Sufficient (Grace)

Intro

The Gospel Story

World full of sin and separated from God

God sent His Son to pay the debt our sin created

His resurrection proved that the payment was successful

Grace is now available to anyone.

Grace

Sounds like a good deal doesn’t it?

Grace is the defining characteristic of the Christian faith

Undeserved favor

This idea spreads like wildfire, and years later, Paul is writing a letter to the Church in Corinth. He drops an absolute truth in the midst of a story of his own struggles.

Sufficient. God’s Grace is sufficient.

But do we really believe that?

Reality of us

It is so hard to truly believe Grace is enough. As a matter of fact, this is one of the biggest reasons people don’t choose to follow Jesus. They don’t see the grace in our lives, we don’t extend it to others, and we live as though we can earn our salvation.

But our actions, not just toward others but toward us, tell a different story.

We are the heardest person to give grace to. Followed by many others. We like to hide the struggle and difficulty and pain and betrayal, so we don’t have to address grace. Why?

Since Grace is the defining characteristic of the Christian faith, you’d think we would work REALLY hard to articulate and exemplify it well.

What we all need is the freedom that comes from a proper perspective on grace. Today we will start that journey together.

One of two reasons:

Either we know the Grace of God is enough and we don’t want to extend it.

Sufficiency

2 Corinthians 12:8–9 NIV

8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

The disconnect, at the heart, is that we don’t believe Grace is enough.

We really doubt it’s sufficiency.

2 Corinthians

This is a blanket statement in the middle of Paul’s testimony,

My Grace is enough for you. Enough for the torment in Paul’s life that won’t leave. Note: It did NOT FEEL like enough for Paul, he just got done talking with God about how hard it was and that he didn’t think he could go on so he begged God. God said, my grace is enough.

Where the debt and desperation were, the grace of God was enough to cover it for Paul.

That’s great… for Paul. But what about us? I mean, I’m not Paul. I have my own sins and my own life and I wouldn’t give grace to me!

Paul has some words about the reality of Grace that we would do well to take into consideration as we start our journey to find out if God’s grace is sufficient:

Romans 5 NIV

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. 12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— 13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. 15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! 18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. 20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God is fully aware of the situation and the depth of sin. He knows that the law can make things complicated when we focus only on the law.

As sin and death increased, so does grace. There is enough for all of these ideas.

It doesn’t matter if Christians think there is enough grace. God does not defer to Christians in regards to his grace and how it is distributed.

He doesn’t need a bill to become law to give His grace.

There is no limitation on what His grace can cover.

There is no prerequisite to qualify for His grace.

It is a gift. For you and I. Why?

John 3:16–19 NIV

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

John 3:16–21 NIV

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

All it takes

All it takes to receive this grace is to reach out and grab it. To know and accept that Christ’s sacrifice was for you and I and our sin and brokenness, and then we have the opportunity to walk with this Jesus individually and watch Him do a work in our lives. To become more whole, to understand the depth of Grace in our own personal lives.

Do you want that grace today?

What, in your life, do you feel the grace of God isn’t sufficient for?

Come to the altar as this song plays.