Sermon Tone Analysis

All of Grace

Ephesians 2:8–9

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!

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?