tied us to beginning in verse
11. For the grace of God that brings
salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously,
and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior
Jesus Christ who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people
zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort,
and rebuke with all authority, let no man despise you. Put them in mind to be subject
to principality and to powers, and to obey magistrate, and to
be ready to every good work, to speak evil of no man, to be
no brawlers but gentle, showing all meekness unto all men. For we ourselves also were sometimes
foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures,
living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another, But after
that the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man
appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing
of the Holy Spirit. which he shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by his grace
we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Now, we have purpose today and
it is our intention to consider the subject of the appearing
of the grace of God toward humanity and toward guilty sinners. Did you notice that twice In
this short text, Paul uses that word appeared, appeared in describing
the appearance of the grace of God. Chapter 2 and verse 11,
The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto
all men. Chapter 3 and verse 4, But after
that the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man
appeared. In other words, it appeared,
it was manifested, the grace of God, the goodness and the
kindness of God towards men was manifested. And it was manifested
in a certain way and was manifested toward a particular or a certain
end. It appeared bringing salvation. It appeared working sanctification
in the lives of the elect. It appeared among the elect conquering
sin and putting away sin in their lives. Now, the word appeared
in the Greek signifies, I'm told, a shining out. The grace of God
shined out, or it shined forth. In other words, it came with
a great brightness. greater than ever before in relationship
either under the purpose or the person in which the grace of
God hath appeared in Jesus Christ. Now the word manifest here might
be used to express it. It was manifest. It appeared
It came out into open view, as it were. It came in such a way
as to be seen in its effect. It came so that the effect of
the grace of God were seen in their works and according unto
their works. Now, in the wider sense, of course,
describing what had taken place in the incarnation of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. In other words, everything attached
to Christ's incarnation and the work of grace and salvation among
mankind and toward the elect of God. For in truth, Can we
not say that the grace of God had its greatest or had its chief
appearing in the coming of the God-man into the world? When the God-man came into the
world, there was a manifestation of the grace of God such as not
had been seen before in the world under that time. Before we go
ahead and jump out into that, let me say that we can never
really, absolutely or fully understand grace, or have a proper conception
or an appreciation of the grace of God at work in the saving
of sinners, unless we realize that it appeared as an antithesis
or an antagonism unto sin. We see those two antagonisms,
grace and sin. Now we can see this perhaps in
the book of Romans clearer than in any other place. There is
in the book of Romans three very distinct antagonisms that are
set forth between grace and sin. Here they are. Number one, the
appearance of sin in its corruption and the remedy, free justification
in Jesus Christ. And you have that set out in
Romans 1.18 through Romans chapter 5 and verse 11. The antagonism between the guilt
and corruption of sin and the justification of sinners through
Jesus Christ. Secondly, you have the antagonism
of sin and grace in their respective heads, origins, or fountains,
and that would be Adam and Christ. And you have this set out in
Romans 5 and verse 12 through verse 21. Adam, the fountain
of sin and human corruption and of death. Christ, the fountain
of grace, of life, and of righteousness. And then thirdly, there is the
antagonism of sin and grace in the Christian life and the living
of it, where grace is conquering sin and is mortifying the deeds
of the body, as Paul said, crucifying our old man. For a new principle
has been put in the intellect and is working. And so we read
of the summation of the matter in Romans chapter 3, 23 and 24,
and again in chapter 5, verse 20 and verse 21. Here is the order. Sin entered
and corrupted both the nature and the life of man. It separated him completely from
God. By that I don't mean that God
has no dealings with him or he with God, but that he was cut
off from the life of God when sin entered into the world. And it caused him to abide in
spiritual death until The Lord is pleased to regenerate. Now, the grace of God entered
that it might reconcile sinners again unto God, that it might
restore the true worship of God in the world and keep it alive,
and that the grace of God might work overcoming the effects of
sin, even putting away sin, by and through the grace of God.
And in referring to Romans 5, verse 20 and verse 21, we read
there, the law entered that the offense might abound. Listen to those words. Moreover,
the law entered that the offense might abound. The one transgression
of Adam cast the entire family of man under the guilt and the
condemnation and the corruption of sin. And after Paul finishes
that, he said, but the law entered that the offense might abound. The law here, no doubt, is the
moral law or the Ten Commandments It entered in alongside of Adam's
transgression. Notice the purpose or the result
that the offense might abound. That is, the one offense of Adam
that it might abound. Now literally, that the trespass
or the fall of Adam might abound, might multiply and might increase. The one sin of Adam became a
multitude of sins and the law multiplied sin as it were a thousand
fold. Now please notice, Paul does
not say that the law entered in order that it might put away
sin or that it might pardon or justify for sin, but it had exactly
the opposite effect. It revealed many more sins and
also had the effect of increasing the sense of guilt and of sin
among the human family. The law caused sin to appear
in all of its heinousness, not only outward deeds and outward
sin, But the law is able to enter even into the thought, the heart,
and the motive, and find sin there. So that the law, therefore,
sets sin in its proper light, in order that the cure by grace
might also be set in the right or in the proper light. But notice,
where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. And that's
in verse 20 of Romans 5, that as sin has reigned unto death,
even so might grace reign unto eternal life through righteousness. Where sin abounded, grace more. Sin abounded. Grace did exceedingly
abound. Sin reigned unto death, but grace
reigns unto life eternal. Someone said, an old-time writer,
God allowed sin to reach its culmination. That is, in reigning
over the human family, in producing death in order that grace might
be shown to out-abound sin in the case of its power and effect. Sin abounded. Paul writes, grace
did much more abound. Now this can clearly be seen
that the purpose of God in ordaining sin and causing it to abound
in the world in part by the entering in of the law, was in order to
display the glory of the grace of God in and through the Lord
Jesus Christ. By the entrance and the effect
and the work of sin, therefore is there a great display of the
grace of God. Now, grace can only appear as
grace in relation to guilt or to sin. Grace actually shines
the brightest when it is juxtaposed to or against sin. Not only is grace the only remedy
for sin, but as Abraham Booth observed in his book entitled
The Reign of Grace, Grace in the writings of Paul, said Abraham
Booth, stands in opposition to worth and to worthiness. All works and worthiness of every
kind and of every degree are set aside by the grace of God. But to further beat down the
pride of man and merit mongers, Grace always supposes an unworthiness
in its subjects. Never does grace suppose worthiness
in its subject. It operates not toward merit
but toward demerit. So that the very idea of grace
is opposed to goodness and works and merit and is independent
of any and every condition that might be named or be brought
up. And to be very blunt about it
again, as Paul is blunt, grace is given to those who actually
deserve hell, those who do not deserve to have the grace of
God. Every single recipient of grace
deserves condemnation and wrath at the hands of an angry and
holy God. There is no such thing as merited
grace, just as there is no such thing as unmerited damnation. Now, exactly what is grace? When we think about grace, what
is the description of the grace of God? We answer, it is the
eternal and absolute free favor of God manifested in the bestowal
of spiritual blessings upon the guilty and unworthy. There is a description of the
grace of God. Now, how is it that grace appears? The grace of God that brings
salvation has appeared, Paul said in our text. Now, I propose
to show that grace according to the Scripture has, does, and
is appearing in four ways. Number one, the grace of God
appeared in promise and in prophecy, in type and in shadow could be
seen evidences of the grace of God. Now, again, this is not
to deny that there was no grace of God manifested under the old
economy. We dare not say that. We cannot
say that grace was not present until Christ appeared in the
world. Genesis 6 and verse 8, Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. None have ever been saved from
their sin except by and through the grace of God. Thomas Taylor,
who wrote a commentary on the book of Titus, said this, quote,
Before the rising up of the sun of righteousness, even where
most light was, Even in the Jewish church it lay in shadows and
obscurity, unquote. That is, until the appearing
of it in its fullness in Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, two things
were true even under that economy. A, it was there even during the
times of the law. And B, it was predicted by the
prophets and the scripture to shine even brighter when Messiah
came or when Messiah appeared in the world. So, number one,
grace appeared in promised prophecy. Now, remember, we were given
grace before the foundation of the world. We do not deny that. Secondly, grace appeared in Christ. person. Sin came by Adam, Romans
5 and verse 12. The law came by Moses, John 1
and verse 17. But grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ, again John 1 and verse 17. When Christ appeared, grace
appeared in its greatest appearing yet, the fullest manifestation
of the grace of God ever, the brightest shining out of the
grace of God. The epiphany of grace was in
the incarnation of the Messiah. It is interesting that Hebrews
9 and verse 26 uses also this word appeared. Once in the end
of the world hath he that is Christ appeared to put away sin
by the sacrifice of himself. 2 Timothy 1, 9 and 10. according to His own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began, but now is made manifest by the appearing of our Savior
Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel. In the preaching of the gospel
is there a declaration and a revelation. In Titus 1 verses 2 and 3, in
hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before
the world began, but hath in due times manifested his word
through preaching. 1 Peter chapter 1, Verse 20,
Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world,
but was manifest in these last times for you. I John chapter
3 and verse 8. For this purpose the Son of God
was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. And thus it is. We work off of
the two passages, John 1, 14 and 17, and Romans 5 and verse
21. The first one in John, declaring
the appearance of grace. The second one, the work of grace
in saving from sin. John 1, grace appeared in Christ. Romans 5.21, the grace of God
out-abounded sin unto eternal life. Now notice three things
here in John chapter 1. In verse 14, it is said of Christ,
full of grace and truth. That's Christ, full of grace
and of truth. In verse 16, of His fullness
have we received and grace for grace. That's an interesting
phrase. Then verse 17, Grace and truth
came by Jesus Christ. Now, by grace here, of course,
is principally meant the redeeming grace of God towards sinners,
which appeared in its fullest form in Jesus Christ. Grace sums up all of those spiritual
blessings and the redeeming work that God has purposed and has
executed in Jesus Christ. Under the Law, it was not so
fully manifested, nor through Moses, as it is in Jesus Christ. But in the Incarnation, when
the Son took flesh, when the Word became flesh, There came
a full display of God's marvelous and eternal grace. It reached
its historical culmination, if we may say, in Him. It took possession. It resided in the theanthropic
person of the God-man. Even he who was God and man in
one person, Jesus Christ. All that grace and truth that
pertain to redemption of sinners appeared in and by Jesus Christ. Let me use the word, was concentrated
in him. of grace and truth, of His fullness
have we received. My, He is the fountain of grace
and a fountain ever flowing but never running dry, a fountain
ever flowing but ever full, so that out of the abundance of
the grace of God have we received grace. One Puritan said, I think
it was Thomas Manton, but I'm not sure, that Christ is the
treasure chest in which God's grace is stored up or laid up. And like Joseph had the key to
the storehouses in Egypt to distribute the grain, our Lord is the fullness
of grace to distribute His grace unto the ill, not only to save
them, but also to persevere from perishing under the ravages of
the power of indwelling sin. But this grace not only appeared,
it also is said to reign unto eternal life by Jesus Christ. Again, that's Romans 5.21. In
that passage, both sin and grace are personified. They are personified
as a monarch reigning over a kingdom. Potential king. Sin reigned unto
death. Did it not reign? It tyrannized
the whole family of man. bringing every single one under
death, producing death in each and every one of them without
exception. This sin did. Sin reigned unto
death. However, grace also reigned. As sin reigns unto death, grace
reigns unto life. Not just temporal life, but eternal
life. So grace reigns through righteousness
by Jesus Christ unto that life coming. I agree with another
of my favorite commentators on the book of Romans, and that
would be Robert Haldane, about something that he said that being
the similarity of the opening and the closing statements of
Romans. For example, in Romans 1.17,
For therein, that is, in the gospel, or in the gospel of Christ,
is the righteousness of God revealed. And in between there, in Romans
5 and verse 21, He shows without question the reign of sin. And now he brings that section
to a close again saying, Grace reigned through righteousness
unto life by and through Christ. That's Romans 5, 20 and 21. It reigned to overpower or outpower
sin. It worked to break sin's hold
and reign of death. Grace reigns through Christ,
and it reigns under salvation. It not only appeared with Him
and in Him, but it also reigns with Him. It rules under life. It works righteousness in the
elect. It brings and bestows life. It conquers sin in all of its
evil, evil effect. Here's something that Haldane
said, and I quote, Grace reigns by providing a Savior to suffer
in the room of the guilty. By the death of Jesus Christ,
Full compensation was made to the law and the justice of God."
His comments on Romans 5 and verse 21. Here is how Abraham
Booth described the reign of grace, and bear with me, it is
a rather lengthier than usual quotation. Grace appears on the
throne, arrayed in the beauty of holiness, smiling with divine
benevolence, touched with the feelings of the tenderest compassion,
and arrayed with all the magnificence of an invincible power. fully
determined to exert her authority and gratify her compassion to
the everlasting honor of inflexible justice and every divine perfection
by speaking peace to the alarmed consciences of damnable delinquents
and restoring apostate creatures and vile miscreants." Those are
the words of Abraham Booth. Such a sovereign grace have we
taught in the scripture and proclaimed in the gospel that appeared in
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thirdly, grace appears in the
preaching of the gospel. It is the gospel of grace, is
it not? That is our message. The gospel
of grace. We preach the grace of God in
the gospel. The good news, the herald, the
message of the grace of God. It is Acts chapter 20 and verse
24, the gospel of the grace of God. Cannot be divorced from
the grace of God. I do not mean to say that grace
is brought to one by the mere only outward hearing orally with
the physical ear of the gospel. Many there are who orally verbally
hear the Word of God, but have never had saving grace or savingly
believed on the Savior. Because as Paul said, to some
it comes only in word and not in power. 1 Thessalonians chapter
1 and verse 5. But grace appears in the gospel
in that, as James Alexander put it, that he can and will be gracious
even unto the chief of sinners." It is a message of grace, a salvation
of grace. It is the gospel that declared
by Paul states in 1 Timothy or 2 Timothy 1 and 10 that life
and immortality are brought to light in the gospel. In fact,
the gospel makes a dual declaration that Christ not only abolished
death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
But the gospel declares the saving death of Christ. Notice what
Timothy, or what Paul said to Timothy, to bring to light. So you have 1 Corinthians chapter
4 verse 5 and John chapter 1 and verse 9. He lighteth every man
in the world. is not necessary, a first-time
disclosure, but it is a bringing into the clearest light, bringing
out, as it were, into the open. Now, the gospel is the means
of us disseminating the knowledge of what Christ has done in his
great work and death upon the cross. And it was that grace
purposed in Christ before the world began. And that life that
Paul talks about to Timothy can only mean eternal life spiritual
everlasting life. And then fourthly, grace appears
in another way. Grace appears in the actual conversion
of the elect unto the Lord Jesus Christ. It is grace that turns
us. It is grace that brings us to
believe. It is grace that grants us repentance
and brings us away from our former way of life. In fact, The two
texts from Titus speak of God's grace as appearing in this sense. Both places contain exhortations
to moral duty based upon the nature and the design and the
work of the grace of God, the gospel and salvation. So if you
look at the first ten verses of Titus chapter 2, which he
bases upon the grace of God, saying, For the grace of God
that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching
us, denying ungodliness, worldly lusts, we should live righteously,
soberly, godly in this present world. This grace of God enforces
all former precepts. How shall we do or be those things
except by grace? Do them, live godly, for the
grace of God does discipline us in such things in our life. Now notice, this grace has appeared
unto all men." And I believe Paul means unto all kinds and
all sorts and all ranks of men whatsoever. For example, to servants,
to masters, to publicans, to harlots, to sinners, to the Gentile,
to the Jew, to the rich, to the poor, men and women, or as John
Gill said, all sorts of persons of every rank and condition of
life, unquote, the grace of God has appeared. In Titus 3 and
4, a verse we read, Paul contrasts their past conduct under sin
with their present conduct under the grace of God. Once they were
filled with every form of sin conceivable and imaginable. Their past, like ours, was a
way dominated by sin. And there in that chapter Verse
4 through verse 7 describe not the appearance of Christ in the
flesh when he became man, but when God in Christ appeared in
a special way of saving, mercy, and grace unto the elect. When we examine the text, we
see that this is the statement of Paul. When the kindness and
love of God toward man appeared, he saved us in that appearing
unto us. And the other phrases are either
negative or positive aspects of the saving of the soul. But
look at the beneficiaries of God unto benevidences, I should
have said, or beneficiencies of God toward man. Verse 4, kindness and love. We're in Titus 3. Verse 5, washing
of regeneration. Mercy, renewing of the Holy Spirit
of God. Verse 6, shed abundantly through
Jesus Christ. Verse 7, justified by His grace. when God revealed Himself through
Jesus Christ, inwardly through the Spirit and through the Gospel
of Christ. He turned us about in our way
of life. He effected a great change in
our life. by the work of His grace and
mercy towards us, turning us away from what we had been and
what we had loved. And He made the gospel of Christ
become the gospel of our salvation. In Ephesians 1.13, Paul uses
that term, you heard the gospel of your salvation. That is, it
announced your deliverance. and your freedom in Christ Jesus. For Paul addresses those who
by this great work of God had been separated from the common
herd of mankind by an internal work of grace and of mercy that
made the internal change in the life of them. Let's close by
asking ourselves or reminding ourselves to remember how the
grace and the mercy of God appeared unto us, how we remember its
first appearing unto us, how it appeared in such a wonderful
way, how it crossed our path when we were not seeking God
or not seeking the way of salvation and the grace of God intervened
in our life in a marvelous and a wonderful day. Greatest work
to be done within us. The doctrine of free grace, however,
blessed it is. is not a doctrine beloved and
revered by religious hypocrites and moralists. Religionists hate
it the worst of all. The free gospel of the grace
of God is not loved by religionists. They have a merited gospel. They
have a free will gospel and such like, but to us, It is the most
precious truth that we might imagine, that we have become
the objects of the grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
not just to help us and enable us in this world, but as a spiritual
grace unto eternal life and the life in the world that is to
come. when the grace of God appeared
in its fullness, shining out in a great epiphany in the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Thank God. Thank God for that
manifestation that God has made unto His people.