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 for this message. I'll be preaching
today from the book of Ephesians chapter two. For the past two
or three lessons or messages I've been preaching through this
chapter, it's a glorious revelation of the grace of God towards sinners. And in fact, today's message
is entitled, By Grace You Are Saved. By grace you are saved. And I'm going to begin in verse
eight of Ephesians chapter two, which may be familiar with most
of you. That's where the Apostle Paul
was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write these words. For by
grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God not of works, this is verse nine, not of works,
lest any man should boast. Now, there's not a more glorious
truth in the Bible than the reality of salvation by grace. And it's a beautiful thing. Someone
said that God's mercy Is God not giving a sinner what that
sinner deserves? And God's grace is giving that
sinner something that he does not deserve? Or mercy, is God
not giving me what I do deserve? We'll get it right. But the thing
about it is grace is something that is an amazing thing. We sing amazing grace, how sweet
the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but
now am found, was blind but now I see. That's probably the most
popular quote Christian unquote song that there is. Amazing grace. But one of the most tragic things
that we see, especially in what we call the last days. And everybody
says, well, we're living in the last days. Well, let me fill
you in on that according to the Bible. We've been living in the
last days ever since the death, burial, and resurrection and
the ascension of Jesus Christ the Lord. What the Bible calls
the last days is the last age of time. segment of time, which
runs from his first coming, the first coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ, to his second coming. And so, yes, we're living in
the last days. John, the apostle, wrote about
that quite a bit in the book of First John, and obviously
in the book of Revelation. But the Bible tells us that as
the last age The gospel age, the new covenant age, begins
to wind down as we get closer and closer to the end time when
Jesus Christ will split the clouds and come to gather His church,
His people unto Himself and to destroy finally His enemies. As we get closer, Satan is loosed
to deceive the nations again like he did under the Old Testament,
the Gentile nations. Now listen to me very carefully
here. Satan's main weapon of deception is false Christianity. And the main issue of false Christianity
is preaching what they call grace, but in reality it's a cleverly
disguised system of works. Now grace, and this is something
you need to study in the scripture. You say, well I believe salvation
is by grace, it's not by my works. Well do you? Could you be deceived? Could I be deceived? That's why
one of the things that I always stress in our ministry here at
Eager Avenue Grace Church and on our media, Reign of Grace
Media Ministries and in the books that I've written is examine
yourself. Don't be afraid to do that. Don't
be afraid to examine yourself. But do it according to God's
Word. Someone said that grace means God's righteousness at
Christ's expense. Well, that's good. But here's
what the Bible teaches us. It says, for by grace, look at
it, verse eight again, Ephesians chapter two. For by grace are
you saved. Now, if you're saved, if I'm
saved, truly saved now, it's by grace. That means I did not
earn it. That means I did not deserve
it and still don't. And he says through faith. Now
that word through means by means of. In other words, this is how
God brings a sinner to see his grace. Faith is not the condition
that I must meet in order to obtain grace. Faith is the way
that God reveals grace to me and brings me to lay hold of
the Lord Jesus Christ by grace. And he says, for by grace are
you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. Even faith
is not of myself. You see, salvation is not conditioned
on man. Now most religions will tell
you otherwise. Salvation is conditioned on you
doing this, or you doing that, or you not doing this, not doing
that. Even false Christianity says salvation is conditioned
on your faith. So in other words, they'll tell
you, they'll say, well God loves you, Christ died for you, now
you've got to meet the condition. You've got to make the difference.
That is a false gospel. I say that without embarrassment.
I know I grew up that way. You see, grace is salvation,
all salvation, conditioned on the Lord Jesus Christ, who by
himself, as the representative, the substitute, the surety, by
himself fulfilled all conditions to secure the salvation of all
for whom he died. Look at verse 10 of Ephesians
2. He says, for we are his workmanship. A sinner saved by grace is the
workmanship of God, created, and that's a good word for it.
The Bible says if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature,
a new creation. Created in Christ Jesus. In other words, Christ met the
conditions. Christ fulfilled the requirements. Christ met
all stipulations. Christ fulfilled all righteousness.
Created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Now notice, it's
not because of good works, but it's unto good works, which God
hath before ordained or prepared that we should walk in them.
In other words, the good works, even faith now, is the fruit,
not the cause, of God's grace. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. When we're saved by grace, our boast is not in our faith. Our boast is in Christ. Paul
wrote in Galatians 6.14, listen to this, he said, God forbid
that I should glory. Boast. save or accept in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified
unto me and I unto the world. Let he that glory glory in the
Lord, not in himself. I don't even glory in my faith
because by nature I'm a child of wrath. By nature I was a child
of wrath, an unbeliever. Faith is the gift of God to His
people, and it comes from the work of Christ on the cross.
In the book of Romans chapter 5, verse 21, it says this, that
as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Now
if I were to ask you this question, what does God require of me or
you in order for us to be saved, to be accepted of Him? What would
you say? Most people today would say faith,
but that's not the case. Now does God require us to believe?
Yes. But not in order to attain or
maintain salvation. Do you know what God requires
for us to be saved? God requires righteousness. Our faith does not equal righteousness. If we have saving faith by the
grace of God, we lay hold of Christ who alone is our righteousness. Now look across the page to Ephesians
chapter 1 and I want to show you some verses here that support
what I'm telling you. In verse 3 of Ephesians chapter
1, it says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, now listen to this, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Now that is not a
blanket promise to everybody without exception. Paul has a
specific audience in mind. Who are they? Look at verse 1.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints
which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. He's talking to believers here.
Now those who truly believe the gospel and cling to Christ for
all salvation, this promise in verse three is to them. Read
it again. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with what? All
spiritual blessings. My friend, that includes everything
of salvation. That includes our justification
before God based on the righteousness of Christ imputed, charged, accounted
to me. That includes the redemption
from all my sins. That includes my sanctification
being set apart by God in Christ. That includes my adoption. I'm
a child of God. That includes the new birth.
I'm born again by the Spirit of God. That includes faith to
believe. It includes repentance, true
repentance. It includes perseverance, being
preserved by God unto glory, all of that in Christ Jesus. And look at verse 4 of Ephesians
1. According as He, that is God, hath chosen us in Him, in Christ,
before the foundation of the world, before the world ever
began, that we should be holy and without blame before Him
in love. having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, and look at verse six, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us, that
is believers, accepted in the beloved. We're accepted in Christ. And verse seven says, in whom
we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of His grace. Everything. Salvation is all of grace. It began by grace. It's applied
by grace. It continues by grace. And it
comes to its full fruition by grace. In other words, Listen
to this very carefully. In other words, at no time can
I look at myself and claim that salvation at any time, to any
degree, at any stage, is conditioned on me. It's all of grace. It's all of God. And it has to
be that way. Why? Well, look at what he says. Back up in Ephesians 2, in verse
1. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sin? You see, there's only two types
of people on this earth. There are sinners saved by the
grace of God and sinners still lost in their sins. Now, some
people will misuse parts of the Bible and they'll say, well,
I'm safe so I'm no longer a sinner. Well, there's only one way that
I can say before God and men that I'm no longer a sinner.
And that's this, as I stand legally, objectively, forensically in
the person and work of Christ, You see, before God, I'm justified
in Christ. To be justified means this. It
means I'm not guilty. It means I have a righteousness
that answers the demands of God's law and justice. It's the imputed,
charged, accounted righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
has nothing to do with my works. Listen, it has nothing to do
with my faith as to the makeup of this righteousness. Now by
faith I receive Christ and believe in Him and rest in Him who is
my righteousness and that's necessary. You see the work of the Holy
Spirit in a sinner is necessary. You must be born again. You must
believe. You must repent. You must persevere. But none of that makes up the
content or the value or the merit of the righteousness wherein
a sinner saved by grace stands before God. That's all Christ. And the power and the necessity
of all those blessings of within by the Holy Spirit, that's all
of grace too. They're gifts of grace. Verse
8, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of
yourselves. Faith is not the product of man's
free will. Faith is not the product of some
spark of man's inherent goodness. He has none. There's none good,
no not one, the scripture said. Ecclesiastes 7.20 says, there's
not a just man on earth who sinneth not. All of those things were
sinners. Like I said, either sinners saved
by grace or sinners lost in their sins. And so there's no way that
I can claim righteousness in myself by my works. Not even
in my believing. You know, even when a sinner
is brought to faith in Christ, we still have the sinful flesh
to deal with, which corrupts and contaminates everything.
We don't even have perfect faith. Hebrews chapter 12 speaks of
that. It talks about the sin that so easily besets us. You
know what the sin is that so easily besets even a believer?
Unbelief. Now don't get me wrong. A true
believer is not in a state of unbelief. That's the children
of disobedience described in Ephesians 2 and verse 2. A believer,
a sinner saved by grace, is not in a state of unbelief. But that
sin of unbelief is still in his mind and it still plagues him. And he has to war against it.
We're in a warfare of the flesh and the spirit. And so, a sinner
saved by grace, verse 10 of Ephesians 2, is the workmanship of God. Created in Christ Jesus unto
good works. And you know what those good
works are? It's not just bare morality. Now, certainly that's
included. A true Christian is to be a moral
person. But the good works there are
the fruit of the vine. Christ said, I'm the vine, you're
the branches. That fruit is fruit unto God. It's not the works of men or
works even of believers that are intended to draw attention
to that person. The Bible says, as Christ taught
in the Sermon on the Mount, when He talked about how, let your
light shine before men, in Matthew chapter 5, I believe it's verse
16, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good
works and do what? Give you the key to the city,
make accolades over you, brag on you, no, that they might glorify
your Father, which is in heaven. You see the light there. Let
your light shine before men. The light there is not my good
works. The light there is the gospel
of God's grace that shines on me as a sinner saved by grace. And when I let my light shine,
here's what I tell you. Don't look to me. Don't look
at my works. Look to Christ. By the grace
of God, I am what I am. A sinner saved by grace. By grace, you are saved. That's the issue. Christ is the
vine. He's the source. He's the power. He's the cause. His people are
the branches. you know a lot of people talk
about say well i'm not uh... i'm not your judge but i'm a
fruit inspector let me tell you something there's so many religious
sayings that just go against the bible it's pathetic don't
listen to that stuff first of all understand this we're not
fruit producers we are fruit bearers if we're saved and all
of that all of that by the grace of God, saved by the grace of
God, kept by the grace of God, brought to glory by the grace
of God. And so when this new creation,
you see, it's all for the glory of God. It's all according to
the wisdom of God. It's all by the grace of God. Now, there is no grace without
righteousness. There is no salvation without
righteousness. And the only righteousness through
which grace reigns is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ freely
imputed, charged, accounted. In other words, my debt of sin
was put to His account. His merit of righteousness is
put to my account. And as a result of that, I'm
born again by the Spirit. And the evidence of that is I
cling to Christ as my whole salvation. I cling to God's grace. I cling
to God's mercy. I cling to Christ as the Lord,
my righteousness. And therefore it's not of works,
lest any man should boast. You know what most people do
today? They say, well, it's not of works, it's by faith. Well,
listen, if you make faith the condition upon which God saves
you and keeps you and blesses you, then you've turned faith
into a work. You don't realize that, but you
have. That's that cleverly disguised system of works. Don't be deceived. You see, faith is not just believing. Faith, biblical faith, is believing
that Christ is my whole salvation. Faith has an object, you see.
You can believe anything. It may or may not be true. Cain,
for example, you remember, he believed God would accept him
on the basis of his works. Well, that was a lie. His faith
was in a lie. Many people today have faith
in what they call God, but their God is an idol. If he's not the
God of this book, as he's identified and described and distinguished
here, same thing with Christ. Is your faith in the true Christ
or in a false Christ? So faith, you see, has an object
and its object is the Lord Jesus Christ and all that He accomplished
and finished on the cross of Calvary to bring forth righteousness
that would secure the salvation of all His people. Romans 10
and verse 4 says, for Christ is the end of the law. That's
the fulfillment of the law, the perfection of the law. all the finishing of the law,
finishing of justice, and everything righteous. He's the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Believeth what?
Believeth that Christ is my righteousness, that I have none in myself, that
if God were to give me what I deserve or what I earn, it would be eternal
damnation. I would perish in eternity. If
God ever, at any time, even right now as I'm preaching, if God
would decide to give me what I've earned or what I deserve,
it would be eternal damnation. You see, my only hope is built
on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And I dare
not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
And I mean that. For by grace are you saved, through
faith, and that's not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. That's the issue of salvation. It's all Christ. And we who are
saved are the objects of God's grace. And that's what's so amazing
about it. Why would God save a sinner like
me? I have no idea. Other than what
Christ said in Matthew 11, for so father it seemed good in thy
sight. Not that I seem good. that it
seemed good in his sight. God chose his people in Christ,
sent Christ to fulfill all the conditions that he required to
save those people, and he ensures their salvation, their life,
their new birth, their life, their preservation, their glory,
all of grace. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound. It saved a wretch like me. I
once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see. Why do I see? And some others
don't? It's God's grace. Had nothing
to do with me. I had nothing to do with it.
It's all God's grace. I'm the object of it, I'm the
product of it, the fruit of it, but it's all grace. Grace reigns
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. And do you know that whenever
people sing about grace and they talk about grace, it would be
a good thing for them to say, well, Is what I believe and what
I'm saying, is it really God's grace according to the Bible?
And I'm not just trying to be suspicious or make you suspicious.
I'm trying to get you to do what the Bible commands you to do.
Examine yourselves whether you be in the faith. Is it truly
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 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia, 3-1-7-0-7. contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.theletterofgrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.