By Grace Alone

BY GRACE ALONE Spring Valley Mennonite; January 17, 2021; Ephesians 2:8-10 In his book "The Sacred Romance" John Ethridge shares the story of a dramatic rescue of a child kidnapped from his parents and sold into slavery in the dark interior of a third-world country. The broken-hearted parents tried to negotiate with the embassy for their child's release, but they were continually frustrated by endless red tape. Dishonest bureaucrats denied outright the existence of child slave labor in their country. Months, and then years went by. The parents feared that they would never see their child again. Finally, they conceived the most daring of plans. They would slip into this foreign country in disguise and buy their child back no matter what the price. It was a bold, almost ridiculous plan. But they at least had to try. Though it came at an enormous personal cost, which can hardly be described, with joy it can be reported that their strategy was successful; their once-captive child is now safe in their arms again. Can you imagine that child ever doubting his parent's love or that his life is of great value? Could he ever doubt that he is wanted in the deepest way? This story illustrates the bold plan of God to rescue His beloved children from the worst slavery imaginable, a situation from which there was absolutely no escape. God had promised from the beginning to rescue us, and that promise was repeated through prophesy. A Messiah would come who would defeat the enemy slaveowner and set the slaves-you and me-free. At just the right time, God the Son came disguised as a newborn baby, slipped into the enemy's territory, and bought us out of slavery at an unbelievable personal cost. This made it possible that we might know, beyond a shadow of doubt, that our life is sacred; that we are loved in the deepest way. The story is the gospel, and we are those rescued children. The first chapter of the book of Ephesians informs us that through Jesus and His death as believers we have been given incredible spiritual blessings. It is like we have unlimited funds in the bank, available at any time for withdrawal. We only need to learn how to tap into those resources. Paul puts it like this in his prayer: "God, open the eyes of their hearts so that they can understand and access all Your incredible blessings." This letter marvelously sets forth who we are in Christ, and how that truth informs and changes our whole perspective on living. Ephesians is all about encouragement! And there is nothing so encouraging as Grace! In the second chapter we learn of our original condition before coming to faith. Because we are born into Adam's family, we all were stillborn, spiritually speaking. We were born dead: verse 1 stating, "You were dead in your trespasses and sins." We were locked into this condition, trapped, and enslaved in Satan's dark kingdom. Then God in His love and mercy reached down and rescued us, first opening our minds to the truth through the Holy Spirit speaking to our hearts, then saving us by grace through faith. We are made alive in Christ, so that, as verse seven of Ephesians 2 states, "in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." I find it very exciting that this word "ages" is plural. Elsewhere Scripture speaks of the present age, and of the age to come, but in this verse "ages" is plural, giving us the idea that God has age upon age upon age of which we know nothing about; throughout these ages He will display the glory of His grace in us. We are His cherished, living trophies of grace and will be eternal recipients of His kindness. Wow! With that encouraging word, Paul returns to our initial salvation experience. In Ephesians 2:8 the strong emphasis seen is that: I. SALVATION IS BY GRACE ALONE 2:8 states, "For by grace you have been saved through faith..." Familiar words but containing a wealth of encouragement and application. Consider the truth that "we HAVE BEEN SAVED." Notice that Paul is writing to Christian people with words of assurance that they are part of God's family. If salvation is something we cannot be sure of until we die, then Paul is way off base in this comment. He should have said, "you might be saved." Unfortunately, many sincere people doubt that we can know we are saved. But if salvation is something about which we CAN BE CERTAIN, something that happens at a point of time, "you have been saved" past tense-is right on target. The main reason Paul speaks so confidently about their salvation related to the very nature of grace. It is "by GRACE you have been saved..." Grace is the means by which we have salvation. Grace puts the focus squarely upon God rather that upon us. Grace is another of those concepts that people get confused. What is grace? Grace is simply "God's riches at Christ's expense." Grace is God freely choosing to give us the gift of salvation free and with no strings attached. Grace is totally undeserved and unearned. It is free! But I remind you that "free" and "cheap" are not the same. Never think that our salvation comes at no cost: it cost Jesus Christ plenty! Chuck Swindoll, in his book "Grace Awakening" gives an illustration which helps to understand grace: He says, "Let's imagine you have a six-year-old son who was horribly murdered. After a lengthy search, the investigators of the crime find the killer. You have a choice: if you used every means in your power to kill the murderer for his crime, that would be vengeance. If, however, you're content to sit back and let the legal authorities take over and move through the proper procedures, a fair trial, a verdict of guilty, capital punishment-that is justice. But if you should plead for the pardon of the murderer, forgive him completely, invite him into your home, and adopt him as your own son, that is grace." Swindoll goes on to say, "God does this every day. He takes the guilty believing sinner who says, "I am lost, unworthy, guilty as charged, and undeserving of forgiveness" and extends the gift of eternal life-only because Christ's death on the cross satisfied His demands against sin, namely death. And God sees the guilty sinner (who responds by faith alone) as righteous as His own son. In fact, He even invites us to come home with Him as He adopts us into His family forever. Instead of treating us with vengeance or executing justice, God extends grace." Salvation is by grace alone. But what is the part of faith, for are we not saved "by grace through faith"? II. BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH Faith is our response to the offering of God's gracious gift of salvation. Faith is the open hands which receive a birthday present. Faith is the action of a starving man when he picks up a fork and eats when a plate of food is placed before him. If someone should give you a brand- new car, handing you the key, then faith is placing the key in the ignition and turning it. How foolish it would be to boast of how clever you were to put the key in the ignition and turn it! But the key gave you access to the gift of the car. Our faith gives us access to the grace which saves us. Saving faith rightly has been said to be composed of three parts: FIRST, faith requires knowledge. We must know the facts about God, Jesus, and what Jesus did through his sacrifice and resurrection. SECOND, faith requires assent; we must agree that the facts are true. But faith is sadly incomplete without the THIRD PART: we must personally put our trust in the facts of the gospel. It is like this chair: I know it is a sturdy looking chair, and I also know that chairs are made to support people in a sitting position (I have knowledge). I also give assent that the chair would probably hold someone (I agree with the facts.) But until I demonstrate trust that this chair will support me by sitting down in it, I do not have true faith in the chair, I have not truly believed. Many people know the facts about Jesus Christ; they give assent that these facts are true-"Yes, I agree Jesus died on the cross and arose the third day." But until they personally and completely trust Jesus to forgive their sin, casting themselves upon Him, they are not truly saved. From verse 9 we clearly see: III. SALVATION IS NOT BY WORKS "Not as a result of works, that no one should boast." There is a great contrast being made in these verses, a contrast which defines the difference between Christianity and every other religion in the world. The difference between religion and Christianity is the difference between the words "DO" and "DONE." There is nothing we do to earn or merit God's salvation. Every religion in the world is based upon doing something, and if you fulfill these requirements, then you hopefully will be in good standing. Such religious statements range from offering a chicken to pacify the jungle spirits to keeping the 10 Commandments. But God tells us here that everything has already been DONE! There is nothing for us to do, nothing that we can do, except to humbly accept what Christ has done for us. Salvation "is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. The pronoun "that" refers to salvation. The pronoun "That" is neuter in gender, whereas faith and grace both are feminine. A pronoun and its antecedent, the word it represents, must agree in gender. Therefore, "that" refers to the act of God in saving us by grace conditioned by faith on our part. Salvation is nothing we achieve or something we earn. It is by grace, a free gift. The greatest heresy which affects Biblical Christianity is one which replaces or dilutes grace by adding works. Like oil and water, they don't mix. Beware anyone who says, "Do these things in order to be saved" or more commonly, "Here's a list of things NOT to do to" and you will be a Christian. Christianity is about a relationship with God. God initiates. He calls, He saves us by grace. We respond in belief and faith. Rule-keeping was the pathway of the Pharisees, and we remember what Jesus thought of their system! The Pharisees were great "doers." They had long and elaborate lists of things one had to do and of things you could not do to be considered righteous. Jesus reserved His most scathing criticism for them. By the way, God had His list; He called it the Law of Moses. But God's list had a different purpose from making anyone righteous: The Law was given to define man's sinfulness, it only defined sin. The Law was our teacher: Galatians 3:23-25 "Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. No one ever could keep the Law, and that is why a system of sacrifice was given at the same time. It was as if God said, "Here is My Law, and here is what to do when you break it, as you surely will." This is exactly the point of Romans 3:20-23 when it says, "...by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe." Our old nature resists believing in grace. The truth that salvation is a free gift, accessed only by simple belief flies in the natural order of this world. That order is defined by such ideas as "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't." "You never get something for nothing." "There are no free rides in this life." We must realize that when salvation from sin is discussed, there is nothing we can do that is good enough to be counted. God does things very differently; His ways are not our ways. Out of His great love and mercy, He graciously extends the offer of salvation, new life, and an eternal home free from sin and its effects. But how do good works enter into the picture? Are they not part of the Christian life? IV. WE ARE GOD'S WORK OF ART! Most assuredly! This is the message of verse 10: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Do not miss the timing here: good works are the result of being saved. We are created a new person who will do good works as an overflow from our grace-redeemed lives. Like an apple tree produces apples, the believer produces the good fruit of Spirit-empowered good deeds. Allow me to point out the neatest thing: see that word "workmanship" in verse 10? In Greek the word is "poiema" from which the English word "poem" is derived. We are God's poem, God's artistic work, His composition! Out of the raw material of my life God is making a beautiful poem or painting or tapestry-a work of art. "We are His workmanship." And He has a plan for each of our days to fill it with good works of kindness, encouragement, joy, and ministry to others! As we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, in obedience to His leading and guidance, we will discover those good things in His plan for us. These things will bring the maximum glory to God and the greatest satisfaction and fulfillment to us. And for all eternity we will be on display as His work of art. Often God's plan for us includes enduring suffering or challenging days. We certainly are in such times as those, perhaps with more to come. At such times we may be tempted to doubt God's goodness or the wisdom of His plan. I once came upon a poem which explains such dark threads of our lives. It goes like this: My life is but a weaving, between the Lord and me; I cannot choose the colors He worketh steadily. Oft times He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride, Forget He sees the upper, and I the underside. Not till the loom is silent, And the shuttles cease to fly, Shall God unroll the canvas And explain the reason why. The dark threads are as needful In the Weaver's skillful hand, As the threads of gold and silver In the pattern He has planned. He knows, He loves, He cares, nothing this truth can dim. He gives His very best to those who choose to walk with Him. (by Benjamin Malacia Franklin) We are God's work of art, and for all eternity we will be on display as a trophy of God's grace. 2