If you would, Romans chapter
5. Romans chapter 5. Tonight we'll be looking at sovereign
reigning grace. Sovereign reigning grace. Romans chapter 5. And we'll look here at verses
20 and 21. Actually, let's start up in verse
8, and I'll read to verse 21. But God commanded His love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified
by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if
when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death
of His Son, much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life.
And not only so, but we also join God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom we now have received the atonement. Wherefore, as
by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin, so this
is when Adam fell in the garden, and so death passed upon all
men for that all have sinned. So now we're born dead in trespasses
and sins. Every human being comes into
this world, born dead in trespasses and sins. And Adam is our federal
head. We fell in Adam, we fell in him. For until the law, sin was in
the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law. Nevertheless,
death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned
after the simitude of Adam's transgressions, who is a figure
of him that was to come. but not as the offense, so also
is the free gift. For if through the offense of
one, many be dead, much more the grace of God and the gift
by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto
many. And note it doesn't say all there,
does it? But it does say many. It does say many. And the many
there is God's elect, God's chosen people from eternity. And not
as it was by one that sin, so is the gift for the judgment
was by one the condemnation, we all fell in Adam, but the
free gift is of many offenses under justification. 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. Now note there, it's
his righteousness. It's the righteousness of one.
And that's the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Remember, we're saved by his life. It said earlier in there,
right? Earlier in this text. It said we're saved by his life
because he lived the perfect life for us. We never could.
He wove that perfect coat of righteousness for us. And we're
also saved by his death, too, aren't we? Because he paid the
price that God demanded for our sins. 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 man, the free gift came upon all men
unto justification of life. And the all men there we know
is God's elect. For as by one man's disobedience, many were
made sinners. So by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. Now that's wonderful for the
believer, isn't it? Because we know that the only way we're
made righteous is through Christ. 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. So these verses here before us
are very precious. And the grace of God overflows
before us in verses 20 and 21. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. That is, sin hath reigned unto
death. We're all dead in trespasses
and sins, because when Adam fell again, we all fell. Even so might
grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord. There's another proof right there. that eternal life only comes
in and through Christ alone. No other way. No other way. Right
there before us. And we know there's many other
ones, aren't there? Many other verses. But Romans 5 21 states
it right there. Now we see here that that where
sin abounded, the grace of God super abounds because the Greek
word for abound, that second Greek word there for abound where
it says grace did much more abound. means to super abound, super
abound. In light of things to super abound,
to exist in abundance, to increase. So where sin abounded, grace
did super abound, super abound. Let that sink in for us, beloved,
that we who are sinners to our core, aren't we? We who are sinners
to our core by nature, by choice, by practice, We're sinners. And yet those who believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ are washed clean in his precious blood and
God's grace towards us in Christ. is super abounding, super abounding
toward the believer. And as a result of that, all
our trespasses and all our sins are forgiven in Christ, in Christ,
in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And it tells us here,
right? So even so might grace reign through righteousness unto
eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord, in and through Christ
alone. So the grace of God is superabounding
towards his blood-bought people. And let us ponder this, that
no matter how much sin is present, the grace of God is superabounding.
Superabounding. And that's good news for we who
are saved sinners. It's really good news. Really good news. A good illustration of grace
superabounding is someone holding the match and you're pouring
a whole bucket of water on it. You don't need that much water
to put it out, do you? But that's a good illustration. of grace
superabounding where sin is. Where sin is. It's like asking
for a cup of water to quench our thirst. You just need a sip
usually, don't you? But oh, when you get a whole
cup of water, oh, it tastes so good. And this grace does not
end. It does not say like religion,
well, you sinned and now you blew it. It doesn't say that.
No, this grace is superabounding. This is sovereign, superabounding
grace. Man-made religion tells you you
got to do something all the time. But this, this is all about Christ. This is all about what He's done.
And this grace keeps covering our sin over and over and over
again. It's bought and paid for. It's
bought and paid for at Calvary's cross so that where sin abounds,
grace abounds more. Now some folks right away say,
well you can't. You can't say that. Then you
just go and do whatever you want. No. We know that, don't we? But people say that right away.
People say it. You will not believe how many
people say that. And you know what my answer is
to them? God forbid. Just like Paul said, God forbid. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter six. God forbid. Look at verses 14 to 18, one
chapter over, one chapter over. Romans 6 verses 14 to 18. For
sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the
law, but under grace. What then, shall we sin? Because
we're not under the law? See, that's the antinomian, right?
And obviously, see, we're not the only ones who have people
question us that way, are we? Human nature hasn't changed,
beloved. Hasn't changed, has it? Not at all! So Paul's even
facing this. What? Shall we sin because we're
not under the law, but under grace? And Paul says, God forbid.
God forbid. Know ye not to whom ye yield
yourselves servants to obey? His servants ye are to whom ye
obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness.
But God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin. but ye have
obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered
you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of
righteousness. We're free from sin, beloved.
We're free from the condemnation of sin. We're free from the penalty
of sin. Not the presence, but one day
we will be. One day we will be. And then over in 2 Corinthians
5, if you want to turn there, 2 Corinthians chapter 5, we'll
tie this right in. You've often heard me quote this,
but I'd like to read this. It's good for us to go there
in light of what we're looking at here in light of people saying,
well, you can just do whatever you want. No, no, we can't look
at this. Second Corinthians, chapter five,
verses 13 to 15. for whether we be beside ourselves,
verse 13, it is to God, or whether we be sober, it is for your cause,
and here it is, verse 14, for the love of Christ constrains
us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're
all dead, and that he died for all, and that's his people, that
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto
him which died for them in Rose again. The love of Christ constrains
us, and we live for Him, don't we? We live for our Savior, we
live for Christ. Let's go back to our text here.
And so it's the love of Christ that constrains us. It's not
rules and regulations, is it? No religion's vague on that,
is it? You can do this, you can't do that. I was in with a group
where you couldn't do certain things, and if you did, oh boy,
you were ostracized so quickly. The love of Christ constrains
us, not rules and regulations. We are motivated to serve our
God by a love for Christ. We hate sin because sin is against
God. It's against God. So let's again
look at the reign of grace. Sovereign reigning grace. Moreover,
the law entered that the offense might abound, verse 20, but where
sin abounded, grace did much more abound, it superabounded.
That is, sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Now some folks have asked me,
we often call ourselves, when people ask, we preachers, we
grace preachers, they often ask us, What do you call yourselves? And I and several of the other
preachers, we just call ourselves grace people. We're grace believers. Grace believers. And they often
say, well, what do you mean by grace believer? And our response
to them is that we believe in the absolute sovereignty of God.
We believe that salvation's all of grace. We believe that God
is absolutely sovereign in salvation. In believing that God is absolutely
sovereign in salvation, we believe that He is the author and the
finisher of our faith, and He's also all that comes in between,
isn't He? Everything. Everything. Salvation's a hymn.
Just like Jonas said, we believe. We believe. Salvation is of the
Lord. Nothing can or nothing needs
to be added to God's grace in God's salvation. It's perfect. It's perfect because it's in
Christ who is the perfect one. The perfect one. Therefore, as the text before
us declares, God's grace is reigning grace. Look at this in verse
21. That is, sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace
reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord. That's why we call ourselves
grace people. Because salvation's of Him. Sin
reigns unto death, verse 21 shows us. And we know that scripture
declares that the wages or payment of sin is what? Death. Death. Now the Greek word here for reign
is defined as to be king. To be king. Grace reigns, brother.
It's king. It's king. To exercise kingly
power. To reign. Metaphorically, to
exercise the highest influence. To control. To control. So grace reigns, of course, because
our God is sovereign. So therefore, His grace is sovereign.
And therefore, it reigns. Just as He reigns. Just as He
reigns. So we can conclude from this
scripture that God's grace reigns. It reigns. And as the text says
here, we were once ruled by sin, weren't we? We were. We were
ruled by sin. But now, those who believe are
governed by another, aren't we? We're governed by another. Just
as we read, In 2 Corinthians 5, it's the love of Christ that
constrains us. We're governed by God, the Holy
Spirit. He guides us and directs us and
points us to Christ, points us to Christ, convicts us of our
sin, doesn't he? And God's grace is reigning grace
again because God reigns. That's just the plain and simple.
But do you know that sovereign, reigning grace is hated by religious
people? They absolutely hate it. Now,
we who are God's blood-bought people, we love it. And we would
have it no other way, because that's what the Scripture declares,
isn't it? That's what it declares. And we believe it because of
the Scripture. You don't believe it just because
I say it. We believe it because that's what the Scripture declares.
That's what it declares. Now, John Gill, says about grace
reigning in this commentary, and I'll read a small section
here, I thought this was really profitable for us. God's grace
reigns by Jesus Christ. Grace reigns by Him. Righteousness
or justice is glorified by Him, and eternal life is in Him, meaning
Christ. Through Him and by Him, or grace
as it is in the hearts of converted people, is meant where it reigns. It reigns even within us. Even
within us. And has the dominion. is the
governing principle, and that in the way of righteousness and
true holiness, and will reign until it's perfected in glory,
or is crowned with eternal life, all which are by Jesus Christ,
namely grace, righteousness, and life. It all comes through
Christ, and Christ alone, no one else. Therefore it's reigning
grace. Let's look at verse 21 again.
That is, sin hath reigned unto death, Even so might grace reign
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ, our Lord. Every one of us is going to die
in every one of us. Every human being will die. There
come a day when we will breathe our last breath and death reigns
that way, doesn't it? It rains. No one's going to escape. No one's going to escape it,
but it says here. Even so, might grace reign through righteousness
and eternal life by Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now, this righteousness
is imputed to those who believe in what comfort the believer
can can glean here because grace reigns in the believer's life.
How? Through the righteousness of
Christ, through the righteousness of Christ. Now, this whole chapter
before us is to comfort believers in a time of trouble. And it's
to comfort us with the fact of the great love of God to God's
people in the person of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Again, let's
look at verse 20, and we'll look at some points here. Moreover,
the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. Now we see in this text that
God's grace, I mentioned it earlier, is super abounding. The Greek
mentions it. So let's look first at God's
grace is God acting freely. God acting freely. Turn if you
would to Psalm 135. God acts freely according to
his own nature. He does what he pleases. And
we know from scripture that none can stay his hand. No one. He does whatever he wants. And
that goes against the pride of man. Oh, it just goes right against
the pride of man. That's why religious folks get
so angry. Because what sovereign grace
does, what free and sovereign grace and salvation is of the
Lord, which we believe, it takes man out of the equation in saving
himself. And the believer says, Amen.
We love that. We love that because we know
that our salvation is not dependent upon us, but it's dependent upon
Christ Jesus, our Lord. Look at this in Psalm 135, verses
5 and 6. For I know that the Lord is great,
and we know that's Jehovah, the self-existent one. He's great. And that our Lord is above all
gods. Now look at verse six, beloved.
And like I said, the sovereign grace of God is one of the most
hated doctrines by religious people. But to the believer,
it's so precious. It's so precious. Look at this.
Whatsoever the Lord please, that did he in heaven and in earth,
in the seas, in all deep places. Do you know that he's obligated
to no one? He's obligated to know one. And
He does according to what He wills. Look at that. Whatsoever
the Lord pleased. Do you know that it pleased the
Lord, if you're one of His people, to save you? It pleased Him to do that. Whatever the Lord pleased, that
did He in heaven, and in the earth, in the seas, and all deep
places. His grace is no respecter of
persons. No respecter of persons. No respecter
of a person standing in life. And if we are saved, it is by
the working of the pure, free, and sovereign grace of God in
Christ alone. In Christ alone. Just as Paul
writes, And the believer says, this is me, for he said to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I have mercy. And the believer said,
says he had mercy on me. He did, because, and we know
from Psalm 135, six, he had mercy on me because it pleased him
to do so. Grace acts independent, independent
of those who receive grace. What he does, what he wills in
heaven, he does, and none can stay his hand. And then Romans
9.16 says this, So then it is not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. And then
think of that in what Brother Chet read. For his mercy endureth
forever. My. We're saved, we're saved
by the mercy of God, aren't we? God's showing mercy to us, and
his mercy endureth That's comforting. That's so comforting for we who
believe. So he does what he wills. And
what does a believer do? We bow to his sovereignty, don't
we? We bow to him. We bow to him. The other point,
the next point is Grace finds absolutely no cause in the recipient. No cause in us. None. None. This goes so against the grain
of religion, which says God has done all He can do, now the rest
is up to you. Or it says God looked down through
time and saw who would choose Him. I've heard that so many
times it makes me sick. If that's the case, then God's
choosing was based upon man's work. But God's grace finds no
cause for mercy in the recipient. None at all. Turn, if you would,
to Romans 9.16. I just quoted that, and we'll
read it right now. This is absolutely no cause in
the recipient of God's grace. It finds no cause in the recipient
of God's grace. And it goes right back to what
we read. It goes right back. What's in
Psalm 135 6 whatsoever the Lord pleased that that did he in heaven
and in the earth and in the seas in all deep places. Look at Romans
9 16. So then it is not of him that
willeth. OK. We all know what people say about
their free will. According to this verse, it's
it's not it's not what you will. Because what's man's will, what's
our natural bend? We know that scripture says that
in our natural state, our natural bend is not to seek God. Not to seek God. And we seek
God when we're made willing. But see, we have a dead nature
then. We don't seek God. But when we're born again, that's
why I say, what comes first, regeneration or faith? Regeneration. You must be born again. And then
you run to Christ. You're made willing in the day
of his power. So then it's not of him that willeth, nor of him
that runneth. There's your works, right? But
look at this. But of God that showeth. Mercy. And again, we're tie that
in with the scripture. We Brother Chip read for his
mercy. Endure it forever, forever. Turn, if you would, to John chapter
one, verse one. There's no since there's no cause
in the recipient, then the whole cause of of God's grace and God's
salvation is the giver of that grace. Right. And that's God. That's God. And we who believe,
we're recipients. What do you do when someone gives
you a gift? You just receive it, don't you? If they didn't tell you that
they're going to give you a gift, and they say, hey, I want to give you
this. You're like, thank you. It's a gift, isn't it? You're
a receiver. You're a receiver of that gift.
Now we who believe, we're recipients of this wonderful gift. The gift of God's grace, salvation
in and through Christ. And therefore we proclaim to
others that salvation is a gift. He gives it to us. We don't ever
seek it, unless He makes us willing. But look at this in John 1, verses
11-13. Brother Jake and I were looking
at this this morning. Look at this. He came unto his
own, not speaking of the Israelites, the Jews, and his own received
him not. But as many as received them,
now note here, note here, but as many as received him, to them
gave he power. So what's that mean? That means
he made them willing. In a day of his power, to them
gave he power. We don't have any power to come
to Christ on our own. But it says here, he gave them
power to become the sons of God, even to believe, even to them
that believe on his name. Which were born, here we go,
they're born again. Which were born, not of blood,
nor the will of the flesh, there it is again. It's not by your
free will. Nor of the will of man, but of
God. You must be born again. And that's
the work of God the Holy Spirit. He is regenerating power. And
then, and then we run to Christ, don't we? It's right there before
us, isn't it? Right there. Therefore, the cause
of our salvation is only in God. Only God. Only Him. We are saved by His grace. Why? Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did He in heaven, and in the earth, and in the seas, and
in all deep places. We're saved by His grace because
it pleased Him to save us. When one combines grace and works,
it's no longer grace. Now Paul, through his writings,
is oftentimes combating works-based religion. Turn if you would to
Titus chapter 3, and I know we're familiar with this passage, but
I want to bring us to the setting. When you read Paul's writings,
he's often combating works-based religion, and people who are
trying to mix works and grace together. Brother Norm and I
were talking about that a few months back, and Brother Norm
brought that out, and how when you read his letters with that
in mind, like even the pastoral letters which he writes to Timothy
and Titus, and he's combating, he's giving them instructions
about combating works-based religion. We know Colossians, when we did
our whole study in Colossians, that was written all about combating,
there was an attack on the preeminence of Christ. And they were trying
to bring in angels as other mediators, and Paul very amazingly just
brings out the preeminence of Christ. Look here in Titus 3,
verses 5 and 6, and keep in mind that Paul is instructing Titus,
and they're combating works-based religion, people who are trying
to mix works and grace together. And he's speaking about our salvation,
to Titus and how it's in Christ and Christ alone. And look at
the words again in Titus 3 verses 5 and 6. And remember, tie it
in with this heading which says, Grace finds no cause in the recipient. So, not by works of righteousness
which we have done. So that's not by your works.
And remember, works is anything you think or you do physically.
Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but now remember
what Brother Chet read again, but according to his mercy. And that mercy endures forever,
beloved. What? He saved us. If you're
one of God's blood-bought saints here tonight, you are saved by
the mercy of God, according to his mercy. And why again? Again,
to Psalm 135.6, because it pleased Him to do so. Because it pleased
Him to do so. But according to His mercy, by
the washing of regeneration, you must be born again. That's
it right there. You must be born again. And renewing
of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ our Savior. Only one way to glory. Only one
way to heaven. Salvation's only in one. It's
in no other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Says it right there,
doesn't it? Through Jesus Christ. Our Savior. And He's our Savior,
isn't He? And we're saved by grace. And
it's all according to the mercy of God. Now, mercy. What a wonderful word mercy is. Now, the Greek word for mercy
is defined as this. Kindness or goodwill towards
the miserable. I like that. I was miserable
in my sin, were you? I was miserable. I could find
no peace in religion. I could find no peace. None at
all. None. I was miserable. Kindness or goodwill towards
the miserable and the afflicted. Were you afflicted by your sin?
We were, once God showed us what our sin was and who we sinned
against, eh? Joined with a desire to help
them. Beloved, He has mercy on poor sinners. Because those He
has mercy on are His sheep from eternity. They're His people.
They're His people. Chosen in Christ. And let us
never forget, we are chosen in Christ all according to his mercy. And his mercy endures forever. Aren't you thankful? Oh, it just,
I tell you, it fills my heart with joy. It fills my heart with
joy. What a wonderful word, mercy. And we see he shed this upon
us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Now tie that in with
Ephesians, which says, again, all spiritual blessings are in
him. Would we be justified without Christ? No. Would we be redeemed
without Christ? No. Would we be sanctified without
Christ? No. Has God not abundantly shed
his mercy upon us in Christ? Abundantly. Abundantly. He has mercy on poor sinners.
His people. The next point is God's grace
is sovereign. We've seen grace as God acting
freely and there's no cause in us for His grace. We who are
His recipients of His grace, we who are His blood-bought people,
therefore God's grace is sovereign. If there's no cause in us, therefore
it's sovereign because God's sovereign. Turn, if you would,
to Psalm 93. Psalm 93. God's grace is sovereign
because He's sovereign. He's sovereign. And remember
our text says that grace reigns, right? Grace reigns. Oh, it reigns. Look at this. Oh, grace is sovereign because
God's sovereign. Psalm 93. Let's read the whole
psalm, just a little psalm. But there's so much in here.
The Lord, again, the self-existent one, Jehovah, reigneth. He is
clothed with majesty. He's a king. The Lord is clothed
with strength. He has all power, beloved. Wherewith
he had girded himself, the world also established that it cannot
be moved. He's absolutely sovereign. Thy
throne is established of old. Look at this. Thou art from everlasting. Everlasting. The floods have
lifted up, O Lord. The floods have lifted up their
voice. The floods lift up their waves. The Lord on high is mightier
than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of
the sea. Thy testimonies are very sure. Holiness becometh thine house,
O Lord. How long? Forever. Forever. Forever. God's grace has no debts to pay
or conditions to be fulfilled on man's part. None. It's His sovereign grace, and
He gives His grace to whomever He pleases. If you're a believer, aren't
you thankful He gave it to you? He's not waiting on man to choose
Him, because we know from Scripture that there's none that seeketh
after God. And God can give His grace to
whomever He pleases. To whomever He pleases. Turn,
if you would, to 1 Peter 1. And who did He give it to? Those who deserve it the least.
God's grace shows us what we were before He saves us. Poor,
bankrupt sinners in desperate need of the mercy of God in Christ
Jesus our Lord. And as we grow in grace, does
He not show us that we need Him more and more and more? He does for me. I need Him more
and more all the time. You know, Paul at the end of
his ministry said, I'm the chief of sinners. My goodness, I've told you guys
a story about when I called Donny Bell one time and I said, Brother
Donny, I'm getting worse instead of better. And he said, you're
growing in grace, Brother, because you're seeing your sin more.
It's true. We see ourselves more and more,
don't we, as sinners. We do. We do. Look at 1 Peter
1, verses 3 to 5. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant...
There's the word again. Mercy. And it's not just mercy
there. It's abundant mercy, beloved. It's overflowing. Abundant mercy
has begotten us again into a lively hope. We're born again by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He's raised for
our justification. Look at this, to an inheritance
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. He gives his
grace to poor, bankrupt sinners. And then he keeps us. Look at
verse 5 there. Who are kept. Kept. What a beautiful word. How? By
the power of God. by the power of God. Now do you
know that grace cannot act where there's ability? Grace cannot act where there's
ability. Meaning man's ability. Some folks again out there say
God's done all that he can do and now the rest is up to you.
That would be putting the ability in man's hands. And God's grace
will not act where there's ability. No. That saying, that saying
some folks out there say, that saying is a foundation for a
lot of false gospels. It really is. The grace of God
acts where there's no ability. Turn, if you would, to John chapter
6. And we see it right here. It acts where there's no ability. Now, we know we come to Christ,
don't we? We know that. But we know, as grace believers,
that the only reason we come, again, is Psalm 110.3, thy people
shall be made willing in the day of thy power. We do not deny
that we're made willing, because we are. And we flee to Christ.
We flee to Him. But what we say is that man has
no natural ability to come to Christ. Look at this in John
6, 44. No man can come to me. And this is Christ saying this.
And that no man there means no one. No one. Now if it just stopped
there, what a horrendous state, eh? Except the Father which has sent
me, draw him. Oh my. We call that fetching
grace. God the Father sends the Holy
Spirit and he regenerates. Remember Mephibosheth? Remember
what David said? Go and fetch him. And they did, didn't they? And they brought him before the
king. And he said, fear not. Fear not. No man there means
no man. No man can come to me except
the Father which hath sent me draw him and I will raise him up at the
last day." And here, raise him up at the last day because he
purchased him. This is talking about his blood-bought
people. Those who were made willing in the day of his power. Grace
needs no help from man. None. Absolutely none. And if man adds anything, anything
to grace? Anything. Anything. Just a pinprick, eh? It's no
longer grace. It's no longer grace. We are saved. We who believe
are saved by the absolute free and sovereign grace of God in
Christ, or we're not saved at all. Salvations of the Lord, it's
not salvations of the Lord in me. or salvations of the Lord
in you. It doesn't say that, does it?
Jonah 2, 9. It says salvation is of the Lord. It's of the Lord. Period. Right? Nothing that. Nothing
that. And that's why we call ourselves
grace people. That's why. There's no cause
and no ability in us to save ourselves. And God's blood-bought
saints, His grace people, we cease trying to gain merit and
favor with God by our works. And we look to the only one who
God finds merit in. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
No one else. Who died on Calvary's cross.
Who died upon that cross. For every one of His lost sheep.
For His elect. Those who the Father had given. He shed his precious blood to
purchase them and he also lived the perfect life didn't he for
us for us and grace Reigns through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord Christ and Christ alone is the sinner's
hope He is the only hope The last point is, or the second
last point is, grace humbles the proud. Humbles the proud. It humbles the pride of man.
You know what it does? Beloved, it humbles the pride
of man. It puts us in the dust. And what
does it do though? It exalts the sovereignty of
God. That's what salvation by grace
alone does. It puts us in our rightful place
in the dust. As one old grace preacher said,
we make our headquarters in the dust. And that's what it does. It humbles us, doesn't it? It
humbles us. And but oh, how the sovereign
grace exalt the sovereignty of God. Salvations of the Lord. It's all of us do it. That's
why we sing that song. It's amazing grace. It's amazing
grace, beloved, wondrous grace. wondrous grace, we who believe. And how does grace humble the
pride? Well, we are bought to know our
absolute unworthiness, aren't we? Did God show you your absolute
unworthiness? He did for me. And then we're bought to know
our absolute inability to attain any worthiness before God. Oh, we find ourselves blessed
because of one outside of ourselves. We look to another, don't we? For all our merit before God,
for all our worthiness before God, for all our righteousness
before God, in His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ
Look at verses 21 20 and 21 again in light of this Moreover the
law entered that the offense might abound but but where sin
abound grace did much more abound That his sin hath reigned unto
death even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord So we look outside ourselves,
and we look to Christ. We look to Christ and Him alone.
And what do we do as a result of that? Knowing that salvation
is of the Lord, we give Him all the glory, we give Him all the
honor, and we give Him all the praise, don't we? All. All to Him. All to Him. The last
point is this. The flesh has no place in God's
plan. No place in God's plan. This
is why grace is hated by proud, self-righteous religionists,
because the flesh has no place in God's plan. The proud and
natural mind hate this. This is why religious folks hate
the free and sovereign grace of God in Christ plus nothing. This is why when we say, salvations
of the Lord plus nothing, they get upset. It offends them. They want something
to do. We did too at one time, didn't
we? But the grace preacher says,
look to Christ and look to Him and look to Him. All salvation is only in Him.
Turn if you would to Romans chapter 7. We'll read verses 18 and then
we'll read verses 24, 25 in Romans 8, 1. We rejoice in the fact that we
know that there's no good thing in us. And it's not false humility. We know. We know what we are. We know we don't have any ability
to save ourselves. We know that. We've been taught
that. Romans 7.18 says this, For I know that in me, that is,
in my flesh dwelleth what? No good thing. For the will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. There's the struggle, isn't it?
Oh, spiritually, we sin more than we want to, don't we? But
all the flesh, the flesh, the flesh. And then look what Paul
writes. Oh, wretched man that I am. Can we see ourselves there? I can see myself there. Oh, wretched man that I am. Who
shall deliver me from this body of death? I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. There it is right there. The
Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. I thank
God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then with the mind,
I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of
sin. And then look at the balm of Gilead in Romans eight one.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them, which are in Christ
Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.
I always love to read Romans eight one in with Romans seven. Because it's so wonderful, it's
so wonderful. There is therefore now no condemnation,
no judgment to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walked not
after the flesh, but after the spirit, no condemnation, no judgment,
because all our sins were judged when they were placed upon Christ
and he paid everything for our sins. What a salvation, what
a savior is Jesus Christ, our Lord. He is wonderful. There
is no one like him. And then the sinner rests and
trusts in Christ. because we're made willing, because
we're made willing by God's Holy Spirit. And then we learn, we
learn that God is pleased to bless us and to forgive us all
our trespasses and sins in Christ and for Christ's sake. And I'll
tell you, we spend a lifetime marveling, marveling that God
had mercy on me. What a savior, what a redeemer. We come to Christ as poor bankrupt
sinners, don't we? With no hope in ourselves and
at an end of ourselves. And what does the believer do?
We beg for mercy, don't we? We beg for mercy. Oh, may God
grant you faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Heavenly
Father, we thank you. Oh, we thank Thee that Thy grace
is reigning grace, super abounding grace, and that where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. Oh, what a Savior You are, Lord
Jesus. What a Redeemer. What salvation we have in Thee
and Thee alone. May You use this message for
Your glory, and for Your honor, and for Your praise. In Jesus'
name, Amen.