Good morning. Today, I'm going
to share a message with you about grace. The title of the message
that I'm going to deliver today is Grace Means Grace. I'm going
to talk about what it means and its significance within the gospel.
Now, I know the term grace sounds like such a simple term, and
really it is. It's one of the most widely used
terms in the religious world today. It's a word that's often
used, but as I look around me, it's not properly used by the
majority of people. It's not used by mainstream religions
as it's stated in the Bible. And that one word, grace, can
be interpreted or used in so many ways. What I did before,
when I was doing my study, I looked up the word grace online and
came up with a definition. And it said it was the love and
mercy given to us by God because God desires us to have it, not
because of anything we have done to earn it. That sounds very
simple, right? Now, I want you to think about
that definition very carefully, and I'm going to break it down
into several different parts so that we can just work our
way through it. And the first part says the love and mercy
given to us This doesn't mean us taking it. It doesn't mean
us going out and getting it on our own, but it means love and
mercy given by God. Listen to the next part. Because
God desires us to have it. Not because we, by nature, desire
to have it. We have it because it is God's
desire for us to have it. Then it says, not because of
anything we have done to earn it. This doesn't say that we
made a choice or we had to make a decision for it. It says we
didn't work for it and we don't owe anything for it. Now, I know
that was kind of a long definition. I kind of drew that out a little
bit, but I do think it's important for everybody to understand whenever
they say by grace or we say what it really means. Another definition
that people use sometimes is free unmerited favor and that
also simply means that grace is a free gift from God and it's
not merited by the sinner. Just using the word grace has
major implications. To say that one believes in grace
should mean that they're resting entirely on Christ and believing
that he came and died for his people and actually did what
he said he was going to do. It's not the idea that most out
there believe. And I hear statements from people
all the time that say, well, I believe in grace and I'm resting
in Christ alone. But you must believe. You must
walk an aisle, say a prayer, or multitudes of other buts. And there's the difference in
what we believe and what false religion believes. In the true
gospel, you don't hear the word but. There isn't one. We simply believe and rest on
Christ and in his saving power. All of our salvation is resting
on him and what he did. And we're resting and not doubting
that he did what he said he was going to do. And Satan cleverly
disguises works as grace. Now, what I'm going to do now
is I'll continue to look at what grace really means. And first
of all, our election is of grace. And when I say election, there's
really no reason for anybody to get scared of the word election.
Don't get scared or frightened. I know there are a lot of people
out there that freeze up as soon as they hear the word election,
but it's a biblical word. You find it time and time again
in God's word. You find the word election a
whole lot more times than you find the phrase you must be born
again. You find the word election over
and over in scripture. And you find it way more times
than people hold so near and dear some of the other things
out of the Bible. So, our election is of grace. It says in Romans 11, five and
six, even so then at this present time also, there is a remnant
according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then
it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then is it no more grace? Otherwise,
work is no more work. You see, God had to first choose
me, and he made me willing in the day of his power to seek
him. When did he choose me? It says in Ephesians 1, 4, according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.
It says right there, in the beginning, before the foundation of the
world, God chose his elect in him, in Christ, and he chose
them unto salvation. God chose me, he loved me, and
he sought me. He sought me first and made me
willing by his grace to seek him. Our love is a response to
God's love. In 1 John 4.10 it says, herein
is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent
his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Now, one might
ask, how long has God loved us? Well, God has loved us with an
everlasting love. Look at Jeremiah 31.3. The Lord
hath appeared of old unto me, saying, yea,
I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving
kindness have I drawn thee. And God never changes. He's the
same yesterday, today, and forever. If God loves a man now, he loved
him before he was born. Look at what it says in Romans
9, 11 through 13. For 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. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. Now it's saying here that God
elected his children before they were born, not based on their
works, And it couldn't be that, because they had not even been
born yet. You see, God never changes. And Jesus Christ is
the same yesterday, today, and forever. Since he loves the elect
today, he's always loved the elect. He declares the end from
the beginning. In Isaiah 46, 9 and 10, reads,
remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is
none else. I am God and there is none like
me. Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times,
the things that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand
and I will do all my pleasure. God works all things after the
counsel of his own will. Our election is by grace. One
might ask, Why did he choose you? Why did he choose me? Why
did he choose anybody? The only answer I can give is
because of his grace. That's the only answer I can
give. It's by his grace. That's all it could be. Because
if it was based on anything from me, based on anything that I
do, my works, I'd be doomed. Secondly, our calling is of grace.
Listen to 2nd Timothy 1.9, who has saved us and called us with
an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. It was grace that chose me. God
didn't look down through some telescope of time and see what
I would do. God knew what I would do. He
knew that I would continue in sin, continue in darkness, and
continue in rebellion if he didn't disturb me, awaken me, and call
me. And he did call me. And he is
pleased to call each and every one of his elect, his sheep,
and he calls them by his grace. Thirdly, our justification is
by grace. Romans 3.24 says, being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. God's elect are justified freely by His grace, and it is
through the redemption that Christ accomplished in His death on
the cross. Fourthly, our hope is through His grace. Look at
2 Thessalonians 2.16. where it reads, now our Lord
Jesus Christ himself and God, even our father, which hath loved
us and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through
grace. Everything that we have or ever
hope to have is due only to the grace of God. In Hebrews 4.16,
it says, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace
that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of
need. Now, you don't want to come to
a throne of justice. And if you come to a throne of
justice today, seeking justice based on your works, then basically
God is going to point out to you and say, you're not welcome
here. He's going to say that you're
not perfect. Your thoughts are wicked. twisted,
warped, and sinful. And your imagination is also
corrupt and sinful. If a sinner attempts to approach
this holy God by his own merit, then God will say, depart from
me, ye that work iniquity. But if you approach God through
Christ by his grace and his grace alone, then you'll be accepted. That's right. You can come in
Christ's righteousness alone. You can come through his grace
in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm about to tell you something
and please listen carefully because it's kind of long and it. But
I want to make a point. From eternity past. Before the
stars were in the sky. Before the sons of God shouted
for joy. Before the angels ever existed,
God laid the foundations of this world. Before God ever said,
let us make man, God set his heart and his affection and love
on a people in Christ. And by his grace, he gave them
to Christ. And from back then in eternity,
when God set his love on his elect and they were chosen in
Christ all the way through the creation of this world, and the
creation of man, and the fall of man, and all the way through
the promises and types and pictures and symbols of the Old Testament,
which pictured and typified Christ, to the coming of God's Son through
the Virgin's womb, and His perfect obedience and righteousness,
and rejection and death on Calvary, and burial and resurrection,
to the day I was born and lived in sin, And God called me by
His grace and made me a child of His, even until the day I
die and they bury me. And Christ raises me from the
grave, and with Christ I reign forever, being made in His likeness.
Every bit of this is due to God's grace in Christ. All the way
from eternity in the past and eternity in the future, that
means forever and ever from the beginning until the end. There
is no point at any time that I depend on myself and my works. There is no time anywhere between
eternity from beginning to end. There is no point in the life
of any redeemed man that he cannot say it is grace that brought
me safe thus far and grace will lead me home. At no time do I
make any contribution to my salvation. Romans 11, 6 says, and if by
grace, then it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no
more grace. If there is any time between
the day that God set his affections on a people and the day that
he sets his approval upon them, if at any time God has to stand
back and wait for anything to be done by that sinner, and I
mean anything at all, it is not grace. It doesn't matter if you
pay a nickel or a dime, if you take one step or you lift one
finger. If it is anything that the sinner
contributes in any way to the redemption of his soul, it is
not grace. It is not a gift. It is by grace
that you are saved. And I know that was kind of long,
and you may ask, why are you saying all that? Why is that
so important? I'm saying all that because this
kind of salvation that I'm talking about actually gives hope to
a sinner. I'm talking about a real sinner.
I'm talking about this kind of salvation gives hope to a genuine
sinner who's described in the first three verses of Ephesians
2. And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sin, Where in time, wherein in time
past you 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
conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind. And read this next
part. And were by children and were
by nature the children of wrath, even as others. And Bill went
over this pretty good in the 10 o'clock hour, so I was glad
to hear that. So we are by nature, as we're
born into this world, dead in trespasses and sins. We're not
wounded, we're not sick, we're dead. And dead means, I'm gonna
tell you what dead means. Dead means without God, without
life, without Christ, without hope, and without strength. That's
what dead means. We're born into this world spiritually
dead and do not know the way to God. We think by our nature
that the way back in favor with God is by our works. It's in
our nature. We must be born again by the
spirit of God. But I've got hope. Hope for that
kind of man or woman. If salvation is all of God and
all of grace, then there is hope for a genuine, self-confessed,
unadorned sinner. There is hope because Christ
died for sinners. Salvation by grace gives hope
to a sinner. It gives direction to a sinner.
It also gives assurance to a sinner. First of all, salvation is all
of grace. And I want to go over that, I
want to make sure you understand what I mean by that. I don't
mean the kind of grace that you're hearing preached out in the world
today, in most places that say, God has done all he can do. Now
it's up to you. You take the first step and God
will meet you halfway. If a person can take the first
step, I want to tell you something, if a person can take the first
step, They don't need God. If a dead man can take the first
step, then he's alive. He doesn't need anybody to give
him life. He already has life. Dead people don't take steps.
They have no concern. They have no desire. They have
no response. They're dead. But there is hope. Salvation by grace is that God
has quickened, made alive, God has called, regenerated, justified, and God has kept us by his power
through faith. Salvation by works is for those
who earn it. Salvation by grace is for those
who need it. By nature, we all think that
our law-keeping, our good deeds, and what we can do will enable
us to gain God's favor and make our way to heaven. But do you
know what the law says? Look at what Galatians 4.21 says. Tell me, ye that desire to be
under the law, do you not hear the law? What does the law demand
of those who work for salvation? It demands perfection. And what
kind of perfection are we talking about? We're talking about perfect
like Christ. Let's look at God's standard
of judgment. This is gonna tell you what God's standard is of
judgment. Acts 17.31 says, because he,
God the Father, hath appointed a day in which
he will judge the world in righteousness by that man, the Son of God,
whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto
all men in that he hath raised him from the dead." So the standard
is going to be Jesus. Now there is only one righteousness
that our God has accepted, and that's Christ's perfect righteousness.
Now, if you're going to come through the route of your good
works by your good deeds, they've got to be as holy as Christ.
Both your thoughts and your deeds. If salvation is all of grace,
if salvation is all of God and all of grace and all of Christ
and all of his blood, then my sins don't prevent my salvation.
He's the substitute. It says, the blood of Jesus Christ
cleanses us all from sin. In Romans 5, 17 through 21, it
says, for if by one man's offense death reigned by one, much more
they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as by the
offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation,
even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon
all men, all men, no matter what culture or nationality you come
from, unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. That as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Grace reigns through righteousness.
Now who came to Jesus when he was on the earth? Helpless people. Who did he help? Helpless people. Who did he condemn? Religious
people. He called the Pharisees a generation
of vipers and hypocrites, and these were the most religious
of the religious at that time. Christ said in Matthew 9, 12,
and 13, but when Jesus heard that, he said unto them that
they Be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go
ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice,
for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. There is hope for the sinner.
Our Lord died for sinners, all sorts of sinners, sinners without
qualification. And let's look at two men in
scripture that worship God. One by grace and the other by
works. Look with me in Genesis 4, 1 through 5. And Adam knew Eve, his wife,
and she conceived and bare Cain and said, I have gotten a man
from the Lord. And she again bare his brother
Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep,
but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time
it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an
offering unto the Lord, and Abel he also brought of the firstlings
of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto
Abel and to his offering, but unto Cain and to his offering
he had no respect. Here in the book of Genesis we
see the need of God's grace and salvation. We see Cain and Abel,
two brothers, with Adam and Eve as father and the mother. Cain
was the firstborn and Abel was the second. They're described
here with different professions, and their job descriptions are
very important. Cain is described as a tiller
of the ground. He was a farmer who worked the
land with his hands. Abel was a keeper of the sheep.
He watched over the sheep and took care of them. When it was
time for them to bring their offering to the Lord, Cain brought
the works of his hands. He brought the harvest. He brought
his harvest as his offering to the Lord. He brought the best
that he could bring, but the Lord did not accept his offering. Abel, on the other hand, brought
his firstlings. the firstborn of his flock of
sheep, the lamb. Abel's offering pictured and
typified Christ, the lamb of God, who would live and die and
shed his blood for the payment of sins. Abel's sacrifice represented
what is required by God to take away sins and clear the guilty
sinner. So Cain brought the works of his hands, and Abel brought
the lamb, free from defects, unblemished, as it represented
Christ, the perfect lamb of God. Abel looked forward to the coming
Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that would come in time
and shed his blood on Calvary, the spotless lamb of God. In
closing, grace is a very important term that's used in the religious
world today. Its meaning can vary and can
have vital impacts that most people do not understand. The
grace of God into salvation is a free gift, and it's just that. It's a gift. It's not something
we earn. If somebody wants to give you
a gift in life, you don't work for it, and you don't owe the
person anything in return that gave it to you. As it says in
Ephesians 2, 8 through 10, For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus into good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Now listen carefully. If you're
not resting on Christ alone, for your salvation. And I mean,
if you're resting in any way on what you have done, resting
on your works to take to God and try to satisfy Him, just
as Cain, back in Genesis, brought the works of his hands as his
offering, you will not be able to stand before a holy and just
God and plead your case. God requires perfection, perfect
like Christ. It's stated right here in the
Bible. It's in the scripture. He demands perfect obedience
to his law and justice, and he will execute his law and justice
in his time. You see, if we're depending on
ourselves to make a decision, there is no need for grace. Not
at all. If we need to walk the aisle
to be saved, get baptized, say a prayer, join a church, do good
things to get rewards, do good deeds, then we don't need grace. You see, perfection is God's
standard and requirement. That means we have to be perfect
in every way, and we are not perfect without Christ. That's why we need Christ and
his righteousness that he established. We need a substitute, and that's
why we need his grace. Grace does mean grace. Amen.