Beautiful spring evening we have
here. I walked out. Brother Marcus stuck
around and we had lunch together at house and we walked out and
up. I couldn't believe how beautiful
it is here. You guys were right. It's so
beautiful. I'm looking forward to seeing what it's going to
be like in the summer and in the fall. I've been away from the
four distinct seasons for 18 years. I have Vicki shaking her
head saying no. It is distinct here. It's distinct here, which is
really neat. I want us to turn to Romans again,
chapter 2. When our dear brother Jim read
Something just struck me. And it ties in with the message
that we have tonight. Look at v. 17. When he read this,
I was like, wow, there it is. Look at it. Romans 2, v. 17. And this is religion in a
nutshell. Behold, thou art called the Jew,
and restest in the law. We rest in Christ. But religion
rests in the law. Religion rests in do, do, do. So I just thought that was amazing
when I saw that. I was like, wow, that's incredible. We'll
be in Romans chapter 11 actually tonight. And the name of the
message tying in with salvation is all of grace. It's all of
grace. Salvation, all of grace. Romans chapter 11. And we'll read the first ten
verses. I say then, hath God cast away
His people? God forbid. For I also am an
Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God
hath not cast away His people, which He foreknew. Woe, or what
the Scripture saith of Isaiah, How he maketh intercession to
God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed Thy prophets
and dig down Thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek
my life. But what saith the answer to
God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven
thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
Even so, then, at this present time, there also is a remnant
according to the election of grace. And look here at verse
6. This is our text. And if by grace,
then it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.
What then Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but
the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded? According
as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes
that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear
unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare
and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a recompense unto them. Let
their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down
their back away. So the context of the Scripture
before us is that God has a remnant among the Jews, according to
the election of grace. And look at verse 11. I say then,
have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid, but
rather through their fall salvation has come unto the Gentiles, for
to provoke them to jealousy. God's sheep will be saved. whether
they be Jew or Gentile, they shall be saved. And we know from
Scripture He came to save His people from their sins. He came
to seek His lost sheep. Look at the verse in the midst
of this portion, verse 6. And if by grace, then it is no
more of works. So if salvation is all of grace,
it's not of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
That's that pinprick, remember we talked about? How much work
does it take to destroy grace? Just a pinprick. Imagine a balloon
full of air. You just put a pinprick in that
balloon, just a pin. I remember as a kid we used to
love doing that, getting mom's pins. It was fun. But just a
pinprick, just a tap, and it's gone. And that's the same if
you mix just a pinprick of works with grace, it's no more grace.
It's no more grace. But if it be of works, and isn't
this so plain? Isn't this so plain before us?
But if it be of works, then it's no more grace. But beloved, there's
millions of people out there trying to work their way to heaven,
trying to gain merit and favor with God. But the Scripture plainly
says to us right here, but if it be of works, then it's no
more grace. So what can we conclude? That
they're lost. They're lost in their sins. And
I'm not saying that condescending, because you all know, I've told
you, that I came out of that. and praise God that He saved
me out of that. Because if He had enough, I'd still be in it.
I'd still be doing that. But oh, in His mercy and His
grace, and those of us who come out of there, we say amen, don't
we? Because we know, we know, we were just fine in our eyes
going about establishing our own righteousness and not having
a clue. But oh, oh, we were His sheep. We were His sheep and
He knew us and He saved us from all that. And Scripture says,
otherwise work is no more work. And we know from studying God's
Word, and the teaching of God the Holy Spirit throughout Scripture,
that salvation is all of grace. Spurgeon has an excellent book,
if you can get your hands on it, called All of Grace. It's a very
simple book to read, but it's wonderful. And he breaks it down
that way. That salvation is all of grace.
100%. No works at all. but yet man, despite what scripture
says, and most people don't read what scripture says. They just
think the preacher said it, well then it must be true. No, but
we're Bereans, aren't we? We're Bereans. We search the
scriptures to see if these things be true. Don't just believe it
because I said it. Search the scriptures. Search
them. And every grace preacher will
tell you, look in the scriptures, study it, see if it's true. Oh,
it's wonderful. It's wonderful. Man in his natural
state, we know from Scripture, does not seek God. He has no
desire to seek God. And is there any who understand
the things of God in our natural state? No. Because Scripture
says in Romans 3.11, there's none that understand it. There's
none that seek it after God. None. Absolutely none. So if
God does not seek us, we'll perish in our sins. That's the bottom line. Because scripture says there's
none that seeks after him. Aren't you thankful that he didn't
leave you where you were, beloved? Aren't you thankful that the
shepherds sought you? Because we know we'd never seek him.
But why does he seek us? Remember this morning? Thou art
mine. He knows the sheep. He knows
them. He knows them. So we'll never seek God, but
if God seeks us, we shall be saved. And there's no merit in
us. We know that. We went through
that with the whole study through the tulip. There's absolutely
no merit in us. Nothing we can do to gain faith.
merit and favor with God, but yet man continues to do that. And again, we're not being condescending
because we were there. We were there. And the thing
with this, the thing in my life, anyways, the thing in my life,
what this trying to gain merit and favor with God bred in me
was extreme self-righteousness. And that's what it does. What
does grace do? The opposite. It shows us what
we are. And as Brother Scott Richard
said, we make our headquarters in the dust. It strips us of
self-righteousness. I was talking to a Dear Grace
believer this week, though, and she was telling me, she was telling
me, you know, sometimes I'll lay in bed and think, well, I'm
not as bad as some of those people. And then the Lord will remind
her. Oh, man. I'm just a sinner saved by grace.
You see, we still battle with the flesh, don't we? We still
do. We still do. We still do. Oh. Can any of us make ourselves
righteous before God? No. The Scripture declares back
to us, as it's written, there's none righteous, no, not one.
Romans 3, verse 10. So there's none that seeks God.
There's none that's righteous before God. We cannot make ourselves
righteous before God with anything that we do. So what then? If we cannot make ourselves righteous,
and we do not seek God, then what is the state of man before
God? Turn with me, if you would, to
Romans 3, verse 19. What then is the state, if we
don't seek God, and we can't come to God on our own, so then
what is our state before a holy and a righteous God? Look what
scripture declares. Now we know, verse 19, that what
things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under
the law. Who's under the law? All of us. All of us. That every mouth may be stopped
and all the world may become what? Guilty before God. So man, every single human being
in their natural state is guilty before God. Do you see the fallacy
of trying to work your merit and favor with God? We're already
guilty. And since we can't pay for one
sin, we're guilty. We're guilty. This is the natural state of
man. There was only one who was pure.
Only one, and that's Christ. But we're guilty. We fell on
Adam. When Adam fell, we fell with him. And Scripture declares
we're guilty, guilty, guilty before God's law and justice.
Guilty before a holy and righteous God. And we know that grace and works
don't mix because we saw that in our text, right? So salvation
is all of grace. No works that we do We can gain
merit and favor with God, but we do do works after we're saved. We looked at that Wednesday night,
didn't we? But we don't know when we did them. Turn with me, if you would, to
James 2.18 and Matthew 25. James 2. Now, the believer in Christ will
do good works, but they're evidence, beloved. In no way do they save
them. They're evidence. Evidence that
God has done a work in us. No way can they save us. Look at James 2, verse 18. Yea,
a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me Thy
faith without Thy works, and I will show Thee my faith by
my works. These works prove the believer's
faith. They prove the believer's faith.
No way did they save him. And in turn with me, if you would,
to Matthew 25. Matthew 25, verse 34 to 40. And this is a good picture. Then shall the king say unto
them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Verse 34 For I was hungered, and ye gave me meat. I was thirsty,
and ye gave me drink. I was a stranger, and ye took
me in. Naked, and ye clothed me. I was sick, and ye visited
me. I was in prison, and ye came
unto me. Now, remember the folks in Matthew 7. I mentioned this
Wednesday night. The folks in Matthew 7 are bragging about
all the works they've done before God. And God says, I never knew
you. Depart from Me. Now, here's the
righteous, those who have been redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb. And look what they say in verse 37. They don't have
a clue. Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when
saw we Thee hungered, and fed Thee, or thirsty, and gave Thee
drink? When saw we thee a stranger,
and took thee in naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick,
or in prison, and came unto thee? And the king shall answer, O
the king, and the king, the king shall answer and say unto them,
Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of
the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Do you
remember the interconnection, the vine and the branch? Do you
remember Paul on the road to Damascus? And the Lord said,
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Oh, he's the head, and we're
the body. But see, the elect have no clue
when they do these works. No clue at all. Now religious
folks, they'll boast till the day's gone long, because I used
to do it. They'll boast till the day's long about the things
that they do. And it's nothing. We boast in Christ and what he's
done. That's our only boast, is Him. We seek to glorify Him. Religion
seeks to glorify self. Oh, praise God, He's delivered
us from that trap, that bondage. Let's again look at our text
in Romans 11, verse 6. And we see that salvation is
all of grace, nothing but grace from first to last. And if by
grace, then it is no more works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.
Beloved, grace and works can no more mix than fire and water. You have a nice roar and fire
going, and you put enough You put enough water on there, what's
going to happen? It's going to go out, isn't it?
But if you throw gasoline on there, it'll go up in flames, won't
it? But grace and works do not mix the same as fire and water
do not mix. They don't mix together. You can't have one. If you have
grace, there's no works. But if you have works, there's
no grace. Grace and works. The text clearly
before us states that if we're saved by grace, it's no more
works. It's no more works. But as I
said, if you add works, then it's no more grace. And it's
very plain in our text. Very plain. And if by grace, then it is no more works. But yet people try to work their
way to heaven. Because a natural man cannot understand the scriptures. Calvin says this on this subject.
It hence falls that it is absurd to blend foreknowledge of works
with election. For if God chooses some and rejects
others as he has foreseen them to be worthy, that's the... See,
even in Calvin's time, people were saying God looked down through
time. Even in his time, they were saying that. And saw who
would choose him. Even then. See, this is a lie
that's been perpetuated. It's not nothing new. It's a
lie that's been going on for thousands of years. As he has foreseen them to be
worthy or unworthy of salvation, then the grace of God, the reward
of works being established cannot reign alone, but must be only
in part the cause of our election. For as Paul has reasoned before
concerning the justification of Abraham that where reward
is paid, their grace is not freely bestowed, So now he draws his
argument from the same fountain, that if works come to the account,
when God adopts a certain number of men into salvation, reward
is a matter of debt, and therefore is not a free gift. But we know
that salvation is a free gift. It's a free gift of God to whomever
He pleases to give it to. And so we can conclude from Scripture
that if a sinner is saved, it's all of grace. And it's all in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Nowhere else. Salvation is found
in no other. So let's look at a few things.
Because salvation is all of grace, we are elected by grace. Look
at Romans 11.5. Even so then, at this present
time, also there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. As I said before, many times,
there's nothing in us that merits this election. Nothing. And it was before the foundation
of the world, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the
world began. God, before the foundation of
the world, chose some and passed by others. That's called distinguishing
grace. Think of it. Think of it. I mentioned this today. I'm the
only one in my family who's saved. Think of yourselves and your
families. Most of us are the only ones,
or we have a family member maybe. Most of us are the only ones
who the Lord saved. It's called distinguishing grace.
And Paul declares that God was led to make this difference by
nothing else but by His own good purpose and grace. Isn't it amazing? Isn't it incredible? Number two, because salvation
is all of grace, then we're justified by grace. Turn, if you would,
to Romans 3.24. We know that we could never justify
ourselves before God on our own. By anything that we do, say, think. Look at Romans 3.24, being justified
freely. We're saved by the free grace
of God in Christ, right? We're justified freely by His
grace. By His grace. Through the redemption,
there's the cost. It costs. The precious blood
of Christ was shed for our redemption. That is in Christ Jesus. Pardoned
for all our sins. If we can't pay the price for
one sin, but Scripture declares that we're forgiven for all our
sins, it's all grace. It's all grace, beloved. It's
all grace. Because salvation is all of grace,
we are saved by grace. Acts 15.11 says this, but we
believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we
shall be saved even as they. And we looked at that a few weeks
ago. That's the context of the Jewish
teachers that had come and said, you have to be circumcised to
be saved. And after much talk and much disputing, they said,
no, but we believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we shall be saved even as they." We're all saved the same way,
by the grace of God in Christ. We're saved the same way Abraham
was saved. We're saved the same way Isaiah was saved. We're saved
the same way Paul was saved. We're saved the same way John
was saved. And we're saved the same way all the elect of all
of God shall be saved by the grace of God in Christ plus nothing.
That's the only way we shall be saved. By redemption through
the precious blood of Christ. We're ruined sinners, aren't
we? But we're redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. Oh,
saved by the grace of God. Turn, if you would, to Acts 15.
We'll look there quick. We'll look there real quick,
just a couple verses. Acts 15 verse 1. And we still have these
folks with us today. They're not Judaizers, but they're
workspace mongers who try to yoke you with the law, who try
to have their little checklist and tell you you got to follow
that checklist or you're not saved. Lots of folks like this, folks
trying to live under the law. That text in Romans 2 puts a
stop to that, doesn't it? Yeah, folks are resting in the
law instead of resting in Christ. Acts 15, verse 1, And a certain
man which came down from Judea taught the brethren, and said,
Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot
be saved. Now we could put in today, Church of Christ says
you must be baptized to be saved. Catholic Church says you've got
to be part of our church to be saved. Seventh-day Adventists say you
have to go to church on Saturdays to be saved. You see? We still have them with
us. They just have different names.
And all works-based religion will tell you you've got to do
something. Grace is the only one that says, ha, he's done
it all. He's done it all. Look and live. Rest and trust. Oh, these worksmongers, they
were chaining people. Chaining people. Putting bondage on them. Adding to the pure grace of God
in Christ. And look at Paul and Barnabas.
When therefore Paul and Barnabas, verse 2, had no small dissension
and dispution with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas
and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles
and elders about this question. So again, we see works and grace.
They're opposing each other, aren't they? Right there. They're
opposing each other. And works and grace will never
agree. Never. Never. Look at verse 5. But there rose
up a certain sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying that it
was needful to circumcise them and command them to keep the
law of Moses. And then verse 11 is the conclusion of the whole
matter. What was the conclusion they came to? That we believe
that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be
saved. If you're saved, we're all saved the same way. Only
by Christ and Him alone. And our text is very clear that
we're looking at tonight that you are unable to save yourself
because if you're counting on your works, then it's not grace. But if you're saved, we're saved
by the pure, free, and sovereign grace of God and Christ, plus
nothing we do. So the conclusion that they came
to in Acts 15 is what? Salvation is all of grace. The same conclusion we come to
when we look at Scripture. It's the same thing. See, our
salvation's never changed in Christ. It's the same. God doesn't
change. Therefore, His way of salvation
never changes. Man tries to get in there and
tries to warp things, and salvation's still only in Christ and Him
alone. If you're trusting Christ, He is the rock. He's the rock. He's the anchor.
He's the anchor. So the conclusion was salvation
was all of grace. And because salvation is all
of grace, we believe through grace. Turn, if you would, to
Acts 18. We believe through grace. Look at Acts 18, verse 27. And when He was disposed to pass
into Achaia, the brethren rode, exhorting the disciples to receive
Him, who, when He was come, helped them much which had believed
through grace. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and not by yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. They believed through grace.
They were given the gift of faith and repentance. And they were
regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God. We're sinners who are
redeemed and who are regenerated. And it's all the work of God.
The unwilling are made willing. The unbelieving believe. How? Dead sinners made alive. Born
again of the Holy Ghost. Faith is not of nature, nor the
product of man's free will, but it is a gift of God. I often hear folks say, well, I
was born a Christian. Well, I never heard that before. No one's born
a Christian. We're born dead in trespasses
and sins. God is the one who makes us Christians
by saving us, redeeming us, regenerating us. And faith is supported and
maintained by the grace of God. We've seen that in our studies.
He keeps us, doesn't he? Left to ourselves, we just wander
off. We would. Oh, but He keeps us, beloved.
He keeps us. He keeps us. Faith is supported and maintained
by the grace of God. And therefore, what happens?
We give Him all the glory. He gets it all. What can we boast
in? We saw that salvation is all
of grace. The thing that we used to boast
in was our works. They're nothing. And salvation is all of grace.
Again, let's look at our text one more time. And if by grace,
then there is no more works. So the only thing we can boast
in is Christ. In what He's done. But if it
be of works, then there's no more grace. Otherwise, work is
no more work. He is the one. He is the object
of our salvation. He's the one we glory in. And we're called by His precious
grace. We looked at this earlier in
Sunday school this morning. But would it please God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace. Galatians
1.15 We're called by the grace of God in Christ. He affectionately
calls us. The Holy Spirit calls us and
woos us. And it's by divine design. He calls those he elected. He calls those he redeemed. We saw that in our text today. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. And whom he called, them he also
glorified. And whom he justified, them he also glorified. It's
all the work of God. It's all His work. Salvation, because salvation
is all of grace, it's all His calling. Call from darkness to light. And think of the darkness that
we were in, beloved. We thought we were doing right. I remember when I was in religion,
I thought I was doing right. by my checklist, but even before
that, I thought I was doing right, because I sure wasn't as bad
as that guy down the street. I was in such darkness, beloved.
I was in such darkness. I had no hope. Was it the same
with you? We had no clue. Oh, but we're passed from darkness
to light, spiritual blindness and ignorance to light and the
knowledge of the gospel. Think of what God's taught you,
believer, beloved of God. Think of what God's taught you
since you've been walking with him. And he gets all the glory. Think
of what we thought about God before the Lord saved us, and
think of what we think of him now. He's a majestic, sovereign
God. And as we walk more and more
with him, he just grows in majesty, doesn't he? He just grows in
majesty. And one day, we're gonna see
him face to face. In all his glory. Oh! And Paul was like every believer
who was called into the grace of God in Christ. Every believer
is called of the Holy Spirit to Christ. Because salvation is all of grace,
we have forgiveness by His almighty grace. Ephesians 1, verse 7 says
this. If you want to turn there, you
can. Forgiveness by His almighty grace. Ephesians 1, verse 7. Forgiveness
through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. In whom we have
redemption through His blood. The forgiveness of sins. We have,
Scripture says. Look at this last part though.
According to the riches of His grace. Again, it all goes back to Him. All the glory goes back to Him.
And let us always remember, beloved, that our salvation was bought
by the precious blood of Christ. He purchased us with His own
precious blood. Purchased by the blood of Christ. And He paid every single thing
that God demanded for our sins. Christ died the sinner's substitute
in our room and place. No wonder scripture says greater
love hath no man than this than a man lay down his life for his
friends. Can we even fathom a greater
love than this? No. And we love our families, and
we love our spouses, and we love our children. But it's just scratching
the surface water compared to the love of God and Christ. Oh, God's justice is satisfied. The Lord is risen for our justification. God's satisfied. See, God's satisfied
with the work Christ did, right? Not in anything we do. but he's fully satisfied in what
Christ has done. And when I say not in anything
we do, I mean in us trying to gain merit and favor with God
to get to heaven. But oh, he's satisfied with Christ. Oh, he's satisfied with him.
We are great sinners to our shame, but all praise be to God. He
is a great Savior. A great Savior. And I don't care
what you've done. If God sets to save you, He will
save you. I don't care how red your sins
are, how black your sins are. Oh, the one who flees to Christ
can be made whiter than snow. Pure. Think of this, beloved. You who
believe, you are clothed right now in the righteousness of Christ. We don't feel that way, do we?
But we are, beloved. Because salvation is all of grace,
we have a good hope. because of His grace. Turn, if you would, to 2 Thessalonians
2.22. 2 Thessalonians 2.16 and Isaiah 22.23. Because salvation
is all of grace, we have a good hope because of His grace. because of His grace. Our hope
is in Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 16, Now
our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which
hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and
a good hope through grace. Oh, what a hope we have, beloved,
through grace. What a hope we have. One day this tent will fold up and we'll be in the presence
of the Lord. And Christ is the foundation of our hope, isn't
He? He's our only hope. He's the foundation of it all.
If you take Christ away, we have no hope. Do you see what predicament that
puts people in who are basing their hope upon their works?
Plus Christ? Supposedly plus Christ, but we
know that's not. But that's what people are doing in religion. No, our foundation, our hope
is Christ. Look at Isaiah 22-23. Do you
know that Christ is our nail? He's the nail in the sure place.
He's the nail in the sure place. We worked in construction and
there were some nails that were in sure places. Look at this, Isaiah 22-23, and
I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place. That's our King. He shall be for a glorious throne
to our Father's house. This speaks of Christ as a nail
in a sure and strong place, part of a wall or timber where it
shall not fail. Where it shall not fail or be
removed or cut down It denotes stability. Stability. He is a nail in a sure place,
beloved. John Gale says this about Christ.
He's a nail in a sure place. This is expressive of the strength
of Christ as the mighty God and as the man of God's right hand,
made strong for himself and as the able Savior. He's an able
Savior for us. and mighty Redeemer, and of the
stability of His person, He is unchangeable. That's why those He saves, they'll
be glorified. The same today, yesterday, and
forever, of His office as mediator, head, and surety of the covenant." What stability we have, beloved,
in Christ. What an anchor, what a hope we
have in Christ. He's a nail in the sure place.
He's a nail in the sure place. And every believer can say this
with Paul, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. And His grace which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than
they all, Yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me." Basically, Paul is saying, every
aspect of my salvation is A to Z in Christ. It's all in Him. And there ain't nothing in between
that He's doing. It's all Christ. It's all the Lord. It begins
in grace. It's carried on through grace.
It's sustained by grace, and as I said earlier today, in eternity
will be trophies of the grace of God in Christ. Turn with me
if you would to Ephesians 2, verse 5-9. Actually, let's start right at
the very first. And I know we've read the first
part many times, but Ephesians is a place where you could just
read all scriptures like this. But Ephesians 2 just really shows
us, really gives us a mirror into ourselves. And you hath
he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, where in
times past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Among whom also
we all had our conversations in times past, the lusts of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. So
remember earlier I said we were sinning and we didn't even have
a clue and we were enjoying ourselves and had no thoughts of God. There
it is. But look at beautiful verse 4,
mountaintop scripture, but God. In every believer's life there's
a but God time. But God. Look at this. He just doesn't have mercy. He's
rich in mercy, beloved. For His great love wherewith
He loved us. even when we were dead. And just in case we didn't
get it in verse 1, I like this because this is a great verse
to take folks who believe it's their free will and all that,
this is a great place to take them. Because just in case we
didn't get it, he repeats it. Even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together. That's born again with Christ. By grace are you saved. And hath
raised us up together. And do you notice who's doing
all the work? were being acted upon, beloved. And hath raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of
His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. And
here we go. And remember our text too. Let's
remember our text. as we read this right here. I'm going to switch back here
to Romans real quick. Let me read Romans real quick
here. 6 again. And if by grace there is no more
of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. Right? But if
it be of works, then it is no more grace, otherwise work is
no more work. And then back to Ephesians 2,
and then let's read the verses there. In context of that, for
by grace are you saved through faith in that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. And look at verse 10. For we
are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Wherefore, remember that ye, being in times past Gentiles
in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which
is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time, when we were dead in trespasses and sins, ye were
without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel
and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and
without God in this world. But now, in Christ Jesus, ye,
who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. or made nigh by the blood of
Christ. Praise His mighty and holy name.