Saving Grace

Sermon Series

All Have Sinned–But, There's Grace! – Part 1 

"Saving Grace"

Pastor Jerry

Psalm 145:8 (NIV)

 

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I want you to complete these common American phrases: If it sounds too good to be true….   There’s no such thing as a free…   There is no gain without …   God helps those who …     Everything about the American way of life teaches you get what you earn in life.  And it’s good in some ways.   The only problem is it causes a difficulty in us relating to God because God does not relate to us primarily on performance. In Psalm 145:8 it says, God is Gracious…!” That means God loves to bless people who don’t deserve it. Aren’t you glad for that?   You can't understand the Christian life at all unless you understand grace. It is the heart of our faith. It is the heart of our relationship to God. It is by grace that God brings us to Himself. And the Bible says that everything in your life is a gift of grace.   The Bible is very clear about the gift of grace: that God saves us by grace, God blesses us by grace, God teaches us by grace, God uses us by grace, God keeps us growing spiritually by grace, God takes us to heaven by grace.  Everything in my life that’s good is a gift of God’s grace.   Today, we're beginning a new series. I'm calling it "All Have Sinned—But, There’s Grace!" So, today, as we begin I want us to look at what is grace?  There are many, many definitions of grace.  No one definition could adequately describe it.   Many people confuse grace with mercy and they’re two different things.  Mercy is when God doesn’t give you what you deserve – (wrong deserve punishment).  But when God doesn’t give you what you deserve -- that’s called mercy.   On the other hand when God gives what you don’t deserve – (gives you a blessing). That’s grace. All the good things in your life are gifts of blessings God gave to you – that’s called grace.   Today I want you to experience and feel loved by God.  So, what is Saving Grace? Let’s look at five aspects of Saving Grace. I built this learning around an acrostic – G. R. A. C. E.   G – GOD’S GIFT TO ME--  How do you experience Saving Grace? You let God give it to you! Wait a minute, you say…before I can get into heaven don’t I have to be nice? Be good? That’s the way most of the world thinks one approaches God. Here’s the problem. You can’t be good enough. The Bible says there’s only one way; it’s a gift from God--of God’s grace. You could never earn it. There’s no chance you’re going to make it into God’s embrace except by accepting God’s free gift of grace.   The Bible says this in Romans 11 “If it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works.  Otherwise grace is no longer grace.” This just means its God’s gift. The Bible says that the way you get to know God, have a relationship with Him, have your sins forgiven and get into heaven is by accepting what’s already been done for you. Who did it? Jesus Christ.   What is your part in salvation? To get lost! It’s God’s part to find you and save you. Your only part in salvation is simply accepting the fact that it was all done for you and that’s called grace. God’s gift to you!   Romans 3:24 “All of us need to be made right with God.  How?  By His grace which is a free gift through Jesus Christ.” That is the best gift you’re ever going to be offered. There is no better gift than that.  (The letter G in the word G.R.A.C.E. stands for Gift) R – RECEIVED BY FAITH.  How do you experience Saving Grace? You received it by faith.  You don’t earn it, you don’t deserve it. Grace is received by faith. Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not from yourselves…”  That means even the faith you have is a gift from God. Even faith comes from God.  “… it is the gift of God not by works so that no one can boast.”    The Bible is full of stories illustrating God’s grace. There’s the story of the Good Samaritan. There’s the story of the prostitute whom Jesus forgave and then defended publicly. One of the most famous ones is the story of the Lost Son or the Prodigal Son. That story is to say that’s how God responds to you when you go astray and then come home.  The Bible says that they have a party in heaven every time one person accepts the grace of God?  (The letter R in the word G.R.A.C.E. stands for Receive.)   A – AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE.  How do you experience Saving Grace? It is available to everyone. What does that mean? God doesn’t play favorites. God loves you.  Unconditionally! God grace is available for you. That’s good news. It’s not just for the people of promise – the Jewish people. It’s for all of us. All of us can come to God in the same way – through faith in the grace of God through His Son Christ. It’s available to everybody.   Without grace you don’t have any relationship with God.  No matter what you’ve done and no matter who you are, God’s grace is available to you. (The letter A in G.R.A.C.E. stands for Available)   C – IT COMES THROUGH CHRIST.  How do you experience Saving Grace? Through Christ! That’s the only place it’s available. It comes through Jesus Christ, God’s Son. In Acts 15:12 “We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved.”  Why does grace only come through Christ? Because He’s the one who paid for it! Grace is free but it is not cheap. And it cost Christ His life. It cost God His own Son. That’s how much He loves you. Saving Grace comes through Christ.   Romans 5:15 “Many people have received God’s gift of life by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ.”  There’s a phrase used of people in the Bible who have accepted God’s grace. Its called being “in Christ”. Anybody who has accepted the forgiveness of God, who has accepted the grace of God, who has accepted the salvation of God is called, in the Bible, in Christ. That phrase is used over 120 times in the Bible. All you can see when I'm in Christ is Christ’s love and grace.   You look at your life and see the mess, the scars, the things that have ripped you up. You see all those things that you’re ashamed of.  But when you’re in Christ and God looks at you with the eyes of His grace, all He sees is the perfection of Christ, not your imperfections. When you are in Christ all God sees is how Jesus Christ has already paid for all these things.   There is no therapy in the world, no pill, no book, no seminar that can make changes in your life. Only the grace of God can change you.  (The letter C in the word G.R.A.C.E. stands for Comes.)   E – EXTENDED THROUGHOUT ETERNITY.  How do you experience Saving Grace? The Bible says in Romans, “The wages of sin is death…[That’s the bad news.  The good news is the rest of the verse] the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Did you hear the word “eternal” in that verse? That is the result that will last forever. You might say that grace is the gift that keeps on giving. When you get to know Jesus Christ and His grace and love, it gets better and better and better. It is available and extended throughout eternity and the best is yet to come.        But there’s a catch. The catch is you have to act – you have to accept it. You must accept God’s grace through His Son, Jesus Christ.  He’s waiting for you to accept His gift.  He’s calling you today …He’s saying, “Come home!”   How do you experience Saving Grace?    (G) Let God give it to you… it’s a gift! (R) Receive it by faith …you can’t earn it! (A) It is available to everyone …regardless of your sins, God loves you. (C) It comes through Jesus Christ …there is no other way! (E) It is given to you forever and ever …God never stops calling for you!