By Grace Through Faith

Illustration

CS Lewis and JRR Tolkein Yard

We Are Saved By God’s Grace

V. 1-3

Dead people don’t help themselves

Romans 6:23

If the wages of sin is death, and we were dead in our trespasses and sins, then we couldn’t save ourselves

We needed a gift of God that was given to us that had nothing to do with you or me

When we were gifted salvation, we were given Grace by God

Grace= Unmerited favor

Dead people can’t earn anything. If we are dead, then we don’t need to try harder or to work better, we need something outside of us completely to bring us back to life

This grace that we have been given is how we are saved

When Jesus dies for us, he is sacrificing his life for ours so that we may enter the kingdom of God

We Are Saved By God’s Grace Alone

V. 4-7

When God saw us in the death of our sins, he reached down to save us.

We are made alive together through Christ

When Jesus is raised from the dead and we are given his righteousness, this beautiful exchange comes

God knows the full extent of our sin, and yet he still chooses us

Yet while we were still sinners

God is not surprised by our sin. In fact, he’s more aware of it than we will ever be

He saw us in the mess of our sin and has made us alive together with Christ

He didn’t see us start to clean ourselves up, he didn’t see us fully polished, or in a great space

He saw us in the mess, the worst parts of life, the horrors and the times when we surprise ourselves with how bad we are

In seeing us in the depth of our sin he offers us a lifeline to pull onto

When we approach God’s throne and repent of our sin, when we ask him for many great things, it is under the full knowledge that he has saved us

We aren’t running to a dictator who seeks our punishment

We are running to a father who loves his children. He wants what’s best for them and there is quite literally nothing he won’t give for them

This Grace Gives Us A Call To Faith

When this grace is extended to us, it is a beautiful gift that we now get to witness and take part in.

Our faith is our response to the grace that has been extended to us

When we experience the richness of what it means to have been saved by God’s grace, we may rest in the beauty that is his grace

Our response then is to believe He is who he says he is and from that moment we are saved

God’s Grace is extended to us, and from that very moment that we experience his grace, we are now children of his who have inherited salvation

Satan Has no hold on us. Our salvation is secure in Christ

Why Do You Care?

If God’s Grace is what saves us, then all are welcome who experience the grace of God

If we are saved by faith that produces a regenerate heart, that won’t always come in an instant or a moment, but can often come over a period of time

You and I can rest at night, confident that Jesus has done what is necessary. Heaven is our home. Hell has no power of us.

In light of this beautiful gift we have been given, we walk in the works that he has set before us