Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. Now today, I'm going to talk
about the grace of God and the title of the message is The Truth
About God's Grace. The Truth About God's Grace.
I don't have one particular text that I'm going to use. I have
several, but I'm going to start in Romans 9. So we'll just say
that this is the text for the message. Romans 9.18, even though
I'll be reading some other verses with it. So if you'd like to
follow along in your Bibles, open them to Romans chapter 9
to begin with. The truth about God's grace.
Now, just about anyone of any denomination who claims to be
a Christian will say, we believe salvation by God's grace. And
that's a good thing if you really do, if you really believe salvation
by God's grace. But I want you to be aware of
something. And that is, sometimes Satan
in his subtlety spreading his tares, if you're familiar with
the parable of the wheat and the tares, Satan spreading his
lies, stealthily entering into the church and sowing error. It's what the Apostle Paul warned
the Corinthians about in 2 Corinthians 11. He said, I don't want your
minds to be corrupted from the simplicity that's in Christ,
the singleness. the single message of all of
salvation by God's grace in Christ Jesus. And he said, I don't want
your minds to be corrupted from then. He said, there'll be people
coming in who claim to preach Jesus, but they're preaching
another Jesus, one of a different kind. They'll be claiming to
preach the gospel, but it'll be another gospel, another of
a different kind. They'll claim to be preaching
by the Holy Spirit, but it's another spirit. In the book of
Galatians chapter one, he warned the Galatian churches there concerning
false preachers who come in preaching another gospel. He said, and
though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you
than that which we have preached, let him be anathema. And what
happens in these errors, these subtle errors, is at some stage,
and here's the way I put it, because this is the way that
I begin to really understand it. The truth about God's grace
tells us that the salvation of sinners who cannot save themselves,
who cannot contribute to their salvation, who cannot earn or
deserve salvation. The truth about salvation for
sinners who don't want, listen, who by nature don't want salvation
God's way. So the truth about God's grace
in salvation is this, that all of the salvation of all the people
of God is conditioned solely upon the Lord Jesus Christ, who
as God manifest in the flesh, fulfilled those conditions by
his obedience unto death, and I say it this way, as the surety,
the substitute, and the redeemer of God's people. Now, if you
hear or believe a gospel that makes salvation conditioned on
sinners, on you, on me, in any way, to any degree, at any stage,
that's the subtle heresy of a false gospel, and what you have there
is grace plus works, and they don't mix. Paul wrote about that
in Romans chapter 11. Grace and works do not mix. You can't preach salvation by
grace and by works and make it work. It just doesn't work. Paul
said in Romans 11, if it's grace, it's all of grace. If it's works,
it's all of works. I've heard people say, well,
that preacher mixes grace and works. No, he doesn't. He's just
preaching a false gospel of works. You can't mix grace and works.
So I wanna show you several truths here about God's grace. Years
ago, you may have heard this acrostic where you take the word
grace and you make each letter stand for something. Well, here's
a good acrostic for you to remember. Grace is God's riches at Christ's
expense. And I like that. If you know
what it means, God's riches. Well, what are God's riches?
It's all the salvation, all the blessings and benefits of salvation,
eternal life, acceptance with Him. God's riches. But who paid
the price? At Christ's expense, not at your
expense. Now, I know the Bible talks about
us counting the cost. But all we're giving up, according
to the scripture, is dead works. And that's not a payment. Christ
made the payment. He's the Redeemer. So let me
give you these truths about God's grace. And the first truth about
God's grace that I want you to see, we find these all throughout
the Bible, but I'm gonna give you particular scriptures that
explain it. And number one is this. God's
grace is always sovereign. Sovereign grace. A lady asked
me one time, said, what denomination are we? And I said, well, we're
not affiliated with any of what people are familiar with, the
major denominations, but we are a sovereign grace church because
we believe in the sovereign grace of God. Why do I believe in the
sovereign grace of God? That's the only kind there is.
And what that means is this. We find it in Romans nine, look
at verse 18, Romans nine. And here in this verse, the Apostle
Paul, or verse 15 and 18 both that I want to show you, but
look at verse 18. The Apostle Paul is quoting from the Old
Testament in the book of Exodus, I believe it's chapter 33, where
Moses asked the Lord, show me your glory. Show me your glory. And the Lord responded this way. Romans 9 18, therefore hath he
mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardeneth. In other words, what we're talking
about here is God's sovereign electing grace. Look back up
at verse 10 or verse 11, talking about Jacob and Esau. This is
Romans 9 verse 11, talking about how Jacob and Esau, for the children,
being not yet born, verse 11 of Romans 9, for the children. that's talking about Jacob and
Esau, being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil.
You know, a lot of people say when God elects a people, he
looks down through the telescope of time and foresees what they
would do, whether they would believe or do. No, he doesn't.
Not according to the Bible. Now, I know people don't like
to hear this, but this is what the Bible says. The children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand not of works, but
of him that calleth, that's God. And verse 12 says, it was said
unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. You see, again,
talking about Jacob and Esau. Esau, they were twins, but Esau
came forth from the womb first. He's the elder. And Jacob came
next. He's the younger. And in the
Jewish economy, under the way that the patriarchal system was
set up, the firstborn was always in line to be the spiritual head
and ruler of the family. But here he says, according to
God's sovereignty, this is God's way, he says, the elder shall
serve the younger. Verse 13, as it is written, Jacob
have I loved. But Esau have I hated. And people
say, well, that means that God loved Jacob more and loved Esau
less. That's not what it means. This
is God's hatred. This is righteous indignation.
This is God's rejection of Esau based upon a just ground. And
then it's God's acceptance of Jacob based upon the just ground
of his grace. Jacob didn't deserve to be chosen
or loved or saved. He was a sinner, as all sinners. If we're sinners, grace tells
us that everything we have from God, we didn't deserve any of
it. And we didn't earn any of it.
It's grace, God's riches at Christ's expense. And he says, as it is
written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Verse
14, what shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness or unjustness
with God? God forbid. And here's the same
thought. That's in verse 18, repeated
here. Verse 15, for he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. Now why is all that the way it's
set up by God? Verse 16, so then it is not of
him that willeth, it's not of your free will, as people say,
nor of him that runneth, not of your works, but of God that
showeth mercy. So one thing we know about grace,
if you're gonna talk about biblical grace, it's sovereign. God, before
the foundation of the world, chose a people to save. Now that's
what he did. And he didn't choose everybody.
You say, well, that's not fair. Well, read Romans nine, there's
your answer now. If you raise that objection,
I used to raise that objection all the time. And I read Romans
nine and I thought, wow, I'm raising the same objections that
these lost people are raising. God's grace is absolutely sovereign. God saves whom he will. You say,
well, then it doesn't matter what I do. If God's gonna save
me, he'll save me if he will. No. Who God has chosen is part
of the secret things that belong to God. Only He knows that. All you know is your responsibility. Deuteronomy 29, 29 states it. The secret things belong to God.
The revealed things belong to you. And what's revealed to you
and me? That we're sinners. And if we don't have a Savior,
If God didn't choose us, and if God didn't send a Savior to
save us, we're doomed forever. I need salvation. I need it. And I want it God's way. But
His grace is sovereign. It's sovereign grace. God says,
like we said, Romans 9, 18, Therefore he hath mercy on whom he will
have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Now that's God's
business. You say, well, that's not fair.
The thing about it is, this is what, or how can he hold me responsible? In verse 19, that's the objection. Thou wilt say then unto me, why
doth he yet find fault? For who's resisted his will?
Well, nay, but old man, who are you to reply against God? You
can't argue with God. You can't debate with God. You're
not even on his level to have a discussion with him. All you
can do is look at what he's revealed. And he's revealed that his grace
is sovereign. But now let me give you the second
thing about God's grace. This is truth about God's grace. God's riches at Christ's expense.
Number two, God's grace is always just and right. Now if you look
over at Romans chapter five, and look at verse 21, here's
what you need to understand. Whatever God does, No matter what it is, according
to the Word. It's just. It's right. It's the right way. If God loves
me, He has to do it in a just way. He cannot love unjustly. If God hates me, it's a just
way. What is God's hatred? It's not
like our sinful hatred. See, when we hate, it's sinful
because we love ourselves. We're selfish, pride. But when
God hates, it's not sinful. It's God's rejection of a people
based on a just ground. That's righteous indignation,
righteous hatred, if you will. That's why he said, I hate all
workers of iniquity, all those to whom sin and iniquity is imputed. Well, God's grace is always just.
If God's gracious to me, He's just in doing so. If God's merciful
to me, he's just in doing so. And look at Romans 5.21. It says
here that as sin hath reigned unto death, sin justly deserves
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness. Now righteousness
is another word for justness. through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Now that's the issue of God's
grace. God's grace is the salvation
of sinners based upon righteousness. And where is that righteousness
found? It's not found in you. It's not found in me. The Bible
says of us that by nature there's none of us righteous. No, not
one. Romans 3.10. There's none that doeth good
according to God's standard of goodness. We're sinners. We've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. That means we've missed the mark.
The mark is the glory of God. Where do you see the glory of
God? In Christ Jesus. Who is Jesus Christ? You see,
grace is not about who you are or who I am, it's about who Christ
is. Well, He's God manifest in the
flesh. In order for God to save sinners,
He had to do it through a person who is able, willing, and ready
to do it. And that's Christ. If God came
down here and picked any individual born of Adam and said, no, I'm
gonna make you to do all the work of salvation for my people,
it would fail because we're sinners. We're not able. The Bible says
Christ is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto
God by him. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. I'm persuaded that He is able
to keep that which I've committed to Him against that day. And what have I committed to
Him? My whole salvation. Christ had to come. Christ was
before the foundation of the world. God chose a people and
made Christ their surety. And what that means is that He
accounted, charged, imputed, The whole sin debt of the people
He chose to Christ. And then He sent Christ into
this world. God sent forth His Son, made
of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under
the law. What does that mean? That means that Christ had to
become a man. without sin, God in human flesh,
the God-man, and as our surety, substitute himself in my place,
and suffer unto death that which I've earned and deserved in my
place. And what was the result? He redeemed
me by his blood. He paid the redemption price,
and that's grace. Grace is always just and right. It's never arbitrary. Mercy is
the same way. That's why the death of Christ
is called a propitiation, which is a sin-bearing sacrifice that
brings satisfaction to the law, satisfaction to the justice of
God. Christ took my hell and drank
damnation dry. And what he did in his obedience
unto death is the righteousness of God. The Bible says the gospel
is the revelation of the righteousness of God. What is that? It's God's
justness to save his people based upon the merits of Christ imputed,
charged, accounted to them. And grace brought forth righteousness. Grace reigns unto eternal life
through righteousness by Jesus Christ our Lord. So grace is
always just. God is never unjust, whether
he loves or hates, whether he saves or damns. But I'm gonna
tell you this. And here's what you need to understand
now. You can't climb into God's mind and see things that he hasn't
revealed. You just have to go by his word.
And his word says this. Now listen to me. You have no
hope of salvation. You have no hope of experiencing
God's grace except through Jesus Christ and based upon his righteousness,
his blood, his death imputed to us. That's the only way. Our
sins were imputed to Him. Our debt was imputed to Him.
His righteousness to us. Grace is always just. Well, let
me give you this third thing about grace. God's grace is always
free. Now, doesn't that stand to reason?
If you look over at Romans chapter three and verse 24, there's no charge for God's grace. Somebody said, well, I gave up
a lot for God's grace. You gave up nothing. What you
think was a lot was only the dung and the rabble of this earth. That's what Paul said in Philippians
chapter three when he saw the glory of God in Christ, he counted
all that he held dear as dung that he may win Christ and be
found in him. But grace is free. It says in
verse 23 of Romans three, for all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. But, verse 24, being justified. What is it to be justified? It's
to be forgiven. It's to be counted righteous
in God's sight. But we're being justified freely,
unconditionally, without a cause, by His grace, through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. Do you realize that everything
about salvation, every blessing of it, Every means that God uses
to bring it, every fruit of it, is free. The Bible says that
he that spared not his own son, how shall he not with him freely
give us all things? For by grace are you saved, through
faith. And that brings us to the fourth
one. God's grace is always saving. If God's grace His sovereign,
His just, His free grace has been set upon any individual
sinner from before the foundation of the world. Here's what the
Bible teaches, that sinner will be saved. There's no such thing
as God showing forth or shedding forth His grace and it not resulting
in the salvation of that sinner. Christ did not die, listen, God's
love is not in vain for those who go to hell. They're like
Esau, God hated them. God's grace, listen, God's righteousness,
Christ's blood is never shed in vain. Grace is always saving. Ephesians two and verse eight.
The Bible says, for by grace are you saved. Through faith,
that's not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. Verse 10 says, for we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Grace
is always saving. God's grace is not an offer up
for man's acceptance or rejection. Here's the point. If you know
what the Bible teaches about our sinfulness and depravity
and spiritual deadness, if it's left up to us, we would never
choose God. God chooses His people. If it's
left up to us, we would never desire to believe in Christ. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them. They're
spiritually discerned. And so grace being always saving,
it's always fruitful. That's what that means. The fruit
of God's grace. In order to be saved, two things
must take place for us. Number one, we have to be legally
justified before God. The ground of our condemnation
must be totally obliterated and moved out of the way. How is
that done? By Christ on the cross working forth righteousness.
But also, we must be given life from the dead, spiritual life
from the dead, and kept unto glory. That's the work of the
Spirit in the new birth, bringing us to faith in Christ, repentance
of dead works, and perseverance in the faith. That's what grace
is. Grace is a powerful thing. It's
not empty. It's not just an offer. It's
not left up to you and me. It is the salvation of God's
people, God's grace is powerful. The doctrine of grace, the doctrine
of the glorious person and the finished work of Christ is a
beautiful thing. We must hear it. That's how God
reveals himself to his people. And then grace is a powerful
dynamic within God's people by the Holy Spirit who gives us
in the new birth life from the dead by God's grace. I heard
a preacher say one time that the way you're born again is
you first believe and then you're born again. That is not what
the Bible teaches. Listen, the Bible teaches that
you cannot see or hear or understand or desire the kingdom of God
until God sovereignly births you again by His Spirit. You
see, grace is sovereign. And it's by under the preaching
of the gospel, begotten again by the word of truth, James wrote
in James 1.18. You must be born again or you
cannot see the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. But the Holy
Spirit comes and he gives life to the dead by God's grace. He
gives them a new heart, a new mind, new affections, new will
by God's grace. He brings them to faith in Christ. the true Christ, not a counterfeit,
but the true Christ by God's grace. He brings them to repent
of their dead works and their idolatry, repent of their sins
by God's grace. And he keeps them and preserves
them throughout their lives by God's grace. No matter if Satan
attacks them or no matter their own personal struggles within
of the flesh, no matter if the world comes against them, By
God's grace, they are kept unto glory, and he'll bring them unto
glory by God's grace. All of grace. All of God's riches
at Christ's expense. So remember this, grace is sovereign. You may not like that, that's
up to you. Nobody will by nature. But God's
grace is sovereign, God's grace is just, God's grace is always
free and God's grace is always saving. And if you think about
this, when we think about God's grace, don't think about it as
something that God enables you to do as to establishing or attaining
or maintaining salvation. Think about it as a free gift
of God's grace through Christ, who is the person, and by whose
works grace comes to save sinners. God's riches at Christ's expense,
and oh, what an expense it was. It cost him, grace doesn't cost
me anything, but it cost Christ his whole life. And he gave his
life, a ransom for many, the scripture says, by God's grace. Hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia, 31707. Contact us by
phone at 229-432-6969 or email us through
our website at www.TheLetterRofGrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.