Pentecost 2 June 6 1999

Grace Is Amazing: Grace Is Free

Romans 3:21-25a

I have some startling, even incredible statistics to share with you this morning. They reveal a very sad reality about spiritual life in the United States. As the kids might say, “it’ll knock your socks off.”

Before I reveal these stats to you, I want to mention that today, and the next three weeks I will be preaching a series based on the appointed readings from the book of Romans. In this series we will focus particularly on God’s grace, His Amazing Grace. We will see from these texts that Grace Is Amazing: Amazing because Grace Is Free; Amazing because Grace Credits Righteousness; Amazing because Grace Is Demonstrated; Amazing because Grace Overflows.

So, let’s turn our attention now to learn more about God’s Amazing Grace. And, let’s start with a question. “Can a person earn their way to heaven?” I think we have all heard, and probably given some intellectual assent to the idea that we cannot earn heaven. But let me ask the question another way. “Does God save us because we try to do what is right?” If you think so, you have probably missed the point of Grace. You have probably missed the gospel message, and your salvation is precariously perched on some pretty treacherous territory keeps you in your sin. But, Grace is about what we have because of, and as the result of, the things that God has done for us, in our place, in the person and work of Jesus Christ. So, in these next few weeks, we will consider God’s Amazing Grace in some detail.

The startling statistic I want to share with you comes from a statistical study by the Barna Report. It found that 54% of all Lutherans believe that good people can earn their way into heaven. That means there is the possibility that every other person here today might not understand the gospel message. That statistic shakes me up, more than just a little. Of course the problem is not limited to Lutherans. 22% of Assembly of God people think a good person can earn their way to heaven. 38% of Baptists, 52% of Presbyterians; 58% of Episcopalians, 59% of Methodists, 76% of Mormons, and the highest percentage of 82% of Catholics believe a good person can earn their way to heaven. It is for this very reason that I want to communicate the gospel message of Jesus Christ in the clearest terms possible. I want you to know for sure how God has secured your salvation and brings you to eternal life. I think you will all find his grace truly amazing, in the first place, because it is Free!

God’s Free Grace is amazing because it is totally undeserved. This is what Paul means when he says, “all … are justified (made right with God) freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” You see, God’s love extends over all humanity, in that, the work of Jesus He extends and credits to all. In other words, Jesus suffered, died, and was raised the third day for all people to receive the benefits, no one excluded.

Now, some might say, “He can’t possibly love the unlovable.” Oh yes he can! And He does! You see, in God’s eyes there is not one human being who always does what is right. But, that is the divine requirement to enter into God’s glory. Whether it be the inherited sin of Adam, or the actual sin of our own thoughts, words, and deeds, or of the things we should do and don’t, or shouldn’t do and do, we all stand before God’s judgement as sinners. Therefore, we all “fall short of the glory of God.” And, as Paul tells the Ephesians, we also are “objects of wrath.” Pretty scary thought, isn’t it?

But, that’s the part that makes God’s Free Grace truly amazing. Even while we are in this condition the reality of Christ stands as God’s completed work of bringing true righteousness and holiness to all. How amazing it is because we certainly do not deserve what God has done for each and every one of us. Listen to the apostolic explanation of this Grace Paul gives to the Ephesians. He says, “Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” Truly amazing, isn’t it?

There is an easy way to remember what I have just said. If we make an acrostic of the word grace, G.R.A.C.E., and let each letter stand for another word, we can enter it into the data banks of our memory and think on it from time to time. Here it is. You might want to write it down. GRACE. G stands for God’s, R stands for Riches, A stands for At, C stands for Christ’s, and E stands for Expense. God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. We have God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. That’s what the forgiveness of sin and true righteousness is all about, Jesus Christ. These things are not properly ours. We didn’t do it or deserve it. It is God’s free gift to us by his own divine decree, in Jesus Christ.

This truth makes works and grace mutually exclusive. If a person believes that he or she is good enough to satisfy God’s Just and Righteous requirements, they only fool themselves. The result is that in doing so they sever their connection with Christ. How very sad!!! My friends, may it be that none of us display such arrogance against the Holy God. Witness the eternal Word which says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

Some might ask in all sincerity, “If God requires perfection in all things then how can anyone be saved?” That is an excellent question that even Jesus’ closest disciples ask him. The Psalmist has this answer, “Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.” The apostle John says it this way, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” And the witness of Jesus Christ himself is this, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” And this is exactly what Paul means when he says, “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

How truly amazing God’s gift of Grace is. While every other religion of the world teaches that man must do something to be able to lay claim to glory, the mission and ministry of Christ Jesus is that all things necessary for our salvation “Is finished!” My beloved fellow redeemed in the Lord Jesus Christ, let your conscience be free of anxiety and doubt about your salvation. It comes to you all because God’s Grace is truly Amazing. It is Free! Receive it as it is given; A truly precious gift. Amen.