I did choose thee, Lord, for
Lord that could not be. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nider. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nyberg. I've entitled the message I'd
like to bring this morning, Understanding Sovereign Grace. Understanding
Sovereign Grace. A couple of years ago, my family
and I went to the Grand Canyon and we were going to be staying
in Phoenix, Arizona over the weekend. And I wanted to see
if there was a church there that believed grace, as I understand
the Bible teaches it. So I googled Sovereign Grace
Phoenix. And I found a church called the
Sovereign Grace Church in Phoenix, Arizona. And I got on their website,
and I found out that what they meant by sovereign grace, and
what I meant by sovereign grace, or what I believe the Bible means
by sovereign grace, were two completely different things. Now, how do I understand this
thing of sovereign grace? Now, the term sovereign grace
is actually becoming more popular. There was an article in Time
Magazine in the last year entitled, The New Calvinism, when it was
talking about some of the issues of sovereign grace. And when
something becomes more popular, you can be assured that it's
becoming corrupted. The offense has been removed. There's an attempt to make it
easier to receive, more palatable to the flesh. So, I want to see
if we can understand what the Bible means by sovereign grace. Now, what does sovereign mean
when we speak of sovereign grace? Well, it has to do with the sovereignty
of God. Sovereign means supreme power,
absolute control. God is sovereign. He does as He pleases, only as
He pleases, and always as He pleases. Now, you can't believe
that God is sovereign and also believe that man has a free will. The two are mutually exclusive. Now, what do I mean by man having
a free will? Men do what they want to do.
I wouldn't deny that. What you do today is exactly
what you want to do. Men do what they want to do,
but by free will is the teaching that man has the freedom to be
good, to be holy, to be acceptable to God. He can choose to be good
or he can choose to be bad. It's all in his choice. And the
Scripture denies that. The Scripture says man has an
evil nature, a sinful nature. Hence, the idea of free will
is foreign to the Scriptures. God doesn't even have a free
will in the sense that God's will is controlled by His nature. And if God is sovereign, God
is sovereign over man's will. God is in control of all things. God is sovereign. So, sovereign means God has absolute
control. Now, grace is God's unmerited
favor to sinful men. If there's anything that I can
do that will move God to do something for me, then what He does for
me is not grace. It's Him paying me for what I
have done. Now, actually, to call grace
sovereign grace is a tautology. A tautology would be like saying
all brown cows are brown. Of course, all brown cows are
brown. If it's grace, by definition,
it must be sovereign grace. It must be God doing as He pleases
without responding to men. It's Him doing as He pleases. If it is not sovereign, it is
not grace. Now, how would the Bible define
sovereign grace? And I want to know. I don't want
to just get my opinion on something. How would the Bible define this
thing of sovereign grace? Now, the word sovereign is not
in the Bible, but neither is the word trinity. But the trinity
is found on every page of the Bible, beginning in the first
chapter of Genesis, and so is sovereign grace. Now, I'd like
to read a passage from Romans chapter 5. Verses 20 and 21,
and if you want to have some understanding of what the Bible
means by sovereign grace, we're going to have to have some understanding
of what this passage of Scripture says. Now listen with me. Romans
chapter 5, verse 20. Paul said, 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." Now, I see six things in these two
verses that we must understand to have some understanding of
sovereign grace, or just grace, period. First, for me to understand
sovereign grace, I'm going to have to have some understanding
of the purpose of the law. Moreover, the law entered. Secondly, I'm going to have to
have some understanding of the place where sin abounds. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound. And thirdly, I'm going to have
to have some understanding of this thing of the reign of grace. That's where sovereign comes
from, the reign of grace. That as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign. And fourthly, I'm going to have
to understand something of righteousness. Grace reigns through righteousness. Fifth, I'm going to have to have
some understanding of eternal life. Grace reigns through righteousness
unto eternal life. And I'm going to have to have
some understanding that this is by our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace reigns through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, here's my first
point. Moreover, the law entered for
me to understand. Sovereign grace, I'm going to
have to have some understanding of the purpose of God's holy
law. Now, what does Paul mean when
he speaks of the law entering that the offense might abound?
Well, he's talking about the law that God gave to Moses on
Mount Sinai. You remember the story in the
book of Exodus, how Moses goes up to the mount and receives
the law written by the hand of God. You can read it in Exodus
chapters 20 through 23, God's holy law, God's requirements. And for brevity's sake, I'm going
to confine it to the Ten Commandments. Most people are familiar with
the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt have no other gods
before me. The commandment against idolatry. The commandment regarding
taking the name of the Lord in vain. The commandment concerning
remembering the Sabbath day. to keep it holy, the commandment
concerning honoring your father and mother and respecting authority,
the commandment concerning murder, sexual sin, stealing, bearing
false witness, and coveting, the ten commandments. Now, the
law entered, the ten commandments entered that the offense might
abound. Now, here's what God's law tells
us, these three things. God's law tells me that God is
holy. He's absolutely just. He's not
going to give you three strikes. One strike, you're out. The law
knows nothing of mercy in the sense that God requires perfect
holiness. How good do you have to be for
God to accept you? You have to stand perfect before
the holy law of God. That is God's requirement. I
have to be as good as God. I have to have a perfect standing
before that holy law of God. I can never have lied. I could never have coveted. I
could never have murdered. All the Ten Commandments, I have
to keep them perfectly to be accepted by a holy God. Now,
secondly, the law exposes the character of man. Listen real
carefully. I don't become a liar. when I
lie. I lie because I'm a liar. I don't become a thief when I
shoplift. I'm a thief because I already
am a thief in my heart, and that's why I steal. The law exposes
character. Paul said the law was not made
for a righteous man, but for the lawless and the disobedient. You can read that in 1 Timothy
1.9, the law exposes the character of man, a law breaker, sinful. It gives us God's requirement
and it exposes the sinful character of man. And notice what Paul
says, the law entered that the offense might abound. There's the purpose of God's
law. The law entered that the offense might abound. Now, we generally think of law
as restraint against sin, and no doubt with regard to human
laws, it is a restraint against sin. I mean, we couldn't even
have a society if we didn't have any laws. We couldn't have it
so we couldn't go outside or go to the store. We'd be murdered.
We'd be robbed. We need laws in that sense, but
the holy law of God does not restrain sin. It exposes it,
and it stirs it up. Look in Romans chapter 7, beginning
in verse 7, Paul says, What shall we say then? Is the law sin?
Is the law bad? God forbid, nay, I had known
sin, but by the law, for I had not known lust, except the law
had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the
commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence, or evil
desire, coveting things. For without the law, sin was
dead, for I was alive without the law once. But when the commandment
came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was
ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking
occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
Wherefore, the law is holy, the commandment holy, and just, and
good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God
forbid, but sin, that it might appear sin. working death in
me by that which is good, that sin by the commandment might
become exceeding sinful." Now, here's what Paul's saying in
a nutshell. All we have to hear is, don't covet, and we'll begin
to covet. You can't keep from it. You can't
stop it because we have a sinful nature. Now, if I look at God's
holy law and fail to see that I've not kept one commandment
one time, I am in darkness, and I have no understanding of God's
holy law. I'm bringing it down to my level,
and I also will not understand my need of sovereign grace. The purpose of the law, the law
entered that sin might abound. Now, to understand sovereign
grace, there must be some understanding of that place where sin abounds,
that place where sin overflows. Let's read the verse of Scripture
again. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound
and overflow. The law shows me that all I do
is sin, all I am is sin. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. Now, somebody thinks, well, sin
abounded in Hitler. Well, no doubt it did. But have you ever
seen that sin abounds in you? That all you are is sin, that
sin is behind everything you do, that you haven't kept one
commandment one time. All you are is sin. Somebody
says, no, I'm not like that. Well, okay, but you cut your
own throat because the only place where grace abounds is where
sin abounds. Paul put it this way, the law
is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin, a slave to sin. The Lord said, Whosoever committeth
sin is the servant of sin. God said in Genesis chapter 6,
verse 5, And God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually. Sin abounds. Now, sin abounds
in me. That means that all I do in and
of myself is sin. It means I cannot not sin. It means that I can't look down
my nose in moral superiority over anybody. Sin abounds. I've got no excuses. I can't
blame it on my upbringing. I can't blame it on society.
I can't say I'm a victim. It's all my fault. Sin abounds
in me. And if God passed me by, if He
saved everybody but me and never gave me any mercy and let me
drop into hell, I'd have to say He's just, holy, and righteous. I couldn't complain on God. I
have no I have no claims on God because of my sin. Now, here's
the good news about this. That place where sin abounds,
we have this promise. Grace does much more abound. Beloved, if you're a real sinner,
I mean a real sinner the way I've described, God's revealed
that to you. You wouldn't even know it unless
God revealed it to you, and you're a place where His grace is going
to abound. He said, I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. Thirdly, to understand sovereign
grace, I must understand something about the reign of grace. Now, Paul says where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. Grace is God's unmerited favor,
not offered, but given. without it being earned in any
way. God's grace is in no way dependent
upon human works, worth, or will. It depends solely on God's will
and cannot be earned by merit nor lost by guilt. Grace is absolutely free of human
influence If human influence is involved in any way, it ceases
to be grace. Now, in verse 21, Paul says that
as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign. Now, sin is described here as
a tyrannical king in its reign. Now, it's the one who controls.
And here's the way Paul points this out, that is, sin hath reigned
unto death. Here's how powerful the reign of sin is. It ends
in death. And what can you do to prevent
death? If you were never exposed to
any sickness, if you took perfect care of yourself, if you ate
perfect foods, it wouldn't keep you from dying. If you locked
yourself up in a room where you couldn't catch anything from
anyone and you were never exposed to illness, you're still going
to die because you're a sinner and there's nothing you can do
to prevent it. You can't say, well, I'm not
going to die. I'm not going to let that happen. Yes, you will.
You can't prevent it. Sin has complete reign and that's
seen in the fact that you and I cannot stop death. But hear the gospel. Just as
you cannot prevent the reign of sin, you cannot prevent the
reign of grace. Grace is portrayed as a ruling,
reigning king whose will must be done. Grace is God's sovereign,
invincible, irresistible grace that will not take no for an
answer. Thank God for grace like that
where sin abounds, Is that you? Where sin abounds, is that me? In the place where sin abounds,
grace, reigning grace does much more abound. Oh, I love to think
of the reign of grace and salvation. It begins with electing grace. when God of His own free and
sovereign will, simply because He would, chose a number out
of Adam's race to be saved to the praise of the glory of His
grace. Romans 9, 11 says concerning
Jacob and Esau, 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's written,
Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated." That's God speaking.
How His grace reigns in divine election when He as an act of
His own sovereign will chooses who will be saved. Somebody says,
I don't like that. Well, I do. I like that. It glorifies
God. It tells us that God is God. How grace reigns in the justification
of the sinner. Being justified freely by His
grace. Oh, I love that. Being justified.
Cleared of all guilt. Every believer stands not guilty
because God by His grace caused this to be through the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. How grace reigns in the justification
of the sinner. And how grace reigns in the sin
payment. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption. that is in Christ Jesus, is there
anything in me or you that would have caused God to think it worth
sending His Son to save us? No. He did it freely by His grace. It wasn't some response to us
asking for it or us doing anything. Oh, what a gracious gift this
is. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish but have eternal life. How grace reigns in forgiveness,
full, free, everlasting, irreversible forgiveness. Not like man's forgiveness,
not like ours, narrow, half-hearted, with strings attached, but full,
free, bottomless, boundless, and absolute. Their sins and
their iniquities will I remember no more. How God's grace reigns
in calling, just like Lazarus who was dead. Lazarus, come forth! And he that was dead came forth
because grace reigns. It can't be stopped. Grace, oh,
I tell you what, I'm going to really see the reign of grace.
I see it now in the fact that I'm preserved. The fact that
I'm preserved is because He's able to keep me from falling.
That's the reason I haven't fallen away, because He keeps me. But
I'm going to understand something about the reign of grace when
I stand before God in judgment, and I'm going to be, hear Him
say to me, well done, thou good and faithful servant. What kind
of grace can make me perfectly conform to the image of the Lord
Jesus Christ where I stand before God in judgment and the thrice
holy God sees no sin in me? I'll understand at that time
how that salvation is all of grace. Only grace can do that. And next Paul says to understand
sovereign grace, I'm going to have to understand something
about this word of righteousness. Notice, he says, that as sin
had reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness. Now, understand this about God's
sovereign grace. It's righteous grace. It deals with sin as sin
is. It doesn't sweep sin under the
carpet. It doesn't make sin to be less
than what it is. No, all sin is punished. This
way of God's saving is a way that's His righteousness. He's
righteous in punishing sin, and He's righteous in saving the
sinner, in that the righteousness of Christ becomes my righteousness.
My sin became His, His righteousness becomes mine, and God is righteous
in saving somebody like me. This is righteous grace. And
then, next He says, unto eternal life. The only way eternal life
comes to a sinner. And that's the life of God in
his soul. That's the work of God the Holy
Spirit in his soul. That's the work of God in you.
The only way eternal life can come to the sinner is by the
grace of God, by the sovereign grace of God. There's no life
without it. And then I love the way he says
that righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. You see, Christ our Lord, the
Savior, is the author of sovereign grace. That's why it's so glorious.
That's why it's so true. He's the author of it, and He
is the subject of it. Now, I'd like to read a passage
of Scripture from Hebrews chapter 4. Remember, sovereign grace,
grace reigning, God's grace reigning from a throne. Hebrews chapter
4. The writer of the Hebrews says,
seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into
the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession,
for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities. But was in all points tempted
like as we are, yet without sin. Now somebody may think, how can
he be touched by the feelings of my infirmities if he's never
sinned? Well, he never sinned. When He
was on the cross, He never sinned. He knew no sin, yet all that
sin is, He was made to experience on the cross. He was made to
feel the shame of it and the humiliation of it and the guilt
of it, so He was made to cry out, My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? So He's touched by the feeling
of our infirmities. Verse 16, 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, who is called upon
to come boldly? Those who need mercy, who need
to find grace to help in time of need. How are they told to
come? Boldly, with confidence. What do they come for? to obtain
mercy and find grace to help. When do they come? In time of
need. Now, I want to close by thinking
about this thing of need. I need sovereign grace. I cannot be saved without God's
sovereign grace. I need God to elect me. I need
Christ to actually secure and accomplish my salvation. I need
God the Holy Spirit to give me life, to invincibly and irresistibly
cause me to live. I need to be preserved by the
grace of God. I need to be made just like the
Lord Jesus Christ. I need sovereign grace. I can't be saved without it.
That's why it's so precious to me. You know, if it's just an
intellectual thing, if it's just giving a seed to some facts,
nobody's going to... that's not even belief. I believe
sovereign grace, first, because I know it's what the Scripture
teaches, and second, because that's what I need. If it's not God's sovereign grace
given to dead sinners where He does all the work, I've got no
hope. I need sovereign grace, and I
need to hear it preached. Now, if you can do without it,
it's because you don't need it. The whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick. In Luke 9, verse 11, we read,
He healed them who had need of healing. Do you need sovereign
grace? I do. We have this message on
cassette tape, DVD and CD. If you call the church or write
or email, we'll send you a copy. praying that God will be pleased
to make himself known to you.