord. -when church services are predictable and “business as usual.” -when believers can be at odds with each other and not feel compelled to pursue reconciliation. -when Christian husbands and wives are not praying together. -when our marriages are co-existing rather than full of the love of Christ. -when our children are growing up to adopt worldly values, secular philosophies, and ungodly lifestyles. -when we are more concerned about our children’s education and their athletic activities than about the condition of their souls. -when sin in the church is pushed under the carpet. -when known sin is not dealt with through the biblical process of discipline and restoration. -when we tolerate “little” sins of gossip, a critical spirit, and lack of love. -when we will watch things on television and movies that are not holy. -when our singing is half-hearted and our worship lifeless. -when our prayers are empty words designed to impress others. -when our prayers lack fervency. -when our hearts are cold and our eyes are dry. -when we aren’t seeing regular evidence of the supernatural power of God. -when we have ceased to weep and mourn and grieve over our own sin and the sin of others. -when we are content to live with explainable, ordinary Christianity and church services. -when we are bored with worship. -when people have to be entertained to be drawn to church. -when our music and dress become patterned after the world. -when we start fitting into and adapting to the world, rather than calling the world to adapt to God’s standards of holiness. -when we don’t long for the company and fellowship of God’s people. -when people have to be begged to give and to serve in the church. -when our giving is measured and calculated, rather than extravagant and sacrificial. -when we aren’t seeing lost people drawn to Jesus on a regular basis. -when we aren’t exercising faith and believing God for the impossible. -when we are more concerned about what others think about us than what God thinks about us. -when we are unmoved by the fact that 2.5 billion people in this world have never heard the name of Jesus. -when we are unmoved by the thought of neighbors, business associates, and acquaintances who are lost and without Christ. -when the lost world around us doesn’t know or care that we exist. -when we are making little or no difference in the secular world around us. -when the fire has gone out in our hearts, our marriages, and the church. -when we are blind to the extent of our need and don’t think we need revival.

�� Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Today, I want to step out of Genesis for a moment and consider this truth one more time that the Grace of God is the power to change sinners.

We are in desperate need of change.

The world is in desperate need of change.

The only hope we have of true, eternal change is the grace of God that enables and empowers TRUE CHANGE.

We considered this truth from Genesis 42-44 as we look at Joseph and his brothers.

But I want us to look at the NT scriptures to boldly and brazenly display how this grace is at work in our lives, enabling and empowering change in our lives.

I want to supply HOPE that change is possible as we consider the GRACE OF GOD that supplies the power to change.

I want to supply the CONVICTION (prayerfully by asking the Spirit to do this in our hearts) that WE NEED to change.

I want to supply the TRUTH and CONFIDENCE that God’s grace is ever working this change in our lives.

John MacArthur stated...

One of the Old Testament names of God is El Shaddai, meaning “the All-Sufficient One.” It is a name rich with meaning. Those who worship Him in Spirit and in truth find Him adequate for every necessity of life. They do not need any supplementary experience, a stronger dose of His redemption, or any other spiritual or emotional accoutrements. God has given to every believer abundant grace that is utterly sufficient to fulfill our deepest longings, our most intense cravings, our most profound needs – every human requirement.

Epilogue: Perfect Sufficiency from Our Sufficiency in Christ, 1991, Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org. p. 261.

John MacArthur

This is the truth I want to consider today…the abundant ways that abundant grace is abundantly present in our lives.

And so, we will consider a number of ways in which Grace is active and exercising its power in our hearts.

Outline

Big Idea: The grace of God is the power to change sinners

Grace granted in abundance - John 1:16-17; Romans 5:17

Grace makes us a new - 2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 6:4

Grace raises us to walk a new life - Romans 6:4; Ephesians 2:1-10

Grace supplies all we need - 2 Peter 1:3-11

Grace sustains in hardship - 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Grace keeps us humble and Righteous - 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Grace equips us with Gifts - Ephesians 4:1-16

Grace transforms us - Romans 12:1-2

Grace completes us - Philippians 1:6

Let’s begin by considering how abundant grace is in our lives.

Sermon Body

Big Idea: The grace of God is the power to change sinners

Grace granted in abundance - Romans 5:17; John 1:16-17

It begins with the abundance of grace at salvation - Romans 5:17

Abundance

That which is beyond the regular amount or expected amount, surplus, abundance.

Great deal

Alot

Much

The grace of salvation is abundant grace!

To help us grasp the depth and richness of this race, we have to consider the degree of our sin…the filth, the disgust, the depravity

Consider the cost of forgiveness and the satisfaction of God’s Holy Wrath against it

Grace is reward, or favor, given to those who deserve judgment. If a judge found a serial rapist guilty, and then stepped down from his bench, agreed to take the death penalty in the criminal’s place, and sent the rapist on an all-expense-paid vacation to Hawaii for thirty years, that would be grace. The severity of the criminal’s crimes would be the measure of the judge’s grace. In the same way, the knowledge of what we deserve, and what it cost God to be gracious, is the measure of His fatherly grace. When it is said and done, the cross is the tape that measures the length and breadth of God’s grace. Like God’s wrath, His grace is holy. It transcends all human conceptions.

Gospel-Powered Parenting, 2009, P&R Publishing, p. 89, Used by Permission. Get this book!

📷William Farley

The grace that it took to pardon us, expunging our guilty record WAS HUGE.

IT WAS ABUNDANT.

But it does not even stop there

Even after salvation, grace upon grace is given to us. John 1:16-17

Grace upon Grace

Most common interpretation of this phrase - Word Biblical Commentary Summarizes

ἀντί appears to indicate that fresh grace replaces grace received, and will do so perpetually, the salvation brought by the Word thus is defined in terms of inexhaustible grace, a significant feature in view of the absence of further mention of χάρις in the Gospel.

Beasley-Murray, G. R. (1999). John (Vol. 36, p. 15). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.

Another possibility

Vs. 17 immediately follows it up with... For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Pillar NT Commentary States

The Gospel according to John I. The Prologue (1:1–18)

On the face of it, then, it appears that the grace and truth that came through Jesus Christ is what replaces the law; the law itself is understood to be an earlier display of grace.

In other words, DA Carson, who wrote this commentary, suggests that grace upon grace means the Grace of the Law was replaced with the grace of Christ Himself.

Romans 8:32

And if God gave us his Son, he will continue to grant grace upon grace in our lives.

Point is this…God lavishes, GRACE UPON GRACE in our lives.

Even though we know this, I want you to see it, the revel it, to marvel at it, to wonder at it, the worship it, and to reflect deeply and humbly upon this truth.

It is this grace that change us, that make us new.

Grace makes us a new - 2 Corinthians 5:17

New birth is a term used to describe the new life the Spirit produces when we trust Jesus Christ. It’s also called regeneration, but perhaps the most popular term is born again (from a Greek word gennao, meaning “bear” or “beget”). When we are regenerated, we receive the new birth. We are all born into this world spiritually dead. When God in His grace regenerates our hearts, giving us new life, we become a new creation. God convicts us of our sin and enables us to believe in Christ. This belief unites us to Christ, and in this union we receive the benefits of His work on the cross – justification and forgiveness of sin and eternal life.

New Birth by Ben Peays taken from Don’t Call it a Comeback, edited by Kevin DeYoung, copyright 2011, Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org, pages 86-87.

�� Ben Peays

Grace makes us new. It is by HIS GRACE alone that this happens. Consider 2 Corinthians 5:17

There is no self effort

No pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps.

We are made a NEW CREATION, a new thing upon our salvation, our repentance and faith.

We are not now what we once were.

The Old has passed away

The new has come.

We all like new things.

Sense of excitement, beginnings, hope, possibilities, freshness.

Consider that we are NEW…and this applies no matter how many years you have followed Christ. We are NEW in Him.

In him, we have new possibilities.

There is a freshness, a sense of energy and possibilities that once before did not exist.

There is excitement and appreciation, enjoyment in the newness of the life and possibilities now open to us.

Isn’t that really what excites us about new things?

A new job

A new relationship

A new house

A new phone, new computer

New friend,

It is the new possibilities and opportunities that are opened to us that excite us.

This new life in Christ, this new creation, this new birth that we know and enjoy....it is significant and special because of the new possibilities, opportunities, and realities that is opens up for us.

GOD..HE reconciled us to Himself THROUGH Jesus. It is an act of God, a correcting and restoring that which was destroyed.

This newness in Christ that we enjoy ought to be a wonder and delight to our souls! It ought to invoke worship and wonder, delight and excitement that we are NEW in Christ

AND as we wonder at the fact that by his grace, that made us knew, we ought to bask in the glow and glory of such grace, claiming every opportunity to embrace and maximize these new realities and opportunities open to us.

Also worthy of note, Our ministry…our message…the reason for which we have been left here after our salvation....to invite others to know and experience that same restoration and reconciliation to God.

This new creation that Grace makes us, grants us new life.

Grace raises us to walk a new life - Ephesians 2:1-10; Romans 6:4

Ephesians 2:1-10

We were dead.

Our sins did that

We walked (lived) in them

We submitted and followed the Prince of the Power of the Air, the devil.

We lived in our fleshly passions

Carrying out the desires of the body and the mind

We were children of wrath (the wrath of a righteous God against our sins)

GOD MADE US ALIVE

God’s rich mercy (Not receiving that which we justly deserve)

His great love, with which he loved us, was shown to us

Despite our dead condition

HE MADE US ALIVE.

We had no part as dead things can do nothing

We are the recipient of this

He made us alive

And RAISED US UP WITH HIM AND SEATED US WITH HIM in the heavenly places.

This is a new beginning, a new potential, new possibilities

In the coming ages…He intends to show the immeasurable riches of HIS GRACE in kindness towards us.

Romans 6:4 adds to this same imagery

We were raised from the dead BY THE GLORY of the Father

SO THAT

We would walk in the newness of life.

His grace made us new SO THAT we could walk in that newness, enjoying fellowship and intimacy with God in the restoration of a relationship that was destroyed and now made whole again.

In other words, GRACE is supplied in an abundance, making us new, SO THAT WE CAN LIVE NEW.

Grace is not just about removing consequence and stopping judgment. It is about CHANGE.

Good news…that same grace supplies everything we need to live and walk in this new life, as a new creation.

Grace supplies all we need - 2 Peter 1:3-11

Read verses 3-4

How did we become partakers in this divine nature?

How did we escape the corruption?

Ephesians 2 - WE WERE MADE ALIVE by God. We were made a new creation by HIM!

Therefore, we...

Read verses 5-8

Grace makes us alive, changes us so THAT WE CAN LIVE DIFFERENTLY.

But there is often a problem...

Read verse 9

Whoever lacks them, forgets who he was and what he has been saved from…forgets the old man and undervalues the new man.

This is why Peter says in verse 10

Read verse 10

Be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election…for if you practice these qualities, you will never fall.

Point is…the NEW LIFE, the new creation DEMANDS by its very nature that we be different. We are new.

BUT that same grace, that same divine power that saved us…is also the same divine power that ENABLES US to add to our faith virtue

and to our virtue, knowledge

and to our knowledge, self-control

and to our self-control, steadfastness,

and to our steadfastness, godliness

and to our godliness, brotherly affection

and to our brotherly affection, love.

And these WILL be increasing as we walk in this newness of life that was given to us....enabled and empowered by the divine grace of God.

Grace is not simply leniency when we have sinned. Grace is the enabling gift of God not to sin. Grace is power, not just pardon. Therefore the effort we make to obey God is not an effort done in our own strength, but in the strength which God supplies.

John Piper

We have been given all things that pertain to life and godliness.

His grace has ensured it.

Furthermore...

Grace sustains in hardship - 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

These are precious words, precious promises to me.

I come here alot, and if you have heard me preach and teach to any great length, you have probably heard and seem me do so.

I don’t know about you, but I feel weak....ALOT.

Inadequate

Incapable

Ill prepared

And I get down about it.

When I do, this verse reminds me that grace is there. It is grace that enables and empowers change, not my strength or ability.

I often think of this verse and am encouraged to rejoice and give thanks for the very weakness that I feel and am discouraged in.

When we are weak, we are reminded of your inadequacies and we are driven to our knees before God

Listen, God’s grace is and will be supplied in fullest measure when we are confronted with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.

[Paul’s] thrice-repeated prayer for the removal of the ailment was answered, not by his deliverance from it, but by his receiving the necessary grace to bear it – not simply to live with it but to be thankful for it. If his ministry was so effective despite this physical weakness, then the transcendent power was manifestly God’s, not his own. Infirmities like this were welcomed, together with the other hardships…if they were the condition on which the power of the risen Christ operated through him. They constantly reminded him not so much of his own inadequacy as of the total adequacy of Christ, in whom, when he was personally most weak, he knew himself to be most strong.

Paul – Apostle of the Heart Set Free, Eerdmans, 1977, www.eerdmans.com, p. 136. Get this book!

F.F. Bruce

Too any believers (or professing believes) are buckling under these things because they are choosing NOT to believe or so poorly informed that they do not know or understand the promise of God’s ever sufficient grace to sustain us through the weaknesses and hardships WE WILL face in this life.

Grace is the power to change…in that in grants the will and strength to rejoice in weakness and instead of complaint, results in joy and contentment.

Also from this verse, we find out that grace keep us humble and righteous.

Grace keeps us humble and Righteous - 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

The very design of the gospel is to abase us; and the work of grace is begun and carried on in humiliation. Humility is not a mere ornament of a Christian, but an essential part of the new creature. It is a contradiction in terms, to be a Christian, and not humble.

The Reformed Pastor, Chapter 3, Section 1.

📷Richard Baxter

Humility is the mark of a follower of Christ. When we lack it, we evidence of spiritual problem in our life.

Therefore, the truth that grace is the power to change sinners, reminds us that hardships, weaknesses, trials are an act of grace seeking to produce and strengthen this character trait in us as follower of Jesus.

The reason these troubles were upon Paul is that they were designed to keep him humble and spiritually above reproach.

GRACE is the power to change IN THAT IT WORKS THROUGH ANY MEANS NECESSARY TO CHANGE, TRANSFORM, AND SUSTAIN Christ-like character.

Grace is committed to transformation and will see it accomplish, even if that means using difficulty and trial to do so.

Learn to see correction, discipline, punishment, and hardship as an act of grace.

They are a means that God uses to change and shape us.

In them is often the power of God to change sinners.

What’s more, that grace equips us with gifts that are in turn used in the spiritual transformation of others.

Grace equips us with Gifts - Ephesians 4:1-16

This is not a full exegesis of spiritual gifts, rather I want to make one simple point…that the grace of God (which equips us with spiritual gifts) is the power to change sinners (as we exercise those gifts)

Read verses 1-6

We are admonished here to walk worthy of the calling to which we have been called.

To seek and maintain unity in the body.

And then verse 7 goes on

Read verse 7

To enable us to walk worthy....to enable us to maintain unity…to build up the body, HIS GRACE was given to us and we were equipped with gifts THAT WERE INTENDED TO BE USED IN THE PURSUIT OF WALKING WORTHY AND BUILDING UP OF THE BODY OF CHRIST.

Read 8-16

God’s grace suppled for apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, teachers FOR THE PURPOSE OF EQUIPPING AND BUILDING UP THE BODY OF CHRIST.

But these gifts, those roles, these functions, are a gift of grace from God that changes us and enables us to exercise those gifts so that He can in turn use those gifts to change others.

All by his grace.

Jerry Bridges articulates well one of the wonders I have always held regarding this truth of God’s equipping us with spiritual gifts.

This is the amazing story of God’s grace. God saves us by His grace and transforms us more and more into the likeness of His Son by His grace. In all our trials and afflictions, He sustains and strengthens us by His grace. He calls us by grace to perform our own unique function within the Body of Christ. Then, again by grace, He gives to each of us the spiritual gifts necessary to fulfill our calling. As we serve Him, He makes that service acceptable to Himself by grace, and then rewards us a hundredfold by grace.

Jerry Bridges

Are we left in wonder and awe yet at the marvelous grace of our majestic God?

And God uses the exercising of these gifts as a tool (one of many in this toolbox) through which he also transforms us.

Grace transforms us - Romans 12:1-2; Titus 3:3-7

Here again, in Romans 12, we see this admonishment to change, to be transformed into the likeness of God.

This new life in Christ, the change that has been brought upon us by the grace of God demands it.

Ephesians 4:11-16

God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to the church IN ORDER to teach, train, equip, and bring to maturity the followers of Jesus.

Therefore....Vs 15....WE ARE TO GROW UP IN EVERY WAY INTO HIM WHO IS THE HEAD, into Christ.

We ARE TO GROW into maturity.

We are to grow up, building ourselves up in Christ.

This transformation into greater Christ likeness is a mandate

It is commanded

It is necessary

It is fundamental.

The change and growth evidences the reality of change that has taken place.

Change is evidence of new life.

Just as a newborn baby changes and grows, so a new born baby in Christ WILL change and grow.

The problem is…we fail to understand this in our age of easy believism.

In the days of hardship, particularly persecution, those who are in the process of becoming Christians count the cost of discipleship carefully before taking up the cross of the Nazarene. Preachers do not beguile them with false promises of an easy life or indulgence of sins. But in good times, the cost does not seem so high, and people take the name of Christ without undergoing the radical transformation of life that true conversion implies.

Christ’s Call to Discipleship, Moody Publishers, 1986, p. 14.

James Montgomery Boice

Romans 12:1-2 admonishes us to present ourselves, to be transformed.

It involves a transformation of our very thinking process, our very beliefs, convictions, and ideals.

It requires a change of our mind and thinking process.

But how does this change take places?

According to Romans 12, we have to transform our minds by renewing our mind. We have to cast off wrong thinking and put on right thinking.

Most of our spiritual battle is really a battle for the mind, what we believe, what we desire.

If we are to grow spiritually, to walk righteously, we have to cast off unbiblical, wrong thinking and embrace, choosing to believe truth…that then in turns transforms our acting.

This very transformation is empowered by the grace of God

Titus 3:3-7

It is through the mercy and grace of God that we are justified, changed from the once foolish, disobedient, slaves to passions who hated and lived in envy and malice so something that has been washed clean, regenerated, renewed, and transformed into something beautiful.

It is the grace of God and its power that has the ability to change us. It is that grace and power that does change us when we surrender to Him.

The new birth is very much more than simply shedding a few tears due to a temporary remorse over sin. It is far more than changing our course of life, the leaving off of bad habits and the substituting of good ones. It is something different from the mere cherishing and practicing of noble ideals. It goes infinitely deeper than coming forward to take some popular evangelist by the hand, signing a pledge-card, or “joining a church.” The new birth is no mere turning over a new leaf, but is the inception and reception of a new life. It is no mere reformation but a complete transformation. In short, the new birth is a miracle, the result of the supernatural operation of God. It is radical, revolutionary, lasting.

The Sovereignty of God, p. 79. Get this book!

A.W. Pink

One final thought...

Grace completes us - Philippians 1:3-7

Paul prays for these believers with great affection.

They are partners, colaborers in the work of the gospel.

In his prayer and encouragement of them, he makes this point, that God who has begun the work of grace in their lives, WILL bring it to completion.

They are partakers of grace together, he says

And God intends to finish the work of grace he has begun.

And so it is true of us.

The Grace of God is the power to change sinners....a power that for all authentic followers of Jesus (as opposed to professed only) will never fail to do what it sets itself out to do.

Between the two comings of Jesus, believers experience what is often called the tension between the already and the not yet. Jesus’ followers can look back and see that D-day, the decisive strike, has already occurred and now guarantees thorough defeat of the enemy. Nevertheless, the time after the first coming and before the second coming involves ongoing warfare with the spiritual forces of darkness and their terrestrial supporters. V-day has not yet arrived, and so the potential for setbacks and defeats still exists. All too often, God’s people succumb to temptation and score a victory for the enemies of God. Still, the decisive strike at the first coming of Jesus guarantees ultimate victory at the second, and Jesus’ followers fight the good fight with assurance that God who has begun a good work at the first coming of Jesus will bring it to completion at the second.

From Famine to Fullness, P&R Publishing, 2007, p. 6. Used by Permission.

Dean Ulrich

Conclusion

Big Idea: The grace of God is the power to change sinners

Grace granted in abundance - John 1:16-17; Romans 5:17

Grace makes us a new - 2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 6:4

Grace raises us to walk a new life - Romans 6:4; Ephesians 2:1-10

Grace supplies all we need - 2 Peter 1:3-11

Grace sustains in hardship - 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Grace keeps us humble and Righteous - 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Grace equips us with Gifts - Ephesians 4:1-16

Grace transforms us - Romans 12:1-2

Grace completes us - Philippians 1:6

Beloved, hear these words today and be filled with HOPE and CONVICTION

The grace of God is the power to change sinners.

Will you and I yield to that today and be found growing together to become more like Jesus for the glory of God?

Application and Discussion Questions

How would you answer the question, “What is so amazing about grace?” See John 1:16-17

What are the practical implications of the truth that we are granted “grace upon grace”?

We always have a fresh supply of grace when we need it.

We are never alone or without help.

There is never a command we cannot obey because grace is present to help us obey even when it is hard to do so.

We are never without comfort in grief

We are never without strength when we feel weak

What impact does having new life, being a new creation have upon our lives? How does that impact our day to day living? See 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Ephesians 2:1-10

We are not enslaved to the desires or expectations of the old man anymore. The power of it has been broken in our lives.

We have a promise of a better present and future because our reality and condition has changed.

We can live with hope, purpose, fulfillment, peace, joy, and contentment even though our lives are not yet glorious and comfortable.

We have the power to break addictions and sin’s strongholds in our lives and to walk in purity.

How has grace supplied everything we need for life and godliness? See 2 Peter 1:3-11

We have been given the word, which is wisdom and truth

We have been given the Helper, the Spirit to indwell us

We have been given the body for community and support

We have been given direct access to God

We have been given promises that we can trust and depend upon

How is hardship an expression of grace in our lives? See 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. In what way(s) do you struggle to accept and embrace this truth?

What purpose/role do spiritual gifts play in our lives? See Ephesians 4:1-16 Do you believe it is a sin if you do not exercise those gifts? Why or why not?

We are to exercise them for the benefit of others

We are to receive the exercise of that gift from others for our building up

Yes it is a sin. We are commanded to exercise our spiritual gifts. If we do not, we are in direct disobedience.

How do we renew our minds? What does this practically look like? See Romans 12:1-2

We reject lies and the the things that are untrue

We choose to know and believe that which is true so that we act upon it even when our emotions and desires want otherwise.

We do not think upon or meditate upon things that are not true, instead we force our minds (spiritual warfare) to think upon and meditate on things that are true and right

We are careful and guarded in the things we allow ourselves to be exposed to and we carefully compare all things back to the word of God.