In verse 8, Paul says, you have
been saved. That gives us a clue about who Paul is talking to.
And we've said it from the very beginning that this is a letter
to the people of God in the church of God. What I mean by that is that the
people who received this letter were living, serving, working,
in their local church. They were living together with
their brothers and sisters in Christ in Ephesus. So this letter is written to
the people of God in Ephesus, the body of believers in Ephesus.
What this means is that it is not written to those outside
of the church. It is not written to unbelievers,
because if it is, then it is wrong. Does that make sense? If this is a letter written to
lost people, then Paul, when he says, you have been saved,
has made a mistake. Paul is speaking directly to
and about the elect saints in Ephesus, which is what he says
in verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus
by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful
in Christ Jesus. This letter then is delivered
to us through the ages by the preservation of the Holy Spirit,
and it is written to us to be applied in its context. That
is, as the elect saints living and working in our local assembly. It is through that lens that
we must read this letter. So I'm going to focus here on
verse 8. For by grace you have been saved. By grace indicates something
about our salvation. It indicates a method or a mechanism
of our salvation. It indicates something that God
has done for us or to us. So turn over to Romans chapter
3. If you do not have a Bible with
multiple ribbons in it, you should get one and you should put one
in Romans chapter 3 because I'm going to turn there every time
I'm up here. Romans chapter 3 verse 23, for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Remember
we're trying to explain what Paul is talking about when he
says by grace and so we begin here where Paul indicates the
necessity of this thing we call grace. all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God." Right, when we talk about sin, it means
a violation of the law. I've been working through a catechism
with my girls. One of their favorite questions
is, what is sin? And the answer is, any lack of
conformity to or transgression of the law of God. So any lack of conformity to
God's model of righteousness or any transgression of what
God has commanded constitutes falling short of His glory. Falling short of the glory of
God in any measure disqualifies one from satisfying the law.
In James 2, verse 10, the apostle writes, whoever keeps
the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all
of it. And so here's a key point. If
you're taking notes, write this one down. The magnitude or type
of your sin is not in view here. The amount of sin in your life,
the things that you have done in your life, be they great or
small, they are not in view here. When we talk about falling short
of the glory of God, we have only two categories. We have
God and everyone else. Why is this important? Why is
it important to recognize that the amount of sin that we've
done or the nature of our particular pet sins is not in view? Because we often like to think
and talk about ourselves and our own sins as though we present
some sort of challenge for God. I've many times counseled young
people who have said things like, God could never use someone like
me. I have felt myself before that
God could not take what I had and use it for something greater.
When we do this, we get so many questions about God and about
ourselves wrong. Who is God using to show his
power in this world? Only the most gifted of preachers. Who is God using to reach your
lost neighbor, the bold evangelist on YouTube? Who is God equipping to have
a successful marriage? The already perfect spouse, right? Who is God using to serve his
people, the one who did not get divorced? Or is it something else? Paul
tells us in 1 Corinthians 1, starting in verse 26, consider
your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise. Imagine
hearing that in Corinth. You're one of the elders. You
regard yourself as an OK teacher. And Paul writes you a letter
saying, not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many
were of noble birth. And here Paul tells us who God
uses to do his work. God chose what is foolish in
the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the
world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised
in the world, even things that are not to bring to nothing the
things that are. so that no human being might
boast in the presence of God, and because of him you are in
Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness,
sanctification, redemption, so that as it is written, let the
one who boasts boast in the Lord. So let's review those questions
again. Who's God using to show his power in this world? The one who knows nothing. the
fool? Who's God using to reach your
lost neighbor? You, who have no sense of what it means to be
a good evangelist, but you only know the hope that you have within
you. Who's God equipping to have a
successful marriage to broken, sinful people who,
if it were not for His grace, would hate each other? Who is God using to serve his
people? Every single one of his people. The answer to all of these questions
is a people who have sinned and fallen short of the glory of
God. You do not present a challenge
for the almighty God. I'm reminded of what Job said, and what the Lord finally said
to Job when he decided to be quiet for a moment. It took 37
chapters for Job and his... I can't think of a nice word to
describe his friends. To be quiet and listen. Job chapter 38, and
the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, Who is
this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge, dressed
for action like a man? I will question you, make it
known to me. Where were you when I laid the
foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements? Surely you know. Or who stretched
the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk?
Who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy? And God goes on and
on and on. And here we should recognize
how small our power is. but how great our Father's is. For all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift. So we're back to Ephesians 2
by way of Romans 3, for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift. So when we say by his grace,
we're saying that it has to be grace. It has to be something
that you haven't earned because you have already fallen short. It can't be something that you
do because you can't do. through the redemption that is
in Jesus Christ. So here Paul gives to us the
alternative, right? We've established that we can't
earn it. We can't do it. We have fallen short. So the only alternative then
is through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. That is,
Jesus Christ did something that destroys sin, strikes it from
the record, makes it of no account. Jesus did something that makes
it so that when the Father looks upon you, he sees nothing but
the righteousness of himself. Jesus did something that overcomes
your lack of giftedness, it overcomes your lack of boldness, It overcomes
your insufficiency as a husband or wife. It overcomes the divorce
in your past. It overcomes whatever it is that
you are bringing to the foot of the cross. Whatever it is
that you think presents a challenge to the father, Jesus overcomes
it. What did he do? What has he done that is more
powerful than any unrighteousness, insecurity,
insufficiency you could come up within yourself. Paul goes
on, verse 25, Romans 3, whom God put forward as a propitiation
by his blood. God the Father is the righteous
judge and he gets to make the rules. Which means if he wants
to trade your sin for the righteousness of his own son, he is free to
do that. And that is exactly what he does
in his justice. He saw fit to exchange all of
your sin, your baggage, your insecurity, your mess, your nonsense
for the righteousness of his own son. This is propitiation. where you have fallen short of
his glory, and the law demanded your death, he instead looked
upon his son, poured out his wrath upon him in your stead. This is the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. And so in both places here, in
Romans 3 and in Ephesians 2, we have this phrase, through
faith, by faith. Romans 3, 25, whom God put forward
as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. Ephesians
2, verse 9, for by grace you have been saved through faith. Sometimes it is helpful to define
a thing First, by understanding what
the thing is not. So what is faith not? Faith is
not cognitive assent. Faith is not your brain saying,
yes, I understand that. That's what cognitive assent
is. Faith is not a depth of understanding of gospel theology. Faith is
not an exercise or demonstration. It's not something that you do.
It's not something that you must prove to God. So what is it? For a fleeting moment, I thought
to look at a dictionary to answer that question, and decided that
was a silly task. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1. Faith is the assurance of things
hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. We're going to unpack this a little
bit, because even that is a little cryptic, right? What are these things hoped for,
these things not seen? These things not seen are the
fulfillment of all God's promises given to His people. Faith is the assurance of the
fulfillment of God's promises to you. Faith is the conviction of the fulfillment of God's promises
to you. And so faith is an assurance,
a conviction, resting in the end of all things, Christ's victory
over death and our eternal communion with him. So here's your key point if you're
taking notes, definitely write this one down. And Mike, here's
the hot take for you. Faith is resting in promises
that aren't going to make your life better right now. Faith is resting in promises
that are not given to make your life better right now. Every Sunday, sometimes Wednesday
nights, but today most of all, except maybe Christmas, people
claiming the name of Christ are selling a lie. I'm not talking about prosperity
gospel nonsense here, right? You can turn on the TV and tune
to a certain network that I'm not gonna tell you, and you can
find any number of men or women asking for your money
in exchange for God's favor, right? I've even seen some Televangelists,
we can call them, having the audacity to tell you that your
gift of $100 is not enough. Your gift of $500 is not enough.
God wants you to give at least $1,000 to my ministry. You know those people are charlatans,
don't you? The guy on TV asking for your
money in exchange for God's favor is obviously trying to steal
your money. The lie that I'm talking about
is much more subtle and it is much more, unfortunately, believable. Remember, faith is the assurance
in future promises, the fulfillment of which are not making your
life better right now. So the lie being sold at churches
across the world right this moment is that faith is the thing that
you're missing for getting your life back on track. That faith in Christ is what
you're missing. That your life is hell, and that
if you put your faith in Christ, it will get better. You ever
heard the phrase, there's a God-shaped hole in everyone? So what am I talking about here?
You might recall Some time ago, I used the phrase,
it is okay to not be okay. James has repeated it many times,
because he's not okay. And he needs to know that it's
okay. This is an extension of that
idea, and we will use this image of Christ in Gethsemane to understand
it. Luke chapter 22, let's turn there. He came out and went, as was
his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.
Luke 22, verse 40, when he came to the place, he said to them,
pray that you may not enter into temptation. And he withdrew from
them about a stone's throw and knelt down and prayed, saying,
Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
yours be done. And there appeared to him an
angel from heaven, strengthening him. Before I read verse 44,
what is he talking about? He's talking about a cup. What
do you put in a cup? Wine. What is wine representative
of? Blood. When we talk about a cup
of wine, this is an image in scripture that refers to the
wrath of God poured out. Jesus knows what is coming because
it is what he was sent to do. And he prays, Father, if you
are willing, remove it from me. And in verse 44, being in agony,
he prayed more earnestly and his sweat became like great drops
of blood falling to the ground. This is a medical condition called
hematidrosis. So when you are in such pain
and agony and stress in your mind, your body begins to sweat
blood from your face. Now, would anyone like to point
to Jesus and accuse him of lacking faith? Jesus, the omniscient, omnipotent
creator of the universe, labored in agony precisely because he
had assurance and conviction in the fulfillment of what was
promised to him. Jesus is laboring in agony for
his faith. Write this down. Having faith
does not mean you are without pain and agony because of your
circumstances. Write this down too. In the same
way, the extent to which your circumstances reflect stability,
security, outward righteousness, good working, these things are
not a measure of your faith. Just as Christ, in his perfection,
experienced pain and agony for his circumstances, Experiencing pain and agony for
your circumstances is not a lack of faith. So what in the world is faith? I like to use this phrase. It's biblical and we're gonna
look at where it comes from. Faith is a peace that surpasses all
understanding. Philippians chapter four. Starting
in verse six, Paul writes, do not be anxious about anything.
But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known to God. So I've seen this verse
used as a blanket command against anxiety. You ever seen that? Paul says it right here, don't
be anxious. So if you're anxious, you're sinning. What about Jesus? Was Jesus not so anxious that
blood was coming out of his face? This is not a command in the
same sense that do not murder is a command, right? We know
that do not murder is a command. Don't murder, that's a sin. Instead, Paul's not looking at
this and saying, hey, any and all anxiety, that's a sin. Paul
is providing to us the course of action we ought pursue when
we are anxious and we will be anxious. And everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known
to God. And is this not exactly what we see Jesus do in his moment
of anxiety? Verse seven, Philippians chapter
four, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will
guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And so this
here, this is faith. Faith is a peace that surpasses
all understanding. And I've said this before and
I'll say it again. It means that it doesn't make sense. in this
moment, in these circumstances, for you to be at peace. There's
no reason at all for you to have peace in your heart. It means
that despite the agony and anxiety that comes from our circumstances,
We're at peace in our soul knowing that God is sovereign, that Christ
has completed our salvation, and that there is waiting for
us an end to all pain and suffering and an eternal communion with
our Savior, Jesus. That doesn't make any sense. So how do I get that? What do
I have to do? How do we get there? And spoiler alert, that's not
gonna make any sense either. When I tell you how you get there,
it's not gonna make sense. What do I have to do? Back to
Ephesians chapter two, this is not of your own doing. What a
direct answer to that question. What do I have to do? How do
I have this faith? Well, in a sense, nothing. Because you can't. This goes
against the grain of most modern Christianity, right? Telling you that to have faith,
you have to do nothing. Right, because our modern expression
of Christianity is full of images of following instructions like,
come down here. The end of the service. while
James plays the saxophone. Modern Christianity is full of
images of having to do something, having to say something, having
to think something. And I'm telling you, Paul says,
it's not if you're undoing. Right? And this idea of the sinner's
prayer, that's sort of the canonical ideal of what we're talking about
here. The sinner's prayer. You pray
exactly this prayer and you're good. This didn't happen by accident. And I've often seen it explained
away as just a misunderstanding of biblical commands concerning
faith, salvation, and conversion, but it's deeper than that. The
sinner's prayer did not come from misunderstanding what we
were told to do on a surface level. It's much deeper than
that. This idea that faith is something
that we do, that we bring about in ourselves, is exactly how
we experience it. This is how we experience faith
and conversion, right? Because you can look inwardly
and you can Say, yeah, I believe. I believe the gospel. Some of you can maybe even point
to a moment where you can say, that's the moment that I put
faith in the work of Christ. And you're not wrong to do so.
You're probably right. That's true. It's a thing that happens.
It's how we experience faith. What we have here is a divergence
or a separation between how we experience faith and how scripture
defines faith for us. The problem, the error that is
made here is that we like to read God's word through the lens
of our experience. We like to open God's word, read
it, and explain it based on how we have experienced the world. When we find something in scripture
that is inconsistent with how we have experienced the world
or how we have experienced spiritual things, every part of our flesh
tries to explain what scripture teaches in a manner that is consistent
with our experience, right? So when I tell you that faith
is not something you do, it is something that is given to you
at the sole discretion of God, it offends all of our most human
sensibilities. It is offensive to our experience
to think that faith is something given to us rather than something that we choose to do. And yet here, Paul tells us,
this is not of your own doing. Out of this verse come many attempts
at fitting the biblical one-sidedness of faith into the apparent two-sidedness
of our faith experience. Right, we see this, this is inconsistent
with how we want to think about what we've done, And we come
up with analogies that make sense to our sensibilities to explain
what Paul is talking about here. And they all take the same form,
and they ignore this phrase of Paul, this is not of your own
doing. The most popular analogy, and
you'll see it everywhere, is that faith is a gift, right? And when someone gives you a
gift, You don't have to take it, right? That's the human experience
of gift giving and receiving. Someone gives you a gift, and
you can say, no, I don't want this gift. Take it back. And even as I am saying this
here, you may be thinking, yeah, that makes sense. That's how
I understand gifts. You may be trying to read Paul's
word here through that lens. But don't forget what Paul just
said, this is not of your own doing. Right after reading that
we read, it is a gift and try to smuggle ourselves back into
the picture. Remember what I said, you do
not present a challenge to God. The gift of God, faith, is given
to his people and there's nothing you can do to get in his way. And here we see that this faith
is a peace that surpasses all understanding. It does not make
sense that you would have peace at all in your mind or your circumstances. And when all your understanding
wants to think that it is something you must do, a rest that you
must choose to take, the work of Christ overcomes your understanding
and the grace of God gives you this rest. I told you it wouldn't make sense.
What do I have to do to have this faith? It is not of your own doing,
it is the gift of God. And you were dead in the trespasses
and sins in which you once walked and were by nature children of
wrath like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy
because of the great love with which he loved us, even when
we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved. This is not of your own doing. It is the gift of God. And so it's okay to not be okay. It's okay when your faith doesn't
improve your circumstances. We're never promised that it
will. If anything, we're promised that it could make it worse,
right? Many Christians in our world
are killed for their faith. Did their faith make their lives
better? Not right now, but it did when
it was over. Faith is a peace that surpasses
all understanding. Faith in the work of Christ overcomes
our understanding. And the grace of God gives us
rest. Let's pray. Father, give us rest. Give us rest in our souls. Give
us this peace that doesn't make sense. Give us peace when we don't understand. And as you will, give us joy. Fill our hearts with