Open your Bibles with me to Romans
chapter 5 and verse 21. Romans chapter 5 and verse 21. As God the Holy Ghost will enable
me, I want to talk to you about the reign of grace. The reign
of grace. Romans 5, 21. As sin hath reigned unto death,
Even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord. And with that one sentence, God
the Holy Ghost tells us four things about the grace of God. First, grace reigns. Grace reigns. We're going to
have a Sovereign Grace Bible Conference in just a couple of
weeks, Lord willing. People sometimes ask, why do
you speak of grace as sovereign grace? Because grace reigns. The God of the book sits upon
a throne from which he rules the universe in absolute sovereignty,
and the throne upon which God sits is called in this book the
throne of grace. It is called the throne of grace
because grace always operates sovereignly. What do you mean?
Grace always operates from the throne. Grace is never the result
of something. Grace is always the cause. Grace
is never the response. Grace is always the instigator. When Paul tells us that grace
reigns, he means for us to understand just this. Grace always has its
way. Grace always has its way. Grace, like God from whom grace
proceeds, is sovereign. Look at our text again. Here's
the second thing. Grace reigns through righteousness. Grace never disregards righteousness,
but always operates upon a principle of righteousness. When Moses
asked the Lord God, I beseech thee, show me thy glory, the
Lord put him in the cleft of the rock and passed by and proclaimed
his name, the name of the Lord, who said, I will by no means
clear the guilty. And then in the next word said,
forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. I will by no means clear
the guilty, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So in declaring his name, God
says to us, my name is sovereign, just, and merciful. Forgive iniquity,
transgression, and sin. And I will by no means clear
the guilty. In order for God to forgive iniquity,
transgression, and sin, the sinner must be made not guilty. And that can only be done in
a righteous manner. The grace of God always operates
in strict concurrence with absolute justice, truth, and righteousness. If grace forgives sin, it forgives
sin because righteousness demands it. If grace saves, it saves
upon the grounds of righteousness because the law has been satisfied,
justice has been satisfied, righteousness has been established. Grace comes
to sinners upon the ground of strict righteousness and absolute
justice. If Christ died in my stead, if
Christ bore my sin, if Christ died in your stead, if Christ
bore your sin on the tree, the very righteousness and justice
of God demand that we be forgiven and accepted of God. Justice
satisfied demands that grace be bestowed. Not only that, Wherever
grace comes, it promotes and produces righteousness. Now the
ungodly, the antinomian, as he's described in Jude 4, that is
the self-righteous religious legalist, he says that the grace
of God leads to licentiousness. That is not the doctrine of Scripture.
Hold your hands here in Romans 5 and turn to Titus chapter 2.
Titus chapter 2. Look at verse 11. Titus chapter 2
verse 11. The grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men. I preach the gospel to you
indiscriminately. You who are believers and you
who are not. You who worship God and you who despise Him.
We preach the gospel of the grace of God to all men. But the grace
of God that appeared to all men comes to some effectually, making
a change. working a work within them. Teaching
us. Teaching us. The word is educating
us. The grace of God doesn't just
lay out the lesson and tell you what you ought to do. The grace
of God sees to it that you get the lesson. Teaching us that
denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly,
righteously and godly in this present world. Wherever grace
comes, grace teaches sinners to live soberly, righteously,
and godly. If you want to know exactly what
that means, read the first 10 verses of this chapter. We make
no rules and regulations for people to obey. I'm not about
to stand up here or get together with some other fellows and say,
these are the things godly people do and these are the things they
ought not do. That's not for us to do. But the book of God
tells us plainly what we are to do and are not to do. And
the scripture teaches us plainly that God's people, those who
are taught of God, are taught to live soberly, righteously,
and godly. Live with their minds set upon
eternity like they've got good sense, soberly. Live like mature
adults, soberly, responsibly. Live righteously. live in accordance
with righteousness and live godly, so as to honor God, so as to
show forth God's praise. How is that in this present world
right now? Right now. Right now. I know the whole world looks
upon things these days differently than it used to. The religious
world joins the crowd. So that virtually no one says
anything about sodomy and fornication and drunkenness and all those
things that people like to enjoy. God still does. The abominations of a hundred
years ago are the abominations of today. The abominations of
two thousand years ago are the abominations of today. But preacher
you don't know what it's like to live in this world. Oh yes
I do. Oh, yes, I do. I've been there. It's been a
long time since I've had to butt my head against the folks in
the workplace every day, and I'm thankful for that. But I've
been there. I know exactly what it is. I
know what it is to live with, to work side by side with blaspheming
men day and night. I know what it is to work side
by side with blaspheming women in factories. I know what it
is to live among and work side by side with adulterers and fornicators
and sodomites. I know what it is. The world
never changes. You who live today, you young
people, you don't have anything to face mom and daddy didn't
have to face. You don't have anything to face your grandparents
didn't have to face. It is our privilege and our responsibility
to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present evil
world. Looking for something better. Looking for that blessed hope
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior,
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, who gave himself particularly
and distinctly for us, that he might redeem us, that he might
by his blood and by his grace deliver us from all iniquity
and purify unto himself a peculiar people. A peculiar people. That doesn't mean people who
dress funny and talk funny and look funny. A peculiar people
means a people who are distinctly his. A people under his distinct
care. Zealous of good works. Zealous of righteousness and
peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. All right, look back at our text,
Romans 5 21. Here's the third thing. The Spirit of God tells us about
grace. Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life. I have been praying as I prepared
this message for you that God might be pleased to awaken dead
sinners and give you eternal life in Jesus Christ the Lord. Wherever grace comes, eternal
life is the result. Wherever grace comes, eternal
life is the result. Grace does not offer eternal
life. Grace produces it. Grace is more
than a divine attribute. Most people look at God's grace
as an attribute of God, a passion of God, a desire of God. Grace
is more than that. Grace is a divine action. It's more than a divine initiative.
It's a divine intervention. Grace is more than an offer to
a sinner. It is the operation of God for
and in the sinner. Grace is something God does for
us, something God does in us, and something God does with us.
Fourth, grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord. The grace of God comes to sinners
only through the mediation and merit of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the sinner's surety and substitute. To whom does grace come? Grace
comes to every sinner chosen by God in eternal electing love
before the world began. Every sinner chosen of God shall
be brought by the grace of God to life and faith in Jesus Christ
the Lord. Grace comes to every sinner for
whom Jesus Christ established righteousness and satisfied justice. The Lord Jesus did what he did
as the sinner's substitute while he was upon this earth in his
life and in his death for a specific people. and every sinner for
whom Christ lived and died shall be brought by the grace of God
to life and faith in Christ. Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ is God. That means He's no failure. All
over this town, all over this county, all over this state,
all over this country, throughout this world, Preachers everywhere
are telling sinners that Jesus did the best he could do and
God did the best he could do and now it's all up to you. God
loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, but it's
all in vain unless you do something for Jesus. The Holy Spirit wants
to save you. He wills to save you. He tries
to save you, but if you resist him, he can't save you. That
is blasphemy. that spoke to us this morning
about the Jews, they understood our Lord. They understood that
he, being a man, declared himself God. And if a man makes himself
God, that's blasphemy. That's blasphemy. Unless that
man is the God-man, Christ Jesus. And for a man to make God a man
is equally blasphemy. You see, men have brought God
down to their own level and created a God like the creature who wants
to do what he can't do, who tries to do what he fails to do, who
wills what he never has, desires what he never possesses. That's
blasphemy. Every sinner for whom Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, God the Son, lived and died on this earth shall
be saved by God's grace. Grace comes to every sinner for
whom the Son of God makes intercession in heaven. Five bleeding wounds
he bears, we say, received on Calvary. They poor effectual
prayers they strongly plead for me. One of my sisters once heard
me preaching at one of our youth camps and she said, what do you
mean by that word effectual? I said it means it gets the job
done. Christ's prayers, his intercessions are effectual. Every sinner for
whom the Son of God prays shall have the grace of God in salvation. The preacher doesn't, doesn't
Jesus pray for everybody? No. He's a high priest. And the
high priest intercedes for those for whom he made sacrifice. And
this is what he says, I pray not for the world. but for them
which thou hast given me, for they are thine." We have an advocate
with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. And
He, being the propitiation for our sins, secures the salvation
of His people. To whom does grace come? Listen
to me now. It comes to every sinner who
trusts Jesus Christ the Savior. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. The hymn writer, taking his inspiration,
I think, from those four leprous men in 2 Kings 4, said, I will arise, I'm sorry. Somebody help me. I can but perish
if I go. I am resolved to try. For if I stay away, I know I
shall forever die. Come, believe on the Son of God. And if you perish at the throne
of grace, you will be the first sinner ever to do so. If you
perish believing on the Son of God, you will be the first sinner
ever to do so. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. But pastor, what if I'm not one
of God's elect? If you believe Him, you are.
What if Christ didn't die for me? If you believe Him, He did.
But what if the Spirit of God doesn't call me? If you believe
Him, He has. Your faith is the evidence of
it. This is what I want you to see
this morning. The religion of the Bible, the religion of this
book, is the religion of grace. Not a religion of works, not
a religion of grace and works, but a religion of grace alone.
And grace, as it's described in the book of God, is a reigning
monarch. Invincible, irresistible, omnipotent. Grace always has its way. Grace always has its way. If God's grace is on your trail,
God's gonna get you. Goodness and mercy will pursue
you until goodness and mercy chase you into the arms of the
Savior. Now let me show you four things
with regard to this grace, and I'll be very brief, but I hope
to be as clear as day by the blessing of God's Spirit upon
His Word. When Paul says grace reigns through righteousness
unto eternal life, he means for us to understand that the grace
of God is omnipotent grace. Omnipotent grace. All-powerful,
invincible, irresistible grace. God's grace is more powerful
than man's sin. Until you're born again by the
Spirit of God, You'll never know it, but grace is your only hope. No one can rescue himself from
the tyranny of sin. Sin's a foe you cannot conquer. You may reform yourself, but
you can't regenerate yourself. This is God's work. Turn back
to John chapter 3. John chapter 3. Hear our Savior's
discourse with Nicodemus about the new birth. Verse 3, Jesus answered and said
unto Nicodemus, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And Nicodemus
saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he
enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? When
folks rebel against the word of God, they raise ridiculous
questions and make ridiculous statements. That's just what
Nicodemus did. Jesus answered, Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
be born naturally and spiritually, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which
is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
you must know how to be born again. Are you reading the book? That's
not what it said. There are lots of books written.
Billy Graham wrote a book. I saw it years ago sitting on
a bookshelf. I didn't bother to read it. How to be born again. Anybody who attempts to tell
you how to be born again doesn't know anything about the new birth.
He's never experienced it, and he knows nothing about it. How
can you be born again? You can't do anything to be born
again. Rather, our Savior said, you
must be born again. You must be born again. How is that? The wind bloweth
where it listeth. Thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth.
So is every one that is born of the Spirit. Salvation is the
operation of God's grace alone. You may give up your crimes and
vices, but you can't give up your sins. Can the Ethiopian
change his skin? Or the leopard his spots? Then
may ye also do good that are accustomed to doing evil. Man
by nature is under the rule of three cruel masters from whom
there's no escape but by the grace of God. Hear me, you who
are without Christ. Hear me. Hear God. Dear God, sin is your master. Sin rules you in every detail of your life,
no exceptions. You are the servants of sin. Not only is sin your master,
you're taken captive by Satan at his will. taken captive by
Satan at his will. In other words, Satan holds the
reins of your heart and you will do his bidding with no resistance
but complete compliability because your will is the will of your
father the devil. Taken captive by Satan at his
will. Suddenly a man or a woman from
whom No one expected such atrocities, commit some horrible evil. How
do you explain that? People are taken captive by Satan
at his will. I think I've told you before,
some years ago, my first cousin, she and her husband had been
married several years, getting along just fine. As far as anybody
knows, getting along just fine. He wasn't chasing women, as far
as anybody knows. He came in one day, walked in
the house, took out a shotgun and murdered his wife. Why? Men and women are taken captive
by Satan at his will. And third, death is your master. Men and women without Christ
are imprisoned with the fear of death. Imprisoned with the
fear of death. It is reasonable and right that
we exercise judgment and responsibility in the care of our physical lives.
I get sick, I go to the doctor. Matter of fact, I go to the doctor
when I'm not sick. Have regular appointments to
make sure I don't get sick again. Every three months, go see the
doctor. Every three months, go see the heart doctor. Every three
months, go see the eye doctor. My life is scheduled around going
to see doctors. But death is not a terror to
me. I've often told Dr. Hendrickson,
dying is not a problem. It's the process I want to avoid.
But for the unbeliever, death is a terror. You who are without
Christ live every day in the dread of death. In the dread
of death. It holds you in bondage day and
night with its fear. But blessed be God, grace is
more powerful than sin. Grace stopped us, children of
God, in our mad rush to hell. Grace turned us to Christ. Grace
gave us life and faith in Him. Oh, where would I be were it
not for grace? Either in hell or in prison,
somewhere between here and hell. 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. When I was in college
in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I sold shoes for a living when
Shelby and I were first married. Stanley's Shoe Store up on Trade
Street. And we used to, folks used to come in and lay things
away. We'd take down $2 for a $20 pair of shoes and folks would
come in and pay for them over a period of weeks and so on.
I had a customer who came in, a black lady one day, tall, skinny,
elderly black woman. And I sold her a pair of shoes
and we went to the county for her to lay them away and I forgot
what she gave me, $2 or $1 or $5 or $10, that's irrelevant,
but I had to ask for her name. She said, Grace Grabs. I said,
do what? She said, Grace Grabs. I said,
ma'am, I don't know whether you know it or not, but that's just
what Grace does. She said, you'll show enough
right about that, honey. You'll show enough right about
that. If God saves you by his grace, he will snatch you up
from the pit of destruction by the nap of your neck and set
you in the path of righteousness, faith, and life in Christ Jesus. Secondly, when the apostle says
grace reigns through righteousness, he means for us to understand
that the reign of grace is a righteous reign. I touched on this earlier,
and I'll be brief here, but I want to give all the emphasis I can
to this. I want all who hear this message
to understand that the grace of God and the righteousness
of God are friends, not enemies. I want you to realize that the
only friends and promoters of righteousness in this world are
those who are the friends and promoters of God's free and sovereign
grace in Christ Jesus. Salvation is by grace alone,
without works of any kind. Salvation is by grace alone,
without works of any kind. Now the scriptures are abundantly
clear. not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us with
the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost.
By grace are you saved through faith, and that is not of yourselves. The grace didn't come from you,
the faith didn't come from you, and the salvation didn't come
from you. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should
boast. The Scriptures are abundantly
clear. Works have nothing to do with salvation. Works have
no place in the scheme of grace. Salvation by grace, however,
is perfectly righteous and lawful salvation. He who is God our
Savior is a just God and a Savior. Jesus Christ brought in everlasting
righteousness for us. He paid our debt to the full
satisfaction of divine justice for us. For Christ also hath
once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened
by the Spirit. Salvation by grace alone promotes
good works. Paul tells us to be careful to
maintain good works. It tells us that God saved us
that we might work good works in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse
10. That is to say God ordained our
salvation that while we walk on this earth we might walk before
him in good works. Now this is going to come as
a shocker to folks who hear this who don't regularly attend a
gospel ministry. Good works don't have anything
on this earth to do with whether or not you go to the picture
show, or with whether or not you wear shorts in the summertime,
or with whether or not you eat pork, or with whether or not
you have a glass of wine with your meal, or with whether or
not you chew some Red Man or smoke Winston's or smoke a pipe.
Good works have nothing to do with any of the taboos of religion. Good works have nothing to do
with any of the taboos of religion. None whatever. When I was pastor
at Lookout Church, I suppose they still have it, hanging on
the wall behind me, a church covenant. And in the church covenant,
it was required that church members agree not to drink alcoholic
beverages as a as beverage, alcohol drinks as beverage. And every
time I dealt with this, I turned and pointed to the covenant.
I said, pay no attention to that. This is what the book says. This is
what the book says. Now, folks didn't like it, and
they didn't learn it. But pay no attention to that
nonsense. Pay no attention to the religious taboos of men.
But good works, always in the book of God, have to do with
love and mercy and kindness and forgiveness always. These are the good works for
which God foreordained his people. And those who are foreordained
to good works are going to walk in good works. Behold the crucified
Christ and understand grace reigns through righteousness. See the
love of God amazing. in the sacrifice of Christ. See
His justice, truth, and mercy in our Savior's sacrifice. Look,
O sinner, see God's glory, a just God and Savior too. Justly now,
in holy mercy, God can save and pardon you. Justice called, and
mercy answered. Jesus' blood has satisfied. Yes,
the blood our debt has canceled by the blood justified. Thirdly, God the Holy Spirit
tells us in our text that God's grace being righteous is mediatorial
grace. Grace reigns through righteousness,
that is through the divine mediator Jesus Christ our Lord. We are
Trinitarians, we worship God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost and
these three are one. We recognize that all three persons
in the Godhead are involved in the saving operations of grace.
But all the grace of God comes to sinners through the mediation
and merit of Jesus Christ, the one mediator between God and
man. That means that grace is divine. And if it is divine, it's irresistible,
invincible, and immutable. That simply means the grace of
God is sufficient. It can never fail. When David
sent his servants out to get Mephibosheth, he said, fetch
it. Fetch it. And that's what God
in his grace does for sinners. He fetches them to himself. It
was grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved,
How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed. Through
many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come. His grace
hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. One more thing. When the scriptures
declare that grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord, the Spirit of God is teaching us
that grace reigns omnipotently in every phase and every step
of God's salvation. What a big word salvation is.
It's such a comprehensive term that it includes every aspect,
every stage of the deliverance of a lost soul from sin to the
glorious consummation of eternal life in heaven. Every aspect
of salvation is by grace alone. Boasting excluded, pride I abase. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Trace out what God does for sinners
in saving us by his grace as it's revealed in this book. And
you will find that every aspect of that salvation is attributed
to grace, and none of it is attributed to you. Every aspect is attributed
to the will of God and none of it to your will. Every aspect
of it is attributed to the work of God and none of it to your
work. So that we say with David, not
unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory
for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Grace has made Christ unto
us. wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption. So that by Christ alone, we know
God. By Christ alone, we know God. Not by our study, not by our
investigation, not by our deep learning. By Christ alone, we
know God. He is our wisdom. He's made of
God unto us righteousness. Righteousness. He is the righteousness
of God by which we are justified and He is the righteousness of
God by which we are regenerated. He is righteousness imputed to
us and righteousness imparted to us so that Christ is all the
righteousness we have. We do not possess any inherent
righteousness by nature. We do not have any righteous
ability in us. We cannot perform personal righteousness. But Christ is our righteousness,
and that righteousness which God has given us in Christ is
our personal righteousness, so that we are justified before
God without sin. righteous before God made new
creatures in Jesus Christ the Lord. And he is made of God and
to us sanctification. Sanctification. Sanctification,
like redemption, takes in so very, very much. But all the
way through the book of God, everywhere in this book where
the scriptures speak of sanctification, it is spoken of as a work of
God. I know everywhere tell us that you've got to do your part.
God saves us but now we've got to do something to sanctify ourselves.
Paul asked the Galatians after he had clearly demonstrated their
heresy doctrine concerning justification by works was wrong. He turns
to sanctification in Galatians 3 and says, having begun in the
Spirit are you now made perfect by the flesh? He said, who has
bewitched you? Who cast a spell over you? Well,
that's nonsense. That's nonsense. You can't sanctify
yourself. Sanctification throughout this
book is attributed to God. We were sanctified by God the
Father in eternal election before the world began. He set us apart
to himself. Jude, verse 1. We're sanctified
by the blood of Jesus Christ, who by His blood has perfected
forever them that are sanctified, washed, and made holy from our
sins by the precious blood of Christ. And we're sanctified
by God the Holy Spirit in the new birth, forming Christ in
you, the hope of glory, so that we stand before God holy. Holy. with holiness without which
no man shall see the Lord. Holiness that is the free gift
of God's grace. And we are made to have Christ
as our redemption. Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God has made into us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. Christ redeem me. My only hope,
my only plea is that Christ died. He died for me. He is my redemption. I have no hope before God but
Christ. I have no hope before God but
Christ. Brother Scott Richardson got
done preaching one day. A lady came up to him and said
to him, Is Christ enough? He said, if He's all you got,
He is. If He's all you got, He is. And
if you've got something else, you don't have Him. If you've
got something else, you don't have Him. I've been reading James Hervey's
biography. Like most folks, he kept struggling
with his own righteousness until he met a farmer one day. farmer
who used to sit under Philip Doddridge's ministry when he
was alive. And this old man, he and the preacher, Herbie was
a preacher, but he didn't know God from a billy goat. And he
would trot along through the field following this farmer.
And he would ask him all kinds of questions. The farmer finally
said, what is it that you think is the most difficult thing about
salvation, about faith in Christ? Preacher said to him, denying
self, denying my sinful self. And the plowman, the farmer went
on a little ways and he said, might I suggest another thing
more difficult? And Hervey said to him, what
could that be? He said, denying my righteous self. Denying my righteous self. There's the difficulty. Jesus Christ is made of God and
to us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. All my deliverance from sin and
all its consequences is by the blood of Christ, God's darling
Son. and by the grace of God through
Jesus Christ, my Redeemer. Would you have grace? All-sufficient, saving grace,
the Son of God bid you come to Him and obtain all His grace. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. I'll give you
rest. Oh, you struggle and struggle
and struggle and struggle and you can't find rest. And you
reform your life and you can't find rest. And you say, well,
I'll go listen to the preacher today and you go home and you
still can't find rest. And you start to read your Bible
and you can't find rest. And you start trying to act better
and you can't find rest. If you will fall down on Christ,
You'll find rest for your soul. You'll find rest for your soul.
God help you. Oh God help you as only he can.
Right where you are now to come to Christ. To believe on the
Son of God and find rest in grace. All sufficient grace through
Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.