The Grace of God

Well, let's hear the word of God.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ,

in accordance with his pleasure and will, to the praise of his glorious grace,

which he has freely given us in the one he loves.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,

in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us.

With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will,

according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,

to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment,

to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him

who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ,

might be for the praise of his glory.

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth,

the gospel of your salvation.

When you believed, you are marked in him with a seal,

the promised Holy Spirit,

who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance

until the redemption of those who are God's possession,

to the praise of his glory.

And then in chapter 2 at verse 1,

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

in which you used to live,

when you followed the ways of this world

and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air,

the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

All of us also lived among them at one time,

gratifying the cravings of our flesh

and following its desires and thoughts.

Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

But because of his great love for us,

God, who is rich in mercy,

made us alive with Christ

even when we were dead in transgressions.

It is by grace you have been saved.

And God raised us up with Christ

and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus

in order that in the coming ages

he might show the incomparable riches of his grace

expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith.

And this is not from yourselves.

It is the gift of God,

not by works so that no one can boast.

For we are God's handiwork,

created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

which God prepared in advance for us to do.

So we can keep our Bibles there

as we think together about the saving grace of God.

What do we mean by grace?

When we think about saving grace,

it's important to have some clarity in that.

I was thinking about a bad reading habit of mine

that perhaps some of us can empathize with.

I'm trying to get a little bit better,

but I read a lot of older books

and some newer books as well.

But whenever I come across old words,

sometimes fancy words,

often, maybe you recognize this,

I try and have a stab at the meaning.

I kind of presume that I get the gist of it

so I can hopefully fill in the blank.

Sometimes that goes okay.

Sometimes it means my understanding of a sentence

or an idea is not very precise.

Sometimes it's just going to be flat out wrong.

And that can happen

when we think about Bible words.

Sometimes that can be the fancy Bible words,

the big long words, technical words,

but it can also be the case with a word like grace.

We can hear it perhaps a lot,

we can use it perhaps a lot,

and maybe we're not very precise about it.

Sometimes we can even get it just plain wrong.

So we're going to try and bring some clarity for ourselves

to recognize realities like God's grace is his love

that's freely shown towards sinners

who do not earn or deserve it.

We're going to see that very clearly.

We're going to see that grace is God showing his goodness

to people who deserve only judgment.

And Paul brings that to us very clearly.

And to recognize that the gospel tells us

that there is full and free grace

for all who come to Jesus.

In other words,

the message of the gospel stands as good news for all people,

and it doesn't insist on conditions before receiving it.

It doesn't say,

here's the list of criteria you need to pass,

here's the standard you need to reach.

So that,

as hopefully we have greater clarity on the gospel of grace,

as we think about God's grace,

it will cause us to love the God of grace

and the grace of God more.

To appreciate, in that sense,

the gift that we have been given.

Now, I think there are at least four basic truths

that stand behind saving grace.

for clear biblical truths

that are not necessarily popular truths

or truths that would be recognized and valued

in the times that we live in,

and perhaps never.

The first is that we, by nature,

are morally undeserving.

That's one of the premises of grace.

But we live in a culture

where we are encouraged from a very young age

to have a very high view of ourself,

to have a high view of our own goodness and ability.

And you couple that with

a loss of the sense of God,

a view of God's holiness,

a loss of the idea of sin.

And it's very easy then for people to imagine,

well, if there is a God,

then he must judge

what makes a good person

the same way that we would judge

what goodness looks like.

But the Bible is really clear, isn't it,

in the language that it uses.

So it will speak of people by nature

as being fallen

or being rebels against God,

of being guilty before God,

of being unclean

and therefore unworthy

of standing in God's presence.

So that's one basic truth.

Another one is,

and it's connected,

is that we are spiritually powerless.

And again,

this can be hard for us to hear,

especially if our understanding of religion

is about what we do.

And what Keith was talking about this morning,

religion without grace

will work on the assumption,

well, if there's a broken relationship with God,

well, I can fix it.

I can do something

to put God in my debt

to make God owe me

the way I live

by showing sacrifice

by my religion,

by my morality,

by my charity work.

That's a common misunderstanding

of how we are to be before God.

Because the Bible, again,

is clear that

by the law,

by law-keeping,

by our own goodness,

no one will be declared righteous.

So we're morally undeserving

and we're spiritually powerless.

And that's part of the backdrop to grace.

But then we also need to understand

realities about God as well.

Again, centrally,

the justice of God

needs to be held in view

if we're to understand God's grace

and appreciate it.

Again, think about the cultural air

that we breathe.

The essential virtue of our time

is tolerant.

Punishment is out.

We are often hearing,

you know,

a person has no right

to impose right and wrong

on another.

Each one is free

to decide right and wrong

for him or herself.

And that is to exclude

the ultimate standard of justice

that is God.

But, of course,

the Bible declares to us

that God is just,

that God will judge,

that God's character is holy,

therefore he must deal with sin.

And we need that.

And the last basic truth

behind saving grace

that we're going to think about

just now

is the idea of God's freedom.

The freedom of God

in extending grace.

There is,

I guess,

again,

a popular view.

It would say,

well,

God will forgive me.

God will forgive people.

That's his job.

If there is a God

and if he does anything,

then surely he's there

to forgive and to accept

and it's tolerance,

sort of,

bread large.

Is God obliged

to save everyone?

And maybe when pushed,

some people might say,

well,

maybe not the mass murders

and the tyrants

and the dictators.

But we are at risk

if we lose sight

of the reality

that mercy

is optional with God.

What we deserve

is justice.

If God shows mercy

and grace,

that's his right,

that's his freedom.

Exodus 33 and Romans 9

both say the same thing.

I will have mercy

on whom I will have mercy.

And so,

essential to understanding

the doctrine of the grace of God

is that God is free

in extending grace.

So,

when you put these four truths together,

we need to conclude

that our destiny,

then,

as people,

lies in God's determination

salvation

to save his people

from sins

by his free grace.

Now,

we could think about,

I was thinking,

I was finishing off

Knowing God again

by J.I. Packer.

He makes the excellent point

that from a psychological

point of view,

when a person comes to faith,

we make a real decision.

But theologically,

we understand that

that faith, too,

is a gift.

That from beginning to end,

salvation is a gift

of God's grace.

That we need God's grace,

I think,

would have become apparent

to us,

having read Ephesians 2,

reading those first three verses.

But doesn't it become

apparent to us as well

when we switch on the news

or switch on our computers

and see what happens

in the world?

When we were listening to,

some of us were listening

to a chap from OMF,

Rico Villanueva,

talking about lament.

And somebody asked

a really helpful question.

You know,

how do we deal

with the reality

that we could constantly,

24 hours a day,

be confronted

with the sadness

and the horror

that's happening

all around the globe?

We recognize that,

don't we?

Global news coverage

means we can constantly

feel overwhelmed

by the distress

and the sadness.

But you know,

one thing that that

also presents to us

is the overwhelming case

for human wickedness

and brokenness.

That 24-hour news cycle

challenges a naive optimism

that perhaps leads many

towards despair.

One of the things

that can happen

is we watch news coverage,

we think we can divide

into them and us.

We recognize true evil

and folks like Putin

and dictators

and those kind of things

and we can divide

and say,

well,

yeah,

of course they're evil,

but, you know.

Solzhenitsyn,

who was himself Russian,

when he was writing

his book,

The Gulag Archipelago,

he was forced

to make an honest assessment.

He went to prison

for criticizing Stalin

and he made the assessment

that the line

between good and evil

doesn't cut between states,

but it runs through

every human heart.

And Ephesians 2,

as we come to Ephesians 2,

it's going to do two things

for us as we spend

a little bit of time here.

It's going to, again,

reveal to us

a dark portrait

of humanity

without Christ.

And it's going to give us

a dazzling picture

of the beauty

of God's grace.

So we'll see

what it teaches

and we'll think about

what difference

it can make

for our everyday lives.

So let's begin

with this dark portrait

in the first three verses

of people

by nature.

Now I imagine

we are familiar

with

amnesia

and what happens

when a person

has amnesia.

It means that

for some reason

or other,

perhaps a trauma

or some kind of injury,

a person forgets

their past.

They forget

their story.

They can even forget

their identity,

who they are.

And one of the things

that's certainly true

for us as Christians

is that we can easily

have spiritual amnesia.

And perhaps

that can be a danger

the longer we go

in the Christian life.

We can forget

the amazing miracle

of being saved

by grace

when we spend

a prolonged period

of time

in the family of God.

And so here

in Ephesians 2

we have this reminder

of living death

without Jesus.

That we wouldn't have

that spiritual amnesia

that would lead us

to take grace

for granted.

So we can see

three different things

happening in each

of these verses.

So chapter 2

verse 1

begins,

As for you,

you were dead

in your transgressions

and sins.

So this was a reality

for Christians

in their past

before knowing

salvation through Jesus.

Dead.

Dead in transgressions.

That idea of trespassing

into forbidden territory.

Guilty of sins.

Missing the mark.

Like aiming

in archery

and falling short

of the target.

Missing God's

perfect standard.

Spiritually dead.

Walking corpses.

Spiritually dead

and also

verse 2

and into verse 3

slaves.

Dead in your transgressions

and sins

in which you used to live

when you followed

the ways of this world

and the ruler

of the kingdom

of the air.

And then verse 3

all of us who lived

among them

at one time

gratifying the cravings

of our flesh

and following

its desires

and thoughts.

Following

the ways

of the world

which here means

that world system

those values

that stand

opposed to God.

Following

the devil

the ruler

of the kingdom

of the air

believing his lies

living in disobedience

and following

the desires

of the flesh

those sinful desires

of the body

and of the mind

and with the reality

that there was no

escape from

that condition

slavery.

And because of that

end of verse 3

like the rest

we were by nature

deserving

of wrath.

Natural condition

standing under

the condemnation

of God

deserving

his wrath.

God's

righteous

personal

hostility

to evil.

His refusal

to compromise

with it

or to sweep it

under the carpet.

God's

necessarily

acting

in line

with his

perfectly

holy

character.

And so

Paul brings us

a reality check

brought it to

those first century

Christians.

Here is God's

view on humanity

without Jesus.

This was our

story

without

Jesus.

Spiritually

powerless

dead people

have no power

morally

undeserving

choosing

the path

of disobedience

in the way

of darkness.

As John

said

in chapter 3

of his

gospel

Jesus came

as light

and the people

chose darkness

instead

and actually

hate

the light.

And outside

of God's

grace

Paul is saying

this is

everyone's

story.

We think

about some

of the famous

stories that

Jesus taught

the parable

of the lost

sheep.

By nature

we are

hungry

and helpless

and at the

risk of the

elements and

of enemy

forces and

what we need

is a good

shepherd.

Think of the

good Samaritan

story.

By nature

we are the

guy who's

lying on the

roadside

powerless

and dying

and what we

need is a

good Samaritan

to rescue

us.

By nature

think about

the parable

of the

prodigal

son.

We are

either far

from home

and destroying

our lives

walking away

from our

father or

we misunderstand

his character

and we're

slaving away

trying to earn

something he

would freely

give and what

we need is

the welcome

of the

good father.

And so

Paul reminds

us that to

love the

grace of

God and

the God

of grace

we first

need to see

and appreciate

and constantly

remind ourselves

I think

of our need

and of our

spiritual

state

without

Jesus.

So that

when we get

to verse 4

to 10

we see

this dazzling

wonderful

picture of

God's

grace.

When we

think of

the hymn

that

probably

most

captures

for many

people

the idea

of God's

grace

we probably

think of

John Newton's

amazing grace

in that

first verse

he has

those lines

I once

was lost

but

now I'm

found

was blind

but now

I see

we find

that same

kind of

idea

here

in

Ephesians

Ephesians 2:4

2

verse 4

this is

what we

were

by

nature

this was

our

past

but

God

but

because

of his

great

love

for us

God

Ephesians

2

wants us

to sing

amazing

grace

as we

recognize

this was

us

by nature

but

God

transformation

comes

four

things

to

recognize

about

God's

grace

in

these

wonderful

verses

first of

all

God's

grace

is the

motive

for

salvation

look at

verse 4

and 5

but

because of

his great

love

for us

God

who is

rich

in

mercy

made

us

alive

with

Christ

even

when

we

were

dead

in

transgressions

it

is

by

grace

you

have

been

saved

how

are

spiritually

dead

people

made

alive

how

are

slaves

set

free

how

do

condemned

people

receive

honor

because

of

God's

desire

to

save

people

by

grace

God's

grace

demonstrates

God's

love

to us

God's

grace

is an

expression

of his

rich

mercy

towards

us

end

of

verse

7

God's

grace

is

expressed

in his

kindness

to us

in

Christ

Jesus

all

of

those

phrases

drawing

us

towards

the

same

part

that

salvation

flows

from

God's

own

heart

not

our

earning

it

not

our

deserving

it

not

our

working

our

way

up

to

it

the

love

mercy

kindness

grace

of

God

is

the

motive

for

salvation

in

a

sense

that's

where

that

wonderful

opening

section

chapter 1

verse 3

to 14

takes us

as well

you almost

have that

sense of

a snowball

effect

of

these

spiritual

blessings

in Christ

just

piling up

and growing

in momentum

and growing

in speed

and just

to get a

wee flavour

at the

beginning

of all

these

spiritual

blessings

that are

ours

by God's

free

grace

look at

chapter 1

verse 4

he chose

us in

him

before

the creation

of the world

to be holy

and blameless

in his sight

so chosen

before

creation

so there's

a great

demonstration

this is

God's

freedom

this isn't

down

to

us

and here's

the extent

of God's

grace

that he's

lavishing

his grace

on us

so that we

might be

holy

and blameless

it's grace

from beginning

to end

verse 5

continues

the same

idea

in love

he predestined

us

for adoption

to sonship

in accordance

with his

pleasure

and will

there's his

motive

God's

pleasure

God's

delight

in calling

saving

predestining

his people

to be adopted

into his

family

verse 7

in him

we have

redemption

through his

blood

the forgiveness

of sins

in accordance

with

the riches

of God's

grace

grace

this gift

of grace

was decided

in eternity

past

but it

comes to

us in

the person

of Jesus

and his

sacrificial

death

on the

cross

so that

we might

be

redeemed

the point

of

Ephesians

1 and

2 is

that all

of salvation

is motivated

by God's

free grace

comes to

us in

the sending

of Jesus

and it's

a grace

that's costly

we are

saved by

the blood

of Jesus

his blood

atones

his blood

propitiates

it redirects

the wrath

that should

fall on us

instead

it falls

on God

the Son

it's through

that costly

grace

that the

dead are

made alive

that slaves

are turned

to sons

so God's

grace is the

motive for

salvation

we're told

in Ephesians

2

we can

push that

a little

further

and recognize

that God's

grace is

also the

goal

of salvation

verse 7

is a

wonderful

verse

it says

in order

that in

the coming

ages

he might

show the

incomparable

riches of

his grace

expressed in

his kindness

to us

in Christ

Jesus

so this

has got the

coming ages

in view

so if we

were to

ask ourselves

the question

what is

the point

of God

saving a

people for

himself

what is

the point

of unending

eternal life

in the new

heavens and

the new

earth

what's the

ultimate

reason for

salvation

if we were

to ask

that of

verse 7

so that

God would

eternally

overwhelm

us

with his

incompatible

grace and

kindness to

us in

Jesus

that we

are going

to live

in a

flood

an ocean

of God's

love and

grace

picture a

dam

holding

the water

back and

the water's

building and

rising and

it's full and

then the flood

gates open

and the

water gushes

out

that's going

to be the

Christian's

experience of

God's love

for all

eternity

Jesus our

Saviour is

longing to

pour love on

his bride in

the new

heavens and

the new

earth the

father is

longing to

give us his

incomparable

kindness to

us in

Jesus that

we'd be

overwhelmed by

his love

for all

eternity

we've been

chosen before

creation to

enjoy the

wonders of

his grace in

the new

creation to

experience that

perfect love and

mercy and

kindness and

goodness we

will never stop

singing of

amazing grace

another thing we

can say from

Ephesians 2 is

that God's

grace is the

source of

salvation

verse 8

and 9

for it is

by grace

you have

been saved

through faith

and this is

not from

yourselves it

is the gift

of God

not by

works so

that no

one can

boast

God's

Paul has

in his

mind two

alternative

views of

salvation and

of religion

there's the

religion of

works

that depend

on us

hitting a

certain

standard

us earning

God's

reward

us being

able then to

boast of our

salvation

yeah I did

it of course

God should

receive me into

his family

because I

was good

enough I

lived up to

his standards

so that's

that's the

religion based

on works

but then there's

religion based

on grace

which is

altogether

different

it says

Jesus

has met

God's

perfect

standard

God

in his

life and

his death

and his

resurrection

perfect

obedience

perfectly

glorifying

God

perfect

love for

God

and

for

others

Jesus

paid

for my

salvation

it comes

as a

gift

not as

a reward

therefore

rather than

boasting

it leads to

humble

dependence

recognising

Jesus

is the

saviour I

need

that I

don't deserve

God's

grace

rather

receive it

as a

gift

which is

it that

Ephesians 2

celebrates

which is

it that

the Bible

celebrates

of course

it's

God's

grace

isn't it

because

God

is a

God

of

grace

perhaps

it might

be helpful

for us

to think

of Jesus

words on

the cross

when he

said

it

is

finished

what did

he mean

there

here is

God's

eternal

plan of

salvation

being

accomplished

in his

sacrificial

day

here is

payment

for sin

being

completed

as he

takes

the justice

of God

that we

deserve

and what

does that

say to us

when we

hear Jesus

on the

cross

saying

it is

finished

it should

say to

us

that we

cannot

add

to the

work

of

Jesus

he

has

paid

for

my

salvation

so

there

is

nothing

for

me

to

pay

and

the

danger

of

presuming

that we

can

add

to

our

salvation

is

that

we

are

then

going

to

make

Jesus

a

liar

he

has

said

my

death

is

enough

but

if

we

think

we

are

going

to

add

to

that

we're

going

to

end

up

subtracting

we're

going

to

end

up

losing

the

gospel

of

grace

that

was

going

on

in

Galatia

that's

where

the

letter

of

Galatians

comes

in

in

verse

10

we're

reminded

we are

God's

handiwork

created

in

Christ

Jesus

to

do

good

works

which

God

prepared

in

advance

for

us

to

do

even

in

our

works

we've

been

reminded

that

we're

God's

masterpiece

we're

a

new

creation

and

God

works

in

us

and

through

us

for

God's

glory

even

that

faith

that

causes

us

to

respond

to

Jesus

to

welcome

him

into

our

hearts

and

that's

a

real

response

by

real

people

that

we're

invited

to

do

even

that

Paul

says

that

comes

as

a

gift

salvation

is

from

God

God's

grace

is

the

source

of

salvation

and

the

last

of

the

things

to

notice

about

God's

grace

before

we

think

about

it

in

everyday

life

is

that

God's

grace

comes

to

us

in

Jesus

Paul

does

something

really

interesting

and lovely

in verses

5

and 6

so

in

Ephesians

1

and

verse

3

he

spells

out

that

we've

been

blessed

in the

heavenly

realms

with

every

spiritual

blessing

in

Christ

so

it's

as

we

are

united

to

Christ

it's

as

we

are

in

Christ

that

we

receive

all

these

spiritual

blessings

and

so

then

when

we

think

about

grace

we

don't

think

about

grace

in

the

abstract

we

recognize

that

grace

comes

to

us

in

the

personal

work

of

Jesus

and

look

at

how

in

verses

5

and

6

of

chapter

2

Paul

wants

to

show

us

that

by

connecting

the

pattern

of

Jesus

life

and

the

reality

of

saving

grace

so

in

verse

5

God

who

is

rich

in

mercy

made

us

alive

with

Christ

even

when

we

were

dead

in

transgression

so

there's

dead

and

alive

and

that

should

remind

us

of

the

work

of

Jesus

his

cross

and

his

resurrection

and

what's

the

impact

of

the

cross

and

the

resurrection

according

to

our

passage

according

to

Paul

here

is

that

now

by

faith

in

him

I

am

dead

to

sin

and

I

am

alive

in

Christ

so

the

personal

work

of

Jesus

is

connected

to

the

work

of

grace

and

then

we

see

that

continuing

in

verse

six

and

God

raised

us

up

with

Christ

when

was

Jesus

raised

up

on

the

third

day

but

he

was

also

raised

up

returned

to

glory

ascension

and

that's

our

true

home

as

well

that

by

God's

grace

that's

our

ultimate

destination

that

just

as

Jesus

was

raised

up

we

will

be

raised

up

continuing

verse

six

God

raised

us

up

with

Christ

and

seated

us

with

him

in

the

heavenly

realms

in

Christ

Jesus

so

when

Jesus

ascended

he

then

we're

told

returned

to

the

throne

of

heaven

so

Jesus

right

now

is

ruling

and

reigning

over

this

world

over

the

church

history

is

working

towards

his

purposes

and

what

Paul

is

saying

to

us

is

that

by

God's

grace

we

too

will

rule

and

reign

with

him

this

is

our

certain

future

because

of

God's

grace

that

unites

us

to

the

Lord

Jesus

so

we're

reminded

through

Ephesians

2

that

grace

comes

to

us