Sermons
God's Amazing Grace
Gods amazing grace
We sing that song so many times that I think we forget to focus in on what it is teaching. The man that wrote this song seems to have a good understanding of just how amazing Gods grace really is. Without the grace of God no one can be saved. So the morning we are going to explore God’s amazing Grace.
In every letter that Paul writes excluding the book of Hebrews he always says something similar to Grace and peace be with you in both the beginning and the end of his letters. Grace is a word that Paul used often. But what exactly does Grace mean?
- properly, that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech
- the N. T. writers use grace pre-eminently of that kindness by which God bestows: favors even upon the ill-deserving, and grants to sinners the pardon of their offences, and bids them accept of eternal salvation through Christ:
The Bible defines what grace is starting in
Ephesians 2:4-10 (Read passage)
It’s from these passages that we learn that Grace is unmerited favor. This is what is so amazing about Gods free gift of Grace. Even though you and I were hopelessly lost in sin God loved us enough to give us his son as perfect sacrifice so that we could be saved. There is nothing absolutely nothing you or I could ever do to earn or merit Gods saving Grace that is why he had to give it to us.
Romans 3:10 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one;
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Mankind desperately needs the grace of God in order to be saved because we cannot save ourselves. Under the old law you had to keep it perfect in order to be blameless.
James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point, is guilty of breaking all of it.
No human could do this except for one. Jesus Christ and it is only through him that the grace of God is possible. A lot of people simply do not understand what the grace of God is and what it involves. Many in the religious world will take section of scripture we looked at in Eph 2 and will say that we are saved by grace alone. But this simply is not the case.
You cannot say that you are saved by faith or by grace alone because the Word God does not teach that at all.
As we just read in Ephesians Chapter 2: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
In these verses we learn the 2 parts to man’s salvation. First of all there is Gods grace in which he gave his son and forgiveness of sin. Man has his part which is his faith. This is not talking about just believing but instead is talking about an obedient faith. In others words God has provided the gift but humans have to accept that gift by having an obedient faith. Notice verse 10 says that we were created in Christ Jesus to do good works.
Let me provide a very basic example: Let’s say that I have 20 dollar bill and tell you that is a free gift but that you have to walk up here to get it. Even though the gift is free and you did not earn or deserve it you still have you part because you have to get up and walk up here to receive the 20 dollars.
This is same principle that God has always had. We have several examples of where God offers a free gift but then demands an obedient faith.
Jericho was a free gift to the children of Israel but in order to receive the gift they had to obey Gods word to walk around those 7 days and then make the loud noise with the shouting and the trumpets and it wasn’t until they obeyed Gods word that the received the free gift.
Naamen had leprosy and Elisha sent word to him that he could be healed if would go dip in the Jordan river 7 times. It wasn’t until he obeyed, that he received the free gift of God.
The same thing is true today, we do not receive God’s free gift of grace until we obey his commands. The apostles understood this concept well.
Romans 1:5 Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
Now let’s take a look at what Paul says about grace in
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.
If we are saved by grace alone and since grace has appeared to everyone than that would mean that every single person no matter what they do, would be saved, but we know that is not true. In fact Paul goes on tell us what Grace teaches us.
As he notes in verse 12: It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives.
Paul is clearly teaching us that God’s grace and our obedient faith goes hand and hand. I want make this very clear that when we obey God’s word and do things he ask us today, we are in no way earning or meriting our salvation, we are simply serving God out of love. Jesus explains this best in the story he tells his disciples in.
Luke 17:7-10 – Read passage
Whenever we become Christians and we accept Gods grace we become his servants and we are merely to do our duty and when we obey Gods word we don’t say what are you going to do for me now no we say that we are unprofitable servants we have done what was our duty to do.
Many in the religious world would teach that God’s grace cannot be missused but the Bible teaches differently.
Gal 2:21 says: “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing”
2 Corinthians 6:1&2 tells us: “As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, in the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation”
And in Jude 1:4, it says: “For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”
Galatians 5:4 You, who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
As you can see from thee passages, we must not take the grace of God for granted. That’s why Peter tells us 2 Peter 3:18 to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we grow in God’s grace we learn that we can stand and be strong in Gods grace (Rom 5:1-2 says: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.”
Also, 2 Tim 2:1 says: “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
Paul also teaches that Grace is not a license to sin.
Romans 6:1 says: “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
One of the great things about Gods amazing grace is that when we do sin his grace can cover are sins over and over again and 1st John 1:7 tells us how.
It says: “But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
Notice, in this verse, the action word “walk”. As Christians we must be walking in the light that is striving to serve God in order to continually have our sins cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. When does a person began to walk in the light or when do they begin enjoying the grace of God?
Paul gives us the answer as we continue on in Romans 6:
Romans 6:1-4 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
There’s nothing confusing about what Paul has just taught us. It is very easy to see that when a person is baptized into Christ they baptized into his death and just as Christ was raised from the dead when we are raised from the watery grave of baptism we begin or walk in newness of life. This is when we accept God saving grace through our obedient faith in the working of God.
Now that we have learned when a person begins their walk, let’s take look at some scriptures that tell how we are to walk.
1 John 2:6 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
Hebrews 5:8-9 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
2 John 1:6 And this is love; that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
Ephesians 5:15-16 15 Be careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Another important point about Gods amazing grace is that we can know that we are saved. Sometimes we as Christians simply lose site of God grace and we go through life thinking I hope that I am saved. The word Gods let us know that we can know that we are saved by the grace of God.
1 John 5:13 says: I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
1 John 2:5 5 But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him.
Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 4: 6-8 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will award to me on that day.
As we reach the closing portion of this lesson this morning, I want us all to ask ourselves this question: “What do I do and what I am doing with God’s grace?”
As we discussed throughout this lesson, God’s grace is a wonderful gift available to all. If you are not a Christian yet, the first thing you need to do is to accept and respond to God’s grace by following the direction of his word and being baptized into his son for the forgiveness of your sins.
If you are a Christian, you have already taken the first step in accepting God’s grace but what are you doing with his grace each day. Think about these questions as you consider his grace:
- Am I walking in the light and being faithful to God? – If I am not, what is hindering me?
- Do I put all of my trust in God each day?
- Do I study his word to understand his will for my life?
- Do I consistently demonstrate God’s love to others in my actions?
- Do I regularly gather with other believers to worship and praise God? And if I do, is my heart and mind focused on the worship service each and every time?
- Do I give of my time and resources to support God’s church?
And one final question:
- What else can I do each day to better serve God and thank him for his amazing grace?
