THE IMPORTANCE OF GRACE

Intro: What I call the sweetest word in the Bible is a word that is used over 150 times in the New Testament. Yet, it is a word that Jesus never used. Now you may think that is strange, but the reason Jesus never used the word was because He didn't have to. He was a walking definition of this word.

This word was not spoken by his lips, but it was seen in his life. This subject may never have been mentioned in his lectures, but it was manifested in his living.

The word that, to me, is the sweetest word in the Bible is the word grace.

If God had a dictionary I believe beside the word grace you would find a one-word definition - Jesus.

I think if God has a favorite word it must be grace. Peter calls God "the God of all grace." (I Peter 5:10

1 Peter 5:10 KJV 1900

But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

I do not know of a word that is more important to the church than the word grace. You take away grace and every church would have to close its door, and every preacher would be out of a ministry. Because the only gospel we have to preach is the gospel called in Acts 20:24, "the gospel of the grace of God.”

Grace is the heart of the gospel. Without it, the gospel is dead. Grace is the vocabulary of the gospel. Without it, the gospel is mute. Grace is the music of the gospel. Without it, the gospel is silent. Grace is the power behind the life of a Christian…without grace we could not be saved, could not stay saved, could not live the life of a saved person!!!

Now I mean by grace the favor that God freely and fully gives to us even though we do not deserve it.

Grace=unmerited favor, power to live as God leads.

I. GRACE REDEEMS US FROM THE PENALTY OF SIN

1. "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men” (v.11) We are told plainly here that it is grace that brings salvation. Now I want to give you some bad news, some worse news, some good news, and the best news.

2. The bad news is, you are a sinner and you need to be saved. The worse news is, there is nothing you can do to save yourself. The good news is, you don't have to do anything to get this salvation. The best news is, Jesus has done it all for you, and all you have to do is accept it. That is grace.

A. It Is Unconditional Grace

- There are no strings attached to this grace. There is nothing you can do to earn it. There is no way you can work for it. It is a gift. (Eph. 2:8)

Ephesians 2:8 KJV 1900

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Grace is a concept that is hard for us to believe, much less to understand. That God would unilaterally, without any pre-conditions, give us something that we do not deserve.

The business world has a poor concept of grace. Loan companies have what they call "a grace period." If you don't pay your debt on time, you will get a five or ten day "grace" period before you get a notice and they tag on a late charge.

Listen, that is not grace, that is probation.

Grace is the unconditional favor of God to an undeserving sinner.

So many people want to spell salvation D-O. There is something we must do to be saved, whether it be join a church, do good deeds, give to the poor, or whatever.

Others want to spell salvation D-O-N-T. They believe if you don't do certain things like murder, rob, lie, and steal, then you are saved.

But God's way of spelling salvation is D-O-N-E. There are no strings attached. There is no fine print in the contract. You are saved by grace through faith.

Salvation through God’s Grace is Eternal Salvation, not Probation!

There are so many people who are striving, straining, yearning, and burning, trying to earn the grace and the favor of God, when all you have to do is just receive it.

Ill. So many people remind me of a man I heard about who always went to work by taking a ferry from one end of a river to another. One day the man was late for work, and he was trying to make this ferry. As he looked up he saw that the ferry was about 15 ft. from shore.

He began to run down the hill as fast as he could, and as he reached the edge of the pier he leaped with all of his might, straining with every muscle to reach that ferry, and he landed on the other side flat on his face. He skinned , his nose, cut his lip, tore his shirt, ripped his pants, but he made it.

He was so excited he leaped up and said, "Praise God, I made it." The captain of the ferry looked at him with strange eyes, and said, "Son, we were not going out, we were coming in."

God has brought grace to us in the person of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. All we have to do is just receive Him. You remember this mathematical formula:

Grace of the Savior + the faith of the sinner = salvation

B. It Is Unmerited Grace

The best way to understand and to define grace is to compare it to two other great words in the Bible: that being justice and mercy.

Justice is God giving you what you deserve. Mercy is God not giving you what you deserve. Grace is God giving you what you don't deserve.

Salvation is totally by grace. It is not rooted in the merit of man, but in the mercy of God. It is not given because of the goodness of man, but because of the grace of God. Paul goes on to say this -

Titus 3:5–7 KJV 1900

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Let me say something that is going to sound strange to those of you who still think you can work your way to heaven. You cannot work your way to heaven, but you can work your way to hell.

Dr. John R. Rice used to say, "If you go to hell, you pay your own way. But if you go to heaven, you go on a free pass."

Let me illustrate it this way: When a man works an eight-hour day, and receives for his efforts eight hours pay, that is a wage.

When he competes with an opponent and beats him in a fair contest and receives a trophy, that is a prize.

When he receives something in recognition for good work, or a superior achievement, that is an award.

But when a man can earn no wage, can win no prize, and deserves no award, and yet receives the wage, the prize, and the award anyway, that is grace.

Grace redeems us from the penalty of sin.

II. GRACE RELEASES US FROM THE POWER OF SIN

Grace is God's unlimited resource. It is the powerful inner working of the Holy Spirit, which provides strength and develops us into His image.

1. Salvation not only commences in grace, it continues in grace.

Verse 12 says that grace is "teaching us." When a person is saved and becomes a Christian, he is automatically enrolled in God's University of Christian Living. Now God's university is different from any other university. You know, normally you need a B.A. to get out of college. Well with God, you need a B.A. to get into college. You must be born again.

When you are born again you go to the first grade of God's school of Christian living.

Now with grace there is nothing to earn, but there is much to learn.

Now there is only one professor in God's college and his name is Dr. Grace. The first day you go to school he teaches you two lessons: 1) God loves you the way you are. 2) God loves you too much to let you stay that way. From the first day of class, right up until you graduate to glory, there are three lessons Dr. Grace continuously teaches:

A. Leave The Sinful Life

- "..teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,.." (v.12)

You know, there are some people who say that grace is a dangerous doctrine. They say that if you teach a person that he is saved by grace, that goodness and good works has nothing to do with obtaining salvation, then people will get saved and then go out and live anyway they want to.

That very thing was happening in the early church. Jude said in Jude 4, "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ."

Well Jude calls anyone who teaches this "ungodly." Because just the opposite is true.

Grace does not give you the license to live like you want to. It gives you the liberty to live like you ought to.

Jesus didn't just die to save us from hell. The Bible says in Matt. 1:21, "thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."

Matthew 1:21 KJV 1900

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Grace changes you. It changes your appetite. You'll hunger and thirst after righteousness.

It changes your ambitions. "Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him." (II Cor. 5:9)

Grace changes our attitudes. "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." (Col. 3:2)

Grace changes our actions. "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." (I Cor. 10:31)

There are two things that are true of a person who has experienced the grace of God.

1. First of all, he cannot live like he used to.

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (II Cor. 5:17)

2. Secondly, he wants to live like he ought to.

B. Live The Sanctified Life

- (v.12b) You see, grace takes care of every part of your life. Man is a three-part being: body, soul, and spirit. So we are told here we are to live soberly, righteously, and godly.

First, we are to live soberly. The word there means in a self-controlled fashion. That deals with the soul; that deals with the inward life. I am not allow my heart to drink the world's wicked wine. When it comes to temptation, I am to be a "tee-totaller" abstaining from worldly things that soil the soul.

I am to live righteously. That deals with my body; that deals with the outward life. I am to act righteous because I am righteous. Christ lives within me, and therefore I am simply to be out-living the in-living Christ.

Then I am to live godly. That deals with my spirit; that deals with the upward life. I am to live like God would live and like God would want me to live.

Personally, I am to live soberly. Socially, I am to live righteously. Spiritually, I am to act godly. I am to live soberly. That deals with me internally. I am to live righteously. That deals with me externally. I am to live godly. That deals with me eternally.

Just as there are always two sides to a coin, there are always two parts to the Christian life: separation and sanctification. You find it all through the Bible. Listen to

Psalm 37:27 “Depart from evil, and do good; And dwell for evermore.”

Grace teaches you to say no to what is wrong, and yes to what is right.

Notice again this grace is to be lived out "in this present age." Grace is never out of step and is never out of style. God's grace is always sufficient in any age, under any circumstance, to enable you to live the way you ought to live.

Grace not only prepares you for the sweet by-and-by; it purifies you in the nasty now-and-now.

That's why Jesus died for us. "Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (v.14)

C. Love The Servant Life

What is the result of all of this? It makes us "zealous for good works." (v.14) That word zealous literally means "boiling" or "burning hot." Grace sets you on fire to be right, to do right, to act right. It sets you on fire to serve the Living God.

Grace is given not only so that you might be saved, but also that you might serve. Paul makes that plain in:

2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:”

Now I don't work in order to be saved, but when I am saved by grace I will want to work.

I cannot work my soul to save;

That work my Lord has done.

But I will work like any slave;

For the love of God's dear Son.

Grace redeems us from the power of sin

Grace Releases us from the power of sin

III. GRACE REMOVES FROM THE PRESENCE OF SIN

1. "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;" (v.13)

One day, by the grace of God, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to come back and take me away from this world of wickedness. The grace of God is involved in both the first and the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. Jesus came the first time to redeem me. He's coming the second time to receive me. He came the first time to give me a new heart. He's coming the second time to give me a new home. He came the first time to take away my sin. He's coming the second time to take me away from sin. He came the first time to give me His grace. He's coming the second time to give me His glory.

When the Lord Jesus comes back, He is not coming just to take me to something, but to take me from something.

How beautiful heaven must be. Think about it. There are no "red light" districts in heaven. No "drug dens" in heaven. No "back alleys" in heaven. No need for barred windows - locked doors - alarm systems in heaven.

there will be no police, for there will be no crime. There will be no courts, for there will be no criminals. There will be no jails, for there will be no convicts. It is all by the grace of God.

Do you know what we are going to be talking about with Jesus for all eternity? Grace. God is going to take us to heaven so "that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Eph. 2:7)

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 KJV 1900

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

(Ill. His name was John. His mom died when he was six years old. His father was a sailor. At the age of eleven he became a sailor. He got into all kinds of wickedness. In fact, he became so mean that his own father disowned him.

Finally, he got into the slave trade. He began to buy and sell other men. But his wickedness got him into such trouble that he became a slave of slaves. He, too, was bought and sold.

Some people began to witness to John. They gave him a book by a man named Thomas A’kempis called The Imitation Of Christ. He began to read that book, and God began to work on his heart.

Well on a ship, with a bunch of other slaves, John was on deck when a violent storm came up, and before he knew it, a gigantic wave came over that ship and swept him into the ocean. The next thing John knew he was being tossed about in that deep briny sea, knowing he was going to die. In a moment, his entire life passed before him.

Then an incredible thing happened. Another wave came and literally got under John, lifted him up, and hurled him back onto the deck of that ship. Well that is all he needed. On the deck of that ship he asked the Lord Jesus Christ to come into his heart and save him.

But the story wasn't over. At the age of 39 John Newton was called into the ministry and became not only a great preacher, but wrote what may be the all-time favorite hymn of the modern day church:

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

GRACE-It is one of the most important words in the Bible.

Grace-Is it an important Reality in YOUR life?

Conclusion:

Have you tasted the soul changing grace of God for yourself? If not you need to come to Jesus and you need to be saved.

If you have, you can testify to how sweet and amazing grace really is. If you are saved and know it, then I invite you to come before the Lord Jesus, bow at His feet and thank Him for His grace.

If you are a Christian but are not living like a Christian…then today is a day to come experience the grace of God to enable you to live for Him.

IF you are saved and have no desire for the things of God: His Word, prayer, church, giving, witnessing then you need to repent and experience the personal revival that can only come through the GRACE of God!!!

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