Grace Alone
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Introduction
Introduction
In the previous weeks we have been trying to think Biblically about the church
The foundation of the church
The marks of a true church
Right preaching of the Gospel
Right administration of the ordinances
The marks of a healthy church
godly leadership
covenant membership (commitment not consumerism)
key to this covenant membership is loving one another
Today in light of it being reformation Sunday I want to go back to the right preaching of the gospel, again one of central marks of a true church.
If we go back to the reformation, one of the central issues for Luther and other reformers is that the gospel was not being rightly preached
Specifically today I will focus on one aspect of the error in the preaching of the catholic church and it is that justification or salvation was something that could be bought, something that could be paid for by the selling of indulgences.
One of the things that made Luter furious and one of the things that he attacked in the 95 theses was the selling of indulgences.
One of the emphasis of the Reformation is that salvation is by grace alone.
Salvation cannot be bought, it cannot be earned; instead it is the free gift of God through Christ Jesus our Lord to everyone who believes.
In light of this I would like to think through this truth today
Premise:
Bible clearly teaches our need for grace, God’s liberality with grace, and and that knowing God’s grace is life changing.
Our Need
Our Need
In the words of Paul Washer the most terrifying reality for us is that God is good
The reason why is this so terrifying is that we are not good
So what does a Good and Holy God do with sinners who are not good but instead are wicked, are sinful
The Bible establishes the fact that we are not good
Listen to the word of God when it comes to broken and fallen humanity
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
And again
We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Now again let’s look back to the verse we read earlier
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 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— 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.
We are broken and sinful
You see the Bible clearly teaches us our need for grace
God is good and we are not
God is pure and holy, we are unclean, we are defiled
Even our best deeds are polluted garments before our Holy God
We deserve God’s wrath
But God
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Ephesians 2.4-
We have nothing that we can give God
God’s Grace
God’s Grace
One of the things that I want us to see this morning is that God’s grace is a theme that runs all the way through the Scriptures.
We see God’s grace
things that I want us to see this morning is that God’s grace is a theme that runs all the way through the Scriptures.
Adam and Eve
what did they deserve? death to be eternally separated from God but God promised life
Think of God’s grace here, Adam and Even owed God complete obedience, worship, and adoration just because He was their Creator, but He had also revealed Himself with Adam and Eve and graciously allowed them to fellowship with Him, that is grace in and of itself
Abraham
Abraham
Noah
he was a good pagan and yet God called Abraham out of darkness and into His light
God enters into covenant with Abraham
, ,
It was all of grace
But notice this, in this gracious covenant that God makes with Abraham God promises grace that will flow to the nations through Abraham
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Genesis 12.1-
Some see this is the first clear expression of this eternal covenant of grace where God promises to graciously bring redemption and restoration to humanity through Abraham’s seed, that is through our Lord Jesus Christ
One might even say that all of the other covenants that we see in the scriptures are directly related to God’s covenant with Abraham in that they are serving or fulfilling that covenant
Israel
God hears their cries and delivers them from Egypt
God graciously enters into covenant with Israel
God graciously reveals Himself and His ways to Israel
Within this covenant we learn of humanity’s desperate need for a gracious covenant that will completely transform us, that we cannot keep the law
We learn that it is not enough to have the law written on tablets of stone but that we need it on the heart
We learn that we need a substitute that is qualified and willing to take out place
This covenant with Israel is the tutor that leads us to Christ who will fulfill the Abrahamic covenant
David
God enters into covenant with David promising him an eternal throne
we learn that God’s plan is not only to redeem His people, but to rule and reign over His people through an eternal King
This King will be the seed of Abraham who will bring blessing to the nations
be a shepherd
this Davidic King will also
There is more that we could say, but I want you to see that the OT is ultimately leading to the fulfillment of God’s promise of grace and blessing that will flow to the nations.
So that when we come to the NT we read this is the gospel of John
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, 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 coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not 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, that we should walk in them.
Notice the immeasurable riches of God’s grace comes to us in Christ Jesus our Lord
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,
The fulfillment of the covenant of grace that we see in Genesis finds its fulfillment in the person and the work of Christ Jesus our Lord.
God’s
riches
at
Christ
expense
Let’s look at some of these riches in
1:3-10
Grace’s Work
Grace’s Work
Scripture teaches us that God’s grace brings us forgiveness of sin and the hope of eternal life but it does not stop there,
It also teaches us that God’s grace changes our lives
God’s grace moves us to good works
We work
Ephesians 2.10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
But not only that
The most gracious people are those who know the grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Do you live like you have been given much grace?
Do you treat others like you have been given much grace?
Oh brothers and sisters may the gospel of grace always be central for us at TBC
DUSTIN KENSRUE LYRICS
DUSTIN KENSRUE LYRICS
"Grace Alone"
"Grace Alone"
I was an orphan lost at the fall
Running away when I'd hear your call
But Father, you worked your will
I had no righteousness of my own
I had no right to draw near your throne
But Father, you loved me still
And in love before you laid the world's foundation
You predestined to adopt me as your own
You have raised me up so high above my station
I'm a child of God by grace and grace alone
You left your home to seek out the lost
You knew the great and terrible cost
But Jesus, your face was set
I worked my fingers down to the bone
Nothing I did could ever atone
But Jesus, you paid my debt
By your blood I have redemption and salvation
Lord, you died that I might reap what you have sown
And you rose that I might be a new creation
I am born again by grace and grace alone
I was in darkness all of my life
I never knew the day from the night
But Spirit, you made me see
I swore I knew the way on my own
Head full of rocks, a heart made of stone
But Spirit, you moved in me
At your touch my sleeping spirit was awakened
On my darkened heart the light of Christ has shone
Called into a kingdom that cannot be shaken
Heaven's citizen by grace and grace alone
So I'll stand in faith by grace and grace alone
I will run the race by grace and grace alone
I will slay my sin by grace and grace alone
I will reach the end by grace and grace alone