Chapter 2 of Ephesians. I want
to begin with verse 1 by way of introducing this message,
verse 1 of Ephesians 2. Our text is verse 8 and 9, salvation
by grace through faith. But in the first three verses
of this chapter, you have a picture of what we were by nature, by
birth. He says in verse 1, and you who
are saved, who are redeemed, whom the Lord hath quickened,
you were dead in trespasses and sins. You were dead in trespasses
and sins. And then he says, you walked
in time past, before your conversion, before your quickening, you walked. This was your course of life.
This was your bent of your will, the direction of your life. You
walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, in other words, fulfilling Satan's
will under his dominion, under his power. The spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience is the same spirit that worked
in us before the Lord redeemed us. In verse 3, it says, among
whom also we all, every one of us without exception. We're not
talking of the more degraded here, the more depraved. We're
talking of every one of us. We had our conversation in times
past in the lust of our flesh. And I told my Sunday school class
this morning that when you see the word lust, the immediate
thought that enters your mind is it has to do with sexual thoughts
alone, but that's not true. The Bible uses the word lust
not only in reference to impure thoughts in this field and area,
but also men can lust for power. They can lust for fame. They can lust for possessions.
They can lust for applause. You see, it's desire. The word
is desire. The word is passion. And we followed
the lust of our flesh or the desires of our flesh. Watch it.
Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. We did
what we wanted to do. We had our way, our will, in
opposition to God's way and His will. Your thoughts, God said,
were not my thoughts. and your ways were not my ways.
And this is what repentance is. It's forsaking our thoughts and
forsaking our ways and walking in his ways. And he says not
only that, but we were by nature, by birth and by nature, by the
condition of our hearts and the condition of our mind. We were
by nature, by birth, children of God's wrath, not under his
love, Not under his mercy, but under his wrath, just like everybody
else, even as others. Now, this is a terrible picture,
but it's a picture of every one of us before the Lord was pleased
to regenerate us, quicken us, and give us a knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Without hope, without Christ,
without God, dead. dead. Isaiah said the whole head
was sick, the whole heart was faint. From the sole of our feet
to the top of our heads, there was no soundness, nothing but
wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. None that did do good,
none that understandeth, altogether become unprofitable. Now watch
the first two words of verse four. Now that's our condition.
That's the way we were born. That's the way we were by nature.
That's the way we were by choice. That's the way we were by practice.
Dead, walking according to Satan's power, Satan's leadership, children
of God's wrath under the judgment of God, guilty. What the law
saith, it saith to everyone under the law that every mouth may
be stopped and the whole world guilty before God. That's our
condition. That's our condition. Now here are the two words, but
God. It doesn't say, but we changed our ways. It doesn't say, but
we had a change of mind and heart. It doesn't say, but we were different.
No, it says, but God. The whole difference is this,
but God. But God. Now it says in this
next line, he's rich in mercy. But God who is holy, but God
who is righteous, But God who is just and will by no means
clear the guilty, but God Almighty who is holy is also rich in mercy. Now that's where salvation, we
talk about the plan of salvation. The plan of salvation is not
a plan for us to carry out. It's not a plan for us to fulfill. I hear preachers say, well, here's
God's glorious plan of salvation. You hear, you repent, you believe,
and you confess. That is not the plan of salvation.
The plan of salvation was that God was rich in mercy, and he
determined, he determined, he purposed to have a people like
Christ. And he chose those people in
Christ. And he made Christ their surety,
the surety of an everlasting covenant. He gave him as the
lamb slain, gave before the foundation of the world. In time he came
and died. He was buried and rose again.
He ascended to the right hand of God, where he intercedes for
all for whom he surety, representative, substitute, and high priest.
That's the plan of salvation. Now that's the plan of salvation.
You see, salvation, as far as God is concerned, is a plan and
a purpose which he worked out, which he fulfilled. As far as
you're concerned, it's a proclamation of a work already complete. There's
nothing for you to do to make his work effectual. You see,
you're dead. without hope, without God, without
Christ, in your sins, an enemy of God, an alien from the kingdom
of God, under the judgment and wrath of God. But God, who is
rich in mercy, He's not only, thank God, He's not only holy,
not only sovereign, not only righteous and just, but He's
rich in mercy. God is love, God is mercy. Now
watch the next line. for his great love wherewith
he loved us. God is rich in mercy. His justice
is going to be honored. His holiness is going to be magnified. But thank God, so is his mercy.
So is his mercy. So is his grace. He says, I will
be merciful. Moses says, show me your glory.
God says, I'll make my goodness pass before you. I will be merciful. God says, I will be just, I will
be holy, I will be righteous, but thank God, I will be merciful. To whom I will be merciful, I
will be gracious. God's going to be merciful, God's
going to be gracious. God, not only is God going to
show his mercy, but God loves some people. For his great love
wherewith he loved us. God's love, now listen to this.
John Gill uses these two words frequently. The moving cause. The moving cause. We have the
result of things, we have the effect of things, we have the
consequences of things. The love of God is the moving
cause of all his mercies. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't
come down here into the world to get God in the notion of loving
men. He came because God did love
men. It was God's love that sent Christ. For God so loved that he gave
his son. It doesn't say he gave his son
and as a result of Christ's coming he loved us. He loved us and
then he gave his son. His son is the gift of his love.
We are dead in the pit, in the cesspool, in the dunghill, helpless,
hopeless. Not caring for God. Not looking
to God. Not making any move toward God.
Not making any effort toward God. Not making any pleas to
God. But God is merciful. But God is merciful. But God
loved us. But God loved us. He loved us
in Christ. Not that we loved Him. He loved
us. We love Him because He first loved us. Here it is love, not
that we love God, but He loved us. It all started in his infinite,
eternal, everlasting love. He loved us. Alright, read on.
But God determined to be merciful. But God loved us. But God quickened
us together. Even when we were in this condition,
verse 5. Even when we were dead. Even
when we were not making one move. He right there is when he quickened
us together with Christ. Saul of Tarsus is an example
of this. Although Saul of Tarsus was deeply
religious, as most natural men are, this is one of the things
that a preacher learns if he ever learns the gospel. He learns
the condition of his heroes. He learns that they are dead
in sin, but they are religious even in that condition. Paul
said that. He said, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. I bear them
record. They have a zeal for God. Even though they're dead
in sin, they have a zeal for God. They're religious by nature. And he says here, even when we
were dead in sin, in this condition, God quickened us, made us alive. gave us life in Christ and with
Christ. And all the life that God has
for men is in Christ. All that God does toward, for,
and in a sinner is because of and through that sinner's relationship
with the Lord Jesus Christ. We were chosen in Him. We were
redeemed in Him. We were quickened in him, we
are seated in Christ. And throughout the ages of eternity,
we shall be joint heirs with Jesus Christ. All right, let's
see now what we've got now, so far. You see our condition, what
we were. The difference, but God. His
attribute of mercy will be magnified. His attribute of grace will be
magnified. God loved us, and even when we
were in that condition, not making any move toward Him, not as a
result of what we did, God loved us and quickened us together
with Christ, and He says here in verse 6, and hath already
raised us up together. What does that mean? That means
this, through my representative, the Lord Jesus Christ, I have
already died, already been buried, and already risen again. And
by His grace, I'm already accepted in the Beloved and seated on
the right hand of God. He hath raised us up together
with Christ and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. Now, what's the goal of all this?
What's the grand design of redemption? Well, the grand design of redemption,
there's lots of them. There's lots of designs, but
there's one grand design. God has determined to put an
end to everything contrary to Himself. God has determined to
have a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
God has determined to have a people just like the Lord Jesus Christ.
But the grand design of redemption is that Christ may have the preeminence,
that he may be exalted above all creation. Watch this now,
that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches
of His grace in His kindness toward us through Jesus Christ. He's going to be exalted. He's
going to be magnified. The trophies of His grace will
be shown to all the universe for His glory. And at His knee,
at His throne, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess
that He's Lord to the glory of God the Father. Now verse 8. There is a present salvation. We talk about the ages to come.
What God's going to do and what God's going to show and what
God's going to reveal. But verse 8 tells us there is
a present salvation. Now watch this. For by grace
are you saved. And the better translation reads
this way. For by grace you have been saved. For by grace you have been saved. Salvation, my friends, is not
something only that we're going to enjoy in heaven and throughout
eternity. Salvation is a present possession. Now let me show you that in the
Word of God. Turn to 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. You read throughout the Old Testament
of men who had assurance and confidence that they were redeemed.
David said, the Lord is my shepherd. God is my refuge. God is my dwelling
place. God is my hiding place. God is
a very present help in time of trouble. You hear Job saying,
I know that my Redeemer liveth. You hear the other disciples
giving this sort of testimony, but listen to John here in 1
John 3, 2. Beloved, now, right now, are
we sons of God? We're right now sons of God.
Not going to be. We are now sons of God, and it
does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know, we know. And
you'll find that the whole book of 1 John is seasoned with love,
but it's also, it's also characterized by this word, K-N-O-W. We know. We know. That when he shall appear, we
shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. We know, John
says, that we have passed from death into life. We know that
we're saved. That's what he's saying, because
we love the bread. So there's a present salvation. Now look
at 1 John 5. 1 John 5, verse 11. This is the record that God has
given to us eternal life. Now we're not talking about the
length of it. When you read eternal life in
the scripture, it's not talking primarily about how long it's
going to last, although that's true, it is eternal. We were
listening to a preacher one time, Brother Williams and I, he's
preaching on the radio, and he said, my subject this morning
is eternal life. Now he says, what is eternal
life? And he said, it's life eternal. Well, it's more than
that. Eternal life is not the length
of it alone. Eternal life is the quality of
it. It's the life of God. It's divine
life. It's this life that Adam lost
in the garden and more. You who were dead in trespasses
and sin, you weren't dead physically. You weren't dead mentally. You
were dead spiritually. And this eternal life here is
the divine life, spiritual life that we did not have before he
quickened us. And he hath given us eternal
life, and this life is in his Son. That's where it is. It's
in his Son. And he that hath the Son hath
life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Now
watch this verse. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may
know that you may know that you that you may know that you have
eternal life you have it it's a present possession it's a present
salvation for by grace you have been saved you have eternal life
and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God now skip
down to verse 20 and John says again and we know that the Son
of God is come and hath given us an understanding that we may
know Him that is true, that we may know we're in Him that is
true, even in His Son Jesus Christ, this is the true God, this is
eternal life. We've got to understand where
we were, dead, lifeless. We've got to understand that
it didn't start with us, this eternal life, this mercy of God,
it was born in His mercy. But God, who is rich in mercy,
but God who loved us, but God who quickened us, even when we
were dead and sick, quickened us together with Christ, but
God raised us and made us sit together in heavenly places.
That in the ages to come, He, He may show the riches of His
grace, not our works, not show what faithful, loyal servants
we've been, but through the ages to come, He might show the exceeding
riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Jesus Christ. For
by grace you have been saved. It's a present possession. We
have passed from death unto life. Now watch this next point here.
There is a present salvation. Right now, we are We are redeemed. Now, I know that salvation in
the scriptures is considered in three tenses. You have been
saved, you are being saved, and your salvation is nearer than
when you believe. But all whose salvation is nearer
have been saved, Jay. And all whose salvation is to
be revealed are being saved. Our Lord Jesus said, All that
my Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to
me out of no wise cast out. And he says, All that the Father
giveth me I'll raise at the last day. All whom he raises are those
who were given to him. But there is a present salvation.
Now, what's this statement here? In Ephesians 2, he says, For
by grace are you saved. My friends, a present salvation. That's what we're talking about.
There is a present. I am saved. God saved me. God redeemed. But I am saved.
It's a gift I have now. Now you're sons of God. But a
present salvation has to be by grace. It has to be all of grace. It has to be free, unmerited
favor. In my hands, no price I bring,
simply the cross of Christ I cling. Could my tears forever flow?
Could my zeal no respite know? These for sin could not atone.
Christ must save, and Christ alone. Noah found grace in the
eyes of the Lord. Throughout the Old Testament,
they say, Lord, if I have found grace in thy sight, a present
salvation, a salvation which a man possesses and enjoys and
experiences right now has to be by grace. It has to be for
three reasons. Number one, if men are lost,
salvation must be by grace. If men are lost, if men are totally
lost, if they have no merit, if they have no works, if they
have nothing to recommend them to God, if they do not have any
desire toward God and Christ said you will not come to me
that you might have life, then salvation must be all of grace. It must be all of God if men
are lost. Secondly, If salvation could
be accomplished any other way than by grace, God was a monster
to send his son to endure what he endured. Now you think about
that a little while. If there's any other way for
God to save sinners other than giving his son, that's the way
God should have chosen. And then thirdly, There is no
man who can claim a present salvation except those who believe it's
all of grace. No man. I don't care who it is,
the only person in this world, now listen to me carefully, the
only person in this world who can have any assurance of salvation
Any confidence that he is saved, S-A-V-E-D, that he is forgiven,
justified, sanctified, accepted of God, and he is certain and
sure to live eternally in the kingdom of God is the man who
believes that salvation from start to finish is all of grace.
You know why? For this reason. If it's by works
in any way, if works makes any contribution, If works has any
part, if works enters in anywhere, the work is not yet complete.
The work is not yet complete. You have not finished your course.
Therefore, the salvation, if works enter in anyway, is not
yet yours. It does not yet belong to you.
You cannot yet have a complete, secure, present salvation because
you yet may fail. That's so. The creature always
has failed under every condition, in every test. He's always failed. Go back to heaven. There in heaven,
when everything was so perfect, so pure, so holy, yet the angels
failed. The Garden of Eden, when God
made man and put him in perfect surrounding, even gave him his
presence, man failed. Here was a man called Noah. God
destroyed the whole world and preserved him and his family
alive. floated him away on a ship of salvation, brought him down,
planted a vineyard, overindulged, and got drunk. As a result of his drunken spray,
great judgment came upon one of his sons. Israel, a people
whom God miraculously delivered from slavery and bondage, 400
years in slavery, miraculously brought them out. from Egypt
through the wilderness, preserved them miraculously for 40 years,
fed them, gave them water, clothed them. Their clothes didn't wear
out for 40 years. Their shoes didn't wear out.
They saw the miracles and power of God. Only two of them, out
of all those people that left Egypt, only two of them. And
they claimed there were two or three million of them. Only two
of them that were over 20 years of age went into the Promised
Land. They died in the wilderness, their carcasses fell in the wilderness
through unbelief. God gave David the most powerful
kingdom the world had ever seen. Exalted him to a higher position
than any king had ever known. Not only a king of a great nation,
but God's own peculiar, particular, selected king. And David's last
30 years of his reign were years of tumult and trouble and division
and strife all because of his own rebellion. God told David,
do not number Israel. He went out and told Joab, number
Israel. Joab said, David, God told you
not to number Israel. You just do what I said, he said.
Solomon, God gave him more wisdom. Talk about wisdom. He gave him
more wisdom than he'd ever given any man. And yet he played the
fool as much as any man who ever walked on this earth. The Lord
Jesus Christ came down here to this earth and picked out, hand-picked
by his sovereign choice, 12 men to be his personal disciples.
One of them sold him for $18. Now, I'm telling you this, and
I repeat it and I insist, if salvation is not wholly of grace,
100%, in its planning, in its execution, in its application,
in its sustaining power, in its ultimate perfection. If there's
my works makes any contribution whatsoever in any vein or any
way, I'm going to hell. Now, that's the fact, and so
are you. And the only man who can claim
any present salvation, any security, any assurance, any man, the only
person to say, I am redeemed. I'm redeemed. The only person
who can say that is the man who knows God redeemed him 100% by
His grace. It can't be any other way. It
just can't be. If works have any part, play
any part whatsoever, enter in in any way, then we're going
to fail because the creature has always failed, does fail
now and always will fail. The only reason that we don't
totally make a mess of our lives continually is because God restrains
us. God, that's the truth, Jay. The
only reason why we don't totally make a mess is the restraining
hand of God. So there's a present salvation
from this condition. There's a present salvation.
And that present salvation is all of grace. It's the gift of
God, not of works, lest any man should boast. It's the gift of
God. It's the gift of God. Even, did you know repentance
is the gift of God? The scripture says, the goodness
of God leadeth thee to repentance. The scripture says that God hath
granted repentance to the Gentiles. Did you know faith is the gift
of God? That's what it says here, for by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, what's not of yourselves? The
faith's not. It is the gift of God. The faith's the gift of
God. You say, have you got another
verse? Yes sir, listen to this. It is given unto you, not only
to believe on him, but to suffer for his sake. Anything in us
that is commendable, anything in us that is spiritual, Anything
in us that will live forever came from glory. It's the gift
of God. Now everything that will go back
to the dust and everything that will perish under the judgment
of God and the wrath of God is of our own, is of our own origination. But everything that will go back
to heaven came from heaven. That's so. Now here's the third
point. Listen to this. This is the one
I want to get to and stay with for a moment. There's a present
salvation, it's all of grace, but that present salvation must
be through faith. Must be through faith. Now watch
this. For by grace, by grace, and grace is unmerited favor,
unearned, unmerited, unsought, unbought, unpurchased. It's by
grace that you're saved, that you have been saved, but it's
through faith. It's through faith. Now, faith
is essential. Let me read you some scripture.
Number one, it says, without faith, it's impossible to please
God. Our Lord said to several people,
thy faith, thy faith hath made thee whole. To one, thy faith
hath saved thee. Thy faith hath saved. Listen
to this, the just shall live by faith. That's written four
times in God's Word. The just shall live by faith. And you can go to the book of
Hebrews and read, by faith, Enoch walked with God. By faith, Abel
offered a more perfect sacrifice than King. By faith, Noah being
warned of God, built an ark to the salvation of his house. By
faith, Abraham left his father's house and went to land that God
would show him. By faith, Noah. By faith, David. By faith, Sarah. By faith, Enoch
prophesied of the coming of the Lord. Our Lord, now watch this, our
Lord has no unbelieving disciples. He that believeth on the Son
of God, he that believeth hath eternal life. He that believeth
not shall never see life. He that believeth hath life.
The Philippian jailer came to Paul and said, what must I do
to be saved? He said, believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. The eunuch said, here's water.
What does hinder me from being baptized? And Philip said to
him, if you believe, you may. Our Lord has no unbelieving disciples.
He has no unwilling disciples. He has no reluctant bride. He
has no followers in chains. He has no followers in chains.
We may have men following us because of what we can give them,
because of the fear they have of us, or several other reasons.
But our Lord's disciples all willingly follow Him. Now listen
to these scriptures. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Come unto me, and I'll give you
rest. Listen to Romans 10, 9, and 10. If thou shalt confess
with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe in thine heart God
hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. It's true
He draws us. It's true He woos us. It's true
He enables us. It's true He equips us. But we
come willingly. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. Turn to John 6. Let me show you
something over here. John chapter 6. John 6 verse
37. Our Lord said this. Now listen.
John 6 verse 37. All that my Father giveth me
shall come to me. Now there's the eternal choosing,
eternal election. eternal purpose God the father
gave to the son of people and he said they're all coming Now
what's the next line and him that cometh and? him that cometh I'll in no wise
cast out for I came down from heaven not to do mine own will
but the will of him that sent me and This is the will of him
that sent me that of all which he had given me I should lose
nothing But raise it up at the last day. This is the father's
will which has sent me that all he had given me I should lose
nothing but raise it up again at the last day now watch verse
40 and this also is the will of him that sent me that everyone
that seeth the son and and embraces Him, and receives Him, and believes
on Him, may have eternal life. And I'll raise him up at the
last day. I am not His until I'm willingly
His. That's so. I am not His. I am not the Lord's until I'm
willingly the Lord's. He wills to help me. He wills
to redeem me. He wills to save me. Stay with
me. He wills for me to be his child,
his bride, his bond slave. But before I can be his totally
and completely, I've got to come willingly. Now listen to me.
You take me out in your yard and you say, this is my dog.
I say, whose dog is it? My dog. Well, why is he chained? Why has it changed? Are you afraid
if you let him go he'll leave? Now think about this a minute. If you turn him loose and take
him out of the fence and he stays, he's your dog. But if you have
to keep him in the fence and keep him chained, he's anybody's
dog. He's not yours. You may have
a prisoner shut up in jail and he waits on you and serves you.
He sweeps your rug and cleans your house and washes your dishes
and takes care of your house, your floors, and you say, that's
my servant. Open the front door and let him
get a glimpse of the outside world. I'll say if he stays with
you, he's your servant. If he doesn't, he's not your
servant. You see what I'm saying? Our Lord Jesus Christ turned
to Exodus 21. This is why faith is essential. This is why faith is necessary.
Paul called himself the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
said, Paul, a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. That word
servant is bond slave. Now here's a picture of it in
Exodus 21. Now then, these are the judgments
which I shall set before them. Verse 2, Exodus 21. Exodus 21. If you buy a Hebrew servant,
six years he'll serve you. In the seventh year, he'll go
free. Now you're going to find out if he's your servant. The
seventh year, turn him loose. Turn him loose. If he came in
by himself, he's going out that way. If he was married, take
his wife with him. If his master's given him a wife,
she born him sons and daughters, he's a slave. The wife and her
children shall remain with the master and he'll go out by himself.
But, if that servant shall plainly say, plainly say, I love my master,
my wife and my children, I will not go free. I will not go free. Then his master shall bring him
to the judges. We're going to make it official.
He shall also bring him to the door or into the door post. His master shall bore his ear
through with an awl. He shall serve him forever. He's
his bond slave, which is a willing, loving servant. Now then, these
six years that he served him, he may have bought him. He may
have determined to have it. He might have gone down to the
auction and saw him there and he says, I want that one right
there. I want that man. Big, strong, stalwart serpent. I want him. I'll pay for him.
He bought him. He brought him to his house. He served him six
years. He's still not his, Jack. He
can't claim him. I'll tell you when he can claim
him. When he opens that door and says to that serpent, you're free
to go. And that servant looks at him
with tears in his eyes, says, I like it here. I like it here. I'm going to stay. Well, now,
you know what the terms are if you stay. I know exactly what
they are. I know exactly what they are. This is where I'm going
to stay. That's faith, you see. And that's when a man belongs
to the Lord. And he doesn't belong to the Lord till that takes place.
Till that takes place. Election is not salvation. It's
unto salvation. It's unto salvation. God chose
us unto salvation. You're chosen from the foundation
where? Unto salvation. Salvation is by faith. You see
what I'm saying? By faith. Now then, there's a
lot of things that enter into this bond slave's willingness
to stay. He recognizes the great beauty
of his master. He recognizes the glory of his
master. He recognizes his master has more to offer. than all the
outside world. Our Lord stood with his disciples
one day and preached to a great crowd of people and they were
offended by what he said and began to get up and leave. You
know what he did? He turned to the twelve and he
said, Will you also go away? And they said, Lord, to whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. They are now disciples. And that's what a man's saved.
We're justified by faith. It's not that faith justifies.
It's Christ that justifies. It's God that justifies. But
no man is justified without and apart from faith. No man belongs
to the Lord till he willingly, lovingly belongs to the Lord
by an act of faith in his own heart. by an act of faith. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe in thine heart God has raised
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. You see, the Lord Jesus
Christ, how many of you would like to be married to a woman
who only stayed with you because she's scared to leave? How many
of you would like to be married to a person, the only reason
they stayed with you is because you bought them pretty things,
they didn't love you. Be glad when you're dead, you
rascal you. You remember that song? He's not yours. He may live with
you, but he's not yours. He's not yours. He may live with
you, but he's not yours. And our Lord doesn't have a bride
like that. I'm with Him because I don't want to go nowhere else.
You see what I'm saying? I'm His servant because I don't
want to serve anybody else. That's when you belong to Christ.
And that's for by... Let's go back to our text. For
by grace are you saved, and don't ever leave this out, my preacher
brethren, through faith. Through faith. Over in Peter
it said we are kept by the power of God through faith. Through
faith. Let me show you that over there
in 1 Peter. You ought to mark that in your Bible. We are kept
by 1 Peter 1, verse 5. Listen, we are kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed. But don't
forget the faith. Don't forget the faith. Now I'll
close with this. In Ephesians 2, there's a present
salvation. You are saved. It's by grace
that you're saved. It's through faith. That not
of yourselves, it's a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man
should boast. Verse 10, for we are His workmanship
created in Christ Jesus. Now this is one of those orthodox
paradoxes. He just says in verse 9, it's
not of works, it's not of works, it's not of works. Turns right
around verse 10 and says we're created unto good works. I insist that salvation is all
of grace, plus nothing, minus nothing. I insist that a profession
of genuine faith, which does not produce good works, is an
idle boast. You see what we're saying? That's
what he's saying right here. It's not of works. Justification
of your soul is not of works. It's a gift of God. But your
faith is justified by your works. There's no conflict between James
and between the Apostle Paul and Romans. The Apostle Paul
is clearly talking about the justification of the soul is
strictly by the grace of God. And James is talking about the
justification of our faith is strictly by works. That's how
faith is revealed. That's how faith is demonstrated.
That's how faith is known by others, by our works. It's not of works. And yet we're
created in Christ Jesus, we're quickened in Christ Jesus, we're
redeemed in Christ Jesus on two good works which God before ordained
that you should walk. Not according to the course of
this world, but in them. Not according to the Prince of
the Power there, but in them. Not according to your own lust
and desire, but in them. God's ordained that this is now
your walk. When He found us, that was our
walk. Now that He has found us, this is our walk. And before
He regenerated us, that was our walk because that's where we
wanted to walk. After He regenerated us, this
is our walk because this is where we want to walk. And it all is
because but God. But God. Our Father in Heaven,
bless this message tonight. Do with Thy Word what no man
can do, and that is, quicken it to our understanding and to
our profit and to thy glory. By grace, thy grace, we have
been saved through faith. We have a little better understanding
of the necessity of faith, of the part which faith plays in
the redemption of our souls. And Lord, we're regenerated and
redeemed and saved to walk, not in the old paths, not in the
ways of the world and the ways of our flesh, but in a new life,
in a new way, in Christ Jesus our Lord. That we may glorify
his matchless name and glorify his mercies. We ask thee to use
this message now for the glory of him who loved us and gave
himself for us. We pray it in his name. Amen.