All of Grace

Since the dawn of time, man has been seeking redemption from his guilt and his sins. Since the dawn of time, there have been two ways of seeking this redemption: works and faith.

We are born into this world with a void, an empty place in our hearts that we are constantly seeking to fill. People try to fill this void with all kinds of things: sex, drugs, alcohol, and other works of the flesh. Some seek to fill this void with religion. Their works and self-imposed goodness make them feel better about themselves and scratches the deep itch within their souls.

History is filled with sin and religion. Both are just people trying to fill the emptiness within their hearts with something they can produce. The problem with living a life of sin is that it always ends in death. The problem with human religion and good works is that it always ends in death too.

The drunk, the drug addict, the harlot, the rapist, the murderer, the thief, and every other kind of sinner you could think of is going to Hell. But, so are the people who are trapped false religion. Regardless of how sincere they may be in their beliefs, those who have nothing more than religion are headed to Hell.

Whether they’re Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Humanist, Atheist, Agnostic, Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Baptist, or any other religion, non-religion or group, if all they have is belief in their system, they are lost and headed for judgment.

That’s why these verses in Ephesians are so important today.

In simple and clear language, Paul lays out God’s way of salvation. These verses are some of the most important in the entire Bible. They teach us exactly how we can be saved. They teach us about the Way and the Wonder of salvation. These verses show all people, in all generations, in all places, and in all religions, what they must know in order to be saved from their sins.

Let’s pray and we’ll see the truth that it is all about grace.

Pray!

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

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.

First, let’s look at:

The Way of Salvation

These verses are a summary of all that Paul has said about salvation up to this point. These verses represent the ultimate statement regarding the way of salvation. These verses tell us how to be saved, and they tell what will not save us. In these words, Paul talks about both the positive and the negative side of the way of salvation.

Before we look at the positive side of salvation, let’s look at the negative side.

Negative side of salvation

Paul says it is:

9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

He is talking about any kind human effort that’s done in the hope that it will secure salvation for the one performing the action. In other words, it refers to religious works and deeds. Paul is telling us that no one will ever be saved by any works they perform, regardless of how holy those works may appear, or how many works they perform.

This flies in the face of thousands of years of human thinking, effort and religious activity. Man has always felt like he had to have a part in his salvation. And because of this, man has developed thousands of competing religions that rely on good works, self-sacrifice or self-righteousness to save him.

· That’s why the ancient Canaanites offered their children to Moloch.

· That’s why the ancient Phoenicians sacrificed their sexual purity to the god Baal and the goddess Ashtoreth.

· That’s why the Hindus worship cows and elephants.

· That’s why a mother in the jungles of Africa will give a baby to a crocodile.

· That’s why ancient native Americans worshipped nature.

The common factor in these and all other manmade religions is works.

Every religion devised by man requires him to put forth some sort of effort to practice his religion and achieve his salvation.

· It might be something he has to give up to please his god.

· It might be some work of the flesh like baptism, good deeds, or self-punishment that he performs to win the favor of his god.

The fact is, man thinks he has to earn his salvation.

That’s why Adam and Eve tried to cover their nakedness with fig leaves. Their works weren’t acceptable to the Lord, and when He showed up and confronted them in their sins, He provided a covering for their sins in the form or an innocent sacrifice. Their works couldn’t save them. Their sin was covered by grace alone.

A company developed a new cake mix that only needed water to be added. Tests were run, surveys made, and the cake mix was better than any of the other mixes out there.

It tasted good, was easy to use, and it made a moist, tender cake. The company spent a lot of money on advertising and then released the mix to the market. But it didn’t sell well.

The company then spent more money on research to find out why that was. Based on the results, the company reworked the formula, and released a revised cake mix.

The new mix needed water and an egg. It sold like hot cakes. You see, the first cake mix was just too simple to be believable. People wouldn’t accept it. The same is true of salvation by grace.

Paul tells us that works are excluded from the process of salvation “so that no one may boast.”

Paul is telling us that if a man were to earn his salvation, he would be able to take the credit for it. He would boast of his achievement. He would set himself up as his own god and worship himself.

If anyone were to make it to heaven on the basis of his own works, they would spend eternity bragging about how he made it there. God’s plan of salvation is something so different. God works salvation in us by grace. He does it in a way that He alone gets all the glory for every soul that is saved.

Listen, you can never get to heaven by your works. No matter what you do, you can never do enough. No matter how good you try to be, you can never be good enough.

Imagine an airplane flying over the Atlantic and crashes a thousand miles from any coast. In the plane were three people: a great Olympic swimmer, an average swimmer, and someone who can’t swim at all. The Olympic star says, “Follow me—I’ll get you out of this!” and takes off heading for the tip of South America a thousand miles away.

The other two jump after him. In about thirty seconds the non-swimmer goes down to Davy Jones’ Locker. It takes about thirty minutes for the average swimmer to be deep-sixed.

But the champion swimmer churns away for twenty-five hours, covering an impressive fifty miles. Only 475 more hours to go! He’ll be there in nineteen days if he doesn’t slow down.

The truth is that our paddling will never do, no matter how “good” we are. The distance is too far, and we are too flawed. We can try, but it wouldn’t be any more good than rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

The Bible says, “not a result of works,” and that is the truth.

What if I went to a friend and said, “You’re a great person, but I don’t believe a thing you say.” How would he feel? Yet this is the way some people treat God. “God, I believe you’re great. I believe that Jesus is real. I simply can’t believe your Word that salvation is not by works.”

No matter how hard we try, we can never do enough or be enough to save ourselves from our sins. No matter how much you change your life, you can never erase your sin and guilt before God.

There is the negative side and the:

Positive side of salvation

If salvation doesn’t come from being religious, being a good person, or doing good things, where does salvation come from? Paul says it comes to us “through faith.”

“Faith” refers to “a conviction of the truth of something; belief.” Saving faith is simply coming to the place where you believe, with absolute conviction that everything the Bible says about Jesus is true. That’s it!

Salvation isn’t the result of doing anything; it’s the result of a lost sinner simply taking God at His Word. That’s the clear teaching of some of the greatest, clearest verses in the Bible.

Romans 10:9 ESV

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Acts 16:31 ESV

And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

The Bible is crystal clear on this matter. The way of salvation is simply taking God at His Word and believing the Gospel. What is the Gospel?

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 ESV

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

Romans 4:25 ESV

who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Some people say they can’t just believe in Jesus. They can’t have faith in something they can’t see and don’t know to be true. The truth is, every day of our lives is a series of acts of faith.

· We eat our food having faith that it’s not contaminated.

· We swallow water having faith that it is safe to drink.

· We take medicine the doctor prescribes by faith not knowing all the side effects, or whether it will cure or kill us.

· We put our money in the bank trusting by faith they’ll keep it safe and give it back when we want it.

· We get in our car, put the key in and turn it by faith, trusting that it will start.

· Even sitting down on a chair, or a pew, is an act of faith.

Salvation comes when a sinner simply takes God at His Word and believes what the Bible says about Jesus:

· He was born of a virgin.

· He is the sinless Son of God.

· He died on a cross to pay the penalty of our sins.

· He rose from the dead.

· He ascended into Heaven.

· He is coming again.

· Everyone who believes in Him will be saved.

That, and not works, is what saves us!

During the 1900s, Jean Francois Gravalet, known by his stage name, Blondin, was a world-famous acrobat. His most spectacular feats were crossings Niagara Falls on a tightrope 1,100 feet long and 160 feet above the water.

On one occasion he took a stove out and cooked an omelet above the roaring falls. On another, he pushed a wheelbarrow across while blindfolded.

Once, in an unusual demonstration of skill, he carried a man across on his back. After putting him down he turned to the large crowd and asked a man, “Do you believe I could do that with you?”

“Of course,” the man answered, “I’ve just seen you do it.”

“Hop on,” said Blondin, “I’ll carry you across.”

“Not on your life!” the man called back.

There’s no real faith without trust.

To be honest, I wouldn’t have hopped on his back either. In fact, I wouldn’t do it if the rope was more than a foot off the ground.

· What if I panicked?

· What if the rope broke?

· What if he dropped me?

I believe he could do it, but I just wouldn’t trust him with my life!

But there is a universe of difference between the tightrope walker and Jesus! He can’t drop me. I can’t even drop myself.

Do we believe Jesus is who he says he is? Do we believe he died for our sins? Do we believe he was resurrected and lives today? Have we trusted him to save us?

The only way out of the darkness of sin into the Lord’s salvation is by trusting Jesus alone to save your soul. What are you trusting today?

Our works will never get us into Heaven. The only way into Heaven is by faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

Philippians 3:9 ESV

and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

When faith brings us to Jesus, we are given His righteousness.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We see the way of salvation and:

The Wonder of Salvation

Paul tells us that salvation comes to us “by grace.” Grace is “the unmerited favor of God for the undeserving.”

That’s entirely:

His grace

The grace of God means that God reaches out to those who deserve nothing from Him but His judgment and condemnation. The grace of God means that God turns His favor toward those who deserve His wrath. It means that God reaches down to those who can’t reach up to Him. It means that God goes to those who will not come to Him.

Lost sinners are dead, radically depraved, totally deceived and utterly doomed in their sins, but God, In His grace, reaches out to save them by His amazing, abundant grace.

The Bible is filled with examples of this kind of grace.

Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9:1–13)

This man was from a lost, doomed family. He was crippled, poor and worthless. David owed him nothing and would have been within his rights to execute him. Yet, David reached out to Mephibosheth and sent his servants for him, took him out of his old home, and brought him into the place. David adopted Mephibosheth as his own son and set him at the king’s table. He was still a cripple, but he belonged at David’s table. Grace changed his life.

Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:1–6)

Saul was a religious man. He was morally righteous, but his righteousness was based in his works. In the eyes of God, Saul was a dirty, filthy sinner. He was a man who hated the name of Jesus and persecuted the church. He deserved nothing from God but judgment and Hell. Yet, God loved him and reached out to save him. Grace changed his life.

Every person in this world who has been truly saved knows the wonder of God’s amazing, awesome grace. We know there’s no good in us. We know we deserve to go to Hell. We know that it would be perfectly fair for God to judge us. We know that grace is amazing!

God takes lost, dead, depraved, doomed sinners and He saves them by grace alone, through faith alone. That is the wonder of His grace!

And then there is

His gift

We’ve seen that the way of salvation is “through faith” and the wonder of salvation is “by grace.” Then, we are told that neither the grace, nor the faith came from inside us. The grace that sought us, and the faith that saved us, are the “gift of God.” We could not even believe in Jesus until He first came to us and gave us faith to believe in Him.

A sinner cannot just decide to come to God.

God must make the first move. He comes to the sinner and draws them to Himself. He shows them the reality of their condition. He allows them to see the truth of the cross and the empty tombs. He allows them to know that everything the Bible says about Jesus is true. He gives them the faith to believe the Gospel.

The sinner takes those things and he turns that faith toward God. When he does, salvation takes place. The act of faith is ours to make, but the faith to act on came from God.

The wonder of salvation is that God, in His grace, saves sinners by giving them the faith to believe in Jesus Christ.

· Do you remember when you saw yourself as you were and Jesus as your only hope?

· Do you remember believing on Him for salvation?

If you do, then you know the wonder of salvation. If you don’t know anything about that, I invite you to come to Jesus Christ right now, today. You need to be saved, and Jesus is the only way for you to be saved. The only way you will ever come to Him is through the Amazing Grace of God.

Friends, salvation is a gift. God reaches out to offer us what we cannot do for ourselves. He offers us salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. This salvation delivers us from our sins. This salvation changes our lives. This salvation alters our eternities. This salvation adopts us into God’s family. This salvation is freely given and it is available to all who will come to Jesus Christ by faith.

Are you saved? Are you trusting Jesus, and Jesus alone for your soul’s salvation? Are you sure that you are not trusting in your works? A prayer doesn’t save us; doing good does not save us, becoming a better person does not save us; going to church does not save us.

We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone.

In 1829, a Philadelphia man named George Wilson robbed several mail trains, endangering carriers and wounding another. Wilson was arrested, brought to trial, found guilty, and sentenced to be hanged. Some friends intervened in his behalf and were finally able to obtain a pardon for him from President Andrew Jackson. But, when he was informed of this, George Wilson refused to accept the pardon!

The sheriff was unwilling to enact the sentence. How could he hang a pardoned man?

An appeal was sent to President Jackson. The perplexed President turned to the United States Supreme Court to decide the case. They ruled that a pardon is a piece of paper, the value of which depends on its acceptance by the person. It is hardly to be supposed that a person under the sentence of death would refuse to accept a pardon, but if it is refused, it is then not a pardon.

So, George Wilson was executed, although his pardon lay on the sheriff’s desk.

God has made an offer of love, acceptance, forgiveness, and salvation to you. To receive that offer and believe in Jesus Christ is to be eternally saved. It is to go to Heaven when you leave this world. To reject that free off of salvation is to die lost and to go to Hell.