Grace of God (Part 1)
"Marvelous, Infinite Grace" - Romans 5:20-21

Turn to Romans 5 but let me make some introductory remarks:
· most misunderstood doctrine I know of
· I grew up in the church and have never heard a long term series on this
subject (in checking with other preacher friends of mine, they agreed
with that statement as it applied in their life; I am indebted to many of
them for ideas that will be shared in this series)
· have never spent any extended time studying it in Bible class, even
though there are some 155 references to grace in N. T. alone
· I think we’ve tried to ‘run away’ from this subject because of its
abuse in the religious world
· it's also the most neglected subject

Romans 5:20-21: "The law was added so that the trespass might increase.
But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, {21} so that,
just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through
righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Good news, bad news story: farmer had experienced several bad
years...went to his banker who had loaned him a great deal of money and
told him he had some bad news and good news for him: which do you want
first?...can’t pay principle or interest on the money you lent me
mortgage...or the loan for the machinery...or the seed and
supplies...what’s the good news: I’m going to keep doing business with
this bank and with you!

There is some complex theology in that story: there is no way we can
repay God for what He has done for us...and what He intends to do for us
in the future. We live in total moral and spiritual bankruptcy before
God...good news is that...God’s going to keep doing business with us!

Over 130 verses in N.T. are attributed to Paul...and that might be
surprising when you realize that he had a reputation for sternness and
harshness when he spoke with people.

A good working definition of grace?
To express this, the New Testament writers used the Greek word charis,
which had a long pre-vious history in secular Greek.:
· "That which gives joy, pleasure, or delight." This is the original idea
of the word "charis." It’s used in the N.T. in this way in reference to
SPEECH...the words of Jesus were spoken with grace - Lk 4:22; the words
of the Christian are to impart grace to the hearers - Ep 4::29.
· Goodwill, lovingkindness, or favor. In this way, it is used ...of the
kindness of a master towards his inferiors or servants, and especially of
God towards men. THAYER points out that: "charis contains the idea of
kindness which bestows upon one what he has not deserved."
· "A spiritual state or condition in which one enjoys God’s favor." When
one accepts God's grace, they are in a "state of grace." Ro 5:1-2; 1 Pe
5:12.
· "An expression of gratitude for favor bestowed." E.g., 1 Ti 1:12 where
the English word is "thank" ("I thank Jesus Christ..."). This is what is
meant when people ask someone to "say grace"" before eating a meal
· Grace is freely given, undeserved favor from God and it is offered
through Jesus Christ
· God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense
· God giving us what we don’t deserve…Mercy: God not giving us what we do
deserve.

Turn to Ephesians 2: 5-8: it is something which operates in the past,
present, and the future

Grace is the beginning point of our relationship with God!
Ephesians 2:5-8: ".......made us alive with Christ even when we were dead
in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. {6} And God raised
us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ
Jesus, {7} 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. {8} For it is by grace you have been saved, through
faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--"

Let me repeat what I just read:
· Grace is the beginning point of our relationship with God!
· it’s not something we do and it’s not something we respond to
· we’re dependent totally upon God!
· it us unmerited, unearned, unpayable love God has for us
· this "grace base" will never be replaced by anything else!

Grace is undeserved...has nothing to do with our own merit or
demerit...has nothing to do with our own sinfulness or our own
worthiness...if it were, it could be earned! The Bible clearly says it is
a gift...God is free to to show His love and mercy and kindness to us
without the slightest limitation caused by my own sin.

If we were worthy, sinless, or deserving, we don’t need grace! We cancel
out the idea of grace! It is a quality of God offered to us!

Think of the ministry of Jesus Christ—He spent most of His time with
those who were the most unworthy, most sinful people of their day. And
Jesus was sent to this earth to help us get to know God. Luke 5:31:
"Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the
sick."

We’ve often mixed it up: we’ve acted as if we think we have to be
deserving before anyone (and especially God) could ever be accepting of
us!

Jesus offered the love and grace of God to people who’s lives had no
claim upon it. That is what always insulted the ‘righteous’ people of His
day (Sadducees and Pharisees).

2nd century critic of Christianity (Selcius): "The whole idea of God
loving sinners...extending grace to bad people...was the thing totally
unheard of in any religion." He was right! That’s what seperates grace
and other religions of the world so different....

They say
· be right, do right, say the right things, offer the right sacrifices,
etc., and then God will love you and extend to you grace....which is just
the opposite of what the Bible teaches!

· Story of soldier in the time of Napoleon’s reign who fell asleep while
on guard duty one night...sentenced to die after a court-martial because
his sleep could have caused many deaths...his mother went to Napoleon and
begged for mercy—she’d recently lost her hus-band and the son was her
sole support...Napoleon listened to her pleas and responded that her son
was not deserving of mercy...she said: "that’s why I am asking for mercy,
because my son is not deserving of it...that’s why it is mercy.

If we had to wait until we were deserving, it would be a long, long, long
wait...it would not come! Grace is undeserved! If it could be earned, it
wouldn’t be a free gift of God!

If we try to exchange God’s gift of grace into a system where I try to
perform in order to please God, we set ourselves up for either of two
lifestyles:
1. A lifestyle of extreme legalism
2. a lifestyle of misery where you can never please God!

The things we do as Christians (prayer, Bible study, visitation,
attendance, etc.) are to be done because we have God’s grace, not because
we want to earn God’s grace! We serve sacrificially because we have
God’s grace!

The last thing we humans want to surrender to God is our helplessness to
save ourselves!
· Part of the reason is this rugged, individualism we have as Americans
· We‘ll give up our sin, our money, power, prestige, our name, our
comfort, our fame, etc.
· we have trouble giving up our confidence that there is something we can
do that will earn us a right relationship with God
· if you can find it..something you can do, I want to hear about it!

Ephesians 2:9: "...not by works, so that no one can boast."

One other side of this issue:
If we have come to realize that we can’t earn God’s grace...we sometimes
will at least try to ‘repay’ Him

1. Self-atonement: by refusing to forgive ourselves for past sins or
mistakes we have made...thinking that somehow if we punish ourselves, it
will self-atone for our sin and God can accept us.
2. Self-sacrifice: some think they should deny themselves some of the
pleasures of life...things that in and of themselves are not
wrong....story of woman who had been sexually active in adult life before
becoming Christian...when she became a Christian and married, decided to
abstain from sexual activity in that marriage to ‘make up’ for her past
sins (in violation of 1 Cor. 7, by the way!)
3. Service: some get into Christian leadership and service in order to
repay God (some missionaries feel this way)

"The converts of one decade can so easily become the Pharisees of the
next decade."

YES: we are supposed to live up to certain standards...we’re to serve God
and sacrifice for God and be the best we can be for the cause of
Christ....

...but the problem is the old issue of getting "the cart before the
horse." We are called to respond to the Lord with all of our heart,
soul, strength, and mind...but not to earn His grace or repay Him for His
grace!!!

We do these things because God loves us and accepts us as sinners and
saves us through the blood of His Son...in spite of our unworthiness and
sinfulness...we ‘act like Christians’ not to win His love but out of
gratitude for His love!

Ephesians 2:8-10: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through
faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- {9} not by
works, so that no one can boast. {10} For we are God's workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance
for us to do."

We are saved for good works, not by good works! Good works are the fruit
of our understanding God’s acceptance!

Ephesians 2:4-5: "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich
in mercy, {5} made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in
transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved."

God’s love is unconditional:
· He does not say I love you because
· I love you since
· I love you if
· I love you when
· I love you after
· I love you provided
· I love you presuming
· God’s love was already there: "But God demonstrates his own love for us
in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8)

If God loved us since...if...when...after...it would be conditional!

And one other point: we cannot stop His love for us! We can refuse it or
reject it or turn our back upon it...but God still loves us.

If we have trouble believing this, it’s because we live our lives based
upon conditional love. If failure could stop grace, there would be no
need for grace.

The ground of grace is the cross of Christ and on the cross we were all
judged as total failures.

It’s ours for the receiving---that’s faith! Have you responded to God and
Christ through faith.

Last modified: April 18, 2006