Sunday AM Service Template 06/23/19 Grace - God's Gift

G.R.A.C.E. BR/Text: Rom 5:18,19; 18Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Eph 2:8; For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Introduction: This topic of Grace is the essence of our Christian faith. The reality of Grace resides in the most dominating characteristic of our heavenly Father, His Love. While it is true that God judges and punishes Sin – It is truer still that God prefers Grace! Eph 5:20.2; But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That is why he gave it, that is why he sent his Son Jesus Christ to die and pay the price for us. But what is Grace? Grace has been defined as the unmerited favor of God It means that God granted us pardon and favor that we were unworthy of. Let’s look at two extreme examples, You take someone who perhaps has been a good family man, he’s been in the military, he’s worked hard, raised his kids to do right and be respectful, he’s been unselfish and helpful to others, he has been an upstanding member of society his entire life. Then, you take a person who has been in and out of prison their whole life, they’ve robbed, cheated, stolen, harmed others, you name it. Now they are standing accused of murder. They haven’t committed any redeeming act to help their situation, they are hoplessly, and helplessly in front of the judge awaiting their sentence. He has no merit to stand on. One man would stand on his merit and expect reword and acclamation for his righteous life, while the other is helpless and in expectation and worthy of penalty and judgement. The grace of God through Jesus Christ takes the deeds of the unrighteous man and puts them onto the righteous man, and punishes him for the other man’s actions, and takes the actions of the righteous man and places them onto the unrighteous man and bestows benefit upon him for the deeds of the righteous man. It is the love of God that this in born from, through the love and obedience of Jesus Christ. Rom 5:6-9; 6For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him This is the Grace of God! God delights in Grace, God desires to give grace God paid the highest price for this grace, so that Grace could be applied abundantly God gives every opportunity for grace to work. God would rather grace prevail unto salvation, than for sin to prevail unto destruction. What truly Amazing Grace. Amazing Grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. Amazing Grace shall always be my song of praise, for it was grace that bought by liberty. And there’s no other word for Grace but Amazing! I. The GIFT of Grace This week I want to take a look at one aspect of Grace that is hard for people to accept. People have a difficult time accepting Grace as a gift from God. Our Text today says that Grace is a Gift, and the BR calls God’s act of grace a “Free gift” People often have a hard time accepting Free. They are reluctant to let go of their sins not believing that Christ has borne them. People feel that they need to atone for their sins, that they need to do penance. But there is only one price that could be paid for sin, and that is death. Heb 9:22.2; and without shedding of blood is no remission. We couldn’t pay that price without losing our soul because of our sin. So God sent Jesus who committed no sin, yet shed his blood for ours. He paid the price, and has given us HIS righteousness. By saying we have to do penance is saying that Christ’s sacrifice isn’t enough It is rejecting the free gift, and trying to pay for it ours selves. Last week I gave all the Father’s $5 gift cards, Now they can go to Culvers, Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, or Starbucks and redeem their coffee, custard, or BigMac with the free gift. Now if they throw it away and try to pay for it themselves then they are saying the free gift isn’t good enough. It is Free, it is ours, and it is in abundant supply. So often people reject Grace because they think that their sin is too great But as we shared what Paul wrote earlier Eph 5:20.2; But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: Grace is not given by works, or else it would not be grace. Grace can’t be achieved, it must be received. IT IS A GIFT. So how do we receive this Gift? Through Faith. Eph 2:8; For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: The grace of God is transferred to our account by FAITH. John 3:16; Rom 10:9,10; 9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.