Sola Gratia: Grace Alone

“Sola Gratia: Grace Alone God Gives. We Receive” November 5, 2017 The Big Idea: From a culture that celebrates personal achievement, grace and mercy are difficult concepts for us to fully embrace. The Bible declares that we are far beyond needing a little assistance from God, but that we are “dead in our sins” and our only hope is the resurrection that the Father offers us through His Son, Jesus. Salvation cannot be earned, only received as God’s gift. What’s the problem? Ephesians 2:1-3 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Romans 3:9-10; 23 9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 1. Not one of us can stand before a holy God. 2. Because of our Sin, we are dead. 3. Under the wrath of God à A Holy God’s response to Sin is wrath, so until something is done to change it, we are “children of wrath” and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Grace Alone Means We Have Nothing to Do With Our Own Salvation ü The outrageous nature of Grace is always seen when someone we know doesn’t deserve it is given grace. ü What did Lazarus have to do with the miracle of his own resurrection? He was dead – he was incapable of acting on his own behalf. It was ALL Jesus – ALL grace. Not Grace + ________. Simply grace. Grace alone! ü To add anything we do to grace alone, is to deny grace alone! ü We are saved from God, by God, for God. – Ligon Duncan What is the True Human Condition? Before we were saved, we were … o o o o o o So dead that only God can make us alive - Ephesians 2:1 So blind that only God could give us sight - 2 Corinthians 4:4 So sinful that only God could forgive us - Psalm 51:5 So bad only God can make us good - Jeremiah 17:9 So lost that only God could save us - Luke 19:10 So helpless that only God could change us - Jeremiah 13:23 How Can this Problem Be Solved? Justice Mercy Grace Ephesians 2:4-9 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 "Don't spend your whole life believing God is chasing you to collect what you owe. He is chasing you to give you a gift you could NEVER afford." -David Harp