- So tonight we're going to look at grace
as a gift and kind of examine
what is the value of that gift?
But before we go to this however
I just want to remind you of some important points
that we've made so far.
First of all, I want to remind you
that we do what we do as Christians
because of the power of grace.
Our obedience to the gospel
when we repent and confess and are baptized
is motivated and powered by grace.
Our hunger and our thirst for righteousness
is powered by grace.
We desire to be and to do good
because of grace.
Not because we want to earn our way to heaven.
That's the difference.
Our service, our giving,
our ministries, all of these things,
fueled by the grace of God.
Once we have seen and experienced God's grace in Christ,
we can't help but act in this way
to one degree or another.
I preach, I went into preaching,
because of God's grace.
Recognizing it,
recognizing its power.
It drew me.
Every good thing we do in some way or another
is because of God's grace.
I want us to remember that idea.
And the other one is that grace existed
in the Old Testament.
You know, to say that back in those days,
they were saved by the law, the Old Testament.
And today, we're saved by grace in the New Testament.
I've actually heard people teach that.
Now the law, the law was revealed in the Old Testament,
and it was necessary to bring man
to an understanding that he was a sinner.
That's the purpose, the main purpose of the law.
But it was God's grace that first chose
the Jewish nation and gave them the law.
And ultimately sent Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
It was God's grace that established the church
and God's grace that powers all those
who preach the gospel.
And it is God's grace that will resurrect us in the end.
We have to understand that the law was part of God's grace,
part of that plan.
Without the law we can't appreciate the beauty
and the generosity of God's grace.
So the people who were saved in the Old Testament,
they were saved by grace, through faith,
in exactly the same way that we are today.
Except their sins were sent forward to the cross.
And our sins are sent back to the cross.
They expressed their faith according
to the teachings of Moses.
Circumcision and temple worship and food laws
and so on and so forth.
We express our faith according to the teachings of Christ.
Our baptism and our worship and our evangelism.
All these things are our way of expressing our faith in God.
They, in the Old Testament, they looked forward
to the time when God would send a savior
to save them from sin.
Their life was based on the trust
that he would one day do this.
And we, in our generation,
we also looked forward to the time
when the savior will return and save us from death.
Our lives are based on this hope of our resurrection.
We're the same type of pilgrims that they were
in the Old Testament.
They were looking forward to something
and we also are looking forward to something.
But from the very beginning,
everything God did was based on grace.
And all those who were saved before the cross,
or after the cross,
they were saved by God's grace through faith.
The prophet Habakkuk says so in chapter two, verse four.
He says, "But the righteous will live by his faith."
The Old Testament prophet didn't say
the righteous will live by the law.
He said, the righteous would live by his faith.
This has always been the method.
This has always been the plan.
God didn't change his plan.
Always the same plan.
In the New Testament, God revealed perfectly
the plan and the person who would accomplish it.
And that would be of course Jesus Christ.
This is the main difference.
So in our lesson tonight
I want to look at grace
from the point of view
that it is a gift.
Now the New Testament mentions four main gifts from God.
The first one is the gift of the Holy Spirit
in Acts 2:38.
The Holy Spirit given as a gift
to indwell the believing man and woman
and one day raise him from the dead.
Romans, 8:11.
Why is this a gift?
Well this is a gift because we cannot force
the Holy Spirit to come to us.
He is only given by God to those who obey the gospel.
And he is given as a gift.
Another gift that is given by God
are the gifts that God gives to the church.
Ephesians 4:8-12.
It says there that God provided apostles
and prophets and evangelists and teachers
and elders to bless the church.
These are gifts.
They're actually named as gifts.
Because God calls and God equips
and God appoints these people to do their work
in the church.
And I've often said,
if you don't think for example
that having elders and deacons are not gifts
that God gives to the church,
try working in a church that doesn't have elders.
And you'll find out very quickly,
you're right,
you'll find out very quickly
what a marvelous gift it is to have godly men as leaders.
Gifts given to the church.
So, you have the Holy Spirit given as a gift.
You have all of these administers given as gifts.
Then there are the spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit
gives to individuals in the church.
Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12.
We read briefly in the New Testament
that God provided miraculous gifts to some in the church.
In the beginning, the gift of the ability to heal,
speak in tongues, so on and so forth.
And today, he continues to bless individuals
with non-miraculous gifts.
Serving, leading, teaching, so on and so forth.
Again, why are these considered gifts?
Well they're gifts because God blesses the individuals
with both the miraculous gifts,
and then eventually the non-miraculous gifts
but nevertheless, abilities to serve the church
in this day and this age.
And then of course,
there's the gift of grace itself.
2 Corinthians 9:15, Ephesians 2:7.
I'm just going over this quickly here.
The embodiment of the gift of grace
is Jesus Christ, who accomplishes salvation for us.
Again, why is this a gift?
Well grace, which is simply one word
that compresses so many ideas together.
Salvation through Christ obtained by faith.
That's what grace gives us.
This is a gift because we cannot earn it,
nor do we deserve it.
So just wanted to mention four major gifts
that God gives us.
So let's talk about the value,
the point I was trying to make tonight.
The value of this gift of grace.
Let's talk about presents shall we,
just to get an idea of what we're talking about.
You know, sometimes you get a gift
that you don't fully appreciate right away.
That's happened to me.
I don't know if it's happened to you guys,
but it's happened to me.
I wanted, I don't know,
something that would plug into an electrical socket.
That's usually a pretty good gift for me.
Something you can plug in and that runs,
you know what I'm saying?
And I remember once, hoping for one of those gifts,
and what I got instead was a bathrobe.
(audience laughing)
And then, yeah, sure.
Oh, a bathrobe.
Oh, nice.
I like the color, smooth too.
But you know what's going on inside.
What am I going to do with a bathrobe?
(audience laughing)
So at first this gift here is not very exciting.
It's not very flashy.
But you know what about bathrobes?
Once you break it in, you know.
Once you break that bathrobe in
and you kind of get used to it,
doesn't it give you a lot of years of comfort?
You get to the point where your wife
will say when are you going to get rid of that ratty bathrobe?
I'm just getting used to that.
I'm just getting used to it, right?
Especially when you're sick, right?
You're at the office and you're coming down with the flu,
and you're sick, what do you want to do?
Well you want to get home and get off,
and get the suit off, whatever,
and reach for that bathrobe,
and go oh, it feels good, right?
Well you know what?
Grace is like that for a lot of people.
They don't fully appreciate grace
until they mature in Christ,
and they begin to grow in understanding.
Because grace is the most valuable of gifts.
And there's a reason for this.
It's valuable because without it,
all the other gifts would not be possible.
I mean, you couldn't receive the Holy Spirit,
you wouldn't have the benefit of the apostles
and elders and those who serve in the church.
You wouldn't be subject to any of the spiritual gifts
if it wasn't for grace.
Grace is the most valuable.
This is why Paul refers to it
as the unspeakable gift.
The unspeakable gift, 2 Corinthians 9:15.
Why unspeakable?
There are just not enough words
to describe its value.
Now, we have mentioned that our faith becomes genuine
when it is expressed in obedience,
in service, in love, you know?
Faith becomes visible.
Faith becomes concrete.
Well the fruit of faith justifies and confirms
it's existence.
This is why Jesus said show me,
or James, rather, said "Show me your faith
"without the works, and I will show you
"my faith by my works."
James 2:18.
And so the idea is that faith is only a concept
until it comes to life.
Until it becomes real and concrete
through a demonstration or a witness of that faith.
Well this is why we say that proper biblical expressions
of faith are repentance and baptism and service
and fidelity and so on and so forth.
Those are the ways that the Bible says
that we express our faith.
Well I say this to say the following.
Grace is also only a concept until it becomes real
through some form of expression.
The consummate final full perfect expression of God's grace
in a physical form is Jesus Christ.
When we talk about grace,
when we're talking about Christ,
when we are discussing the life and the ministry of Jesus
we're actually discussing the grace of God in action.
In the same way when we talk about good works,
baptism, holy living, so on and so forth,
we're really talking about faith.
We're talking about physical expressions of faith.
So Paul expresses this idea in Ephesians 2:7
where he says that the riches of God's kindness
find their perfect and final expression, where?
In Jesus Christ.
In a concrete living, breathing,
working, serving person.
So let's get back to the idea of grace here
or the idea of the gift.
When you receive a gift, a lot of times
the value or the joy of that gift is based
on what that gift does for you.
For example, if you get a money gift,
what really is the gift here?
Well a money gift gives you the power to purchase
what you want, to purchase what you desire.
That's the value of a money gift.
If your receive a CD or music gift,
well that gives you the sensual pleasure of this art.
If you receive a plaque or an award for what you've done,
it gives you a sense of appreciation from other people
or signifies pride of achievement.
Every gift has its value because it gives you something.
Each gift gives unique things.
All right, well in the same way the gift of grace,
the gift of Christ,
does something for us that is wonderful and unique.
And only this gift does the following things for us.
For example, the gift of grace
produces salvation for us.
You see, the problem with going to heaven
is that we know how to go to heaven,
but we cannot accomplish what is necessary.
We know that if we are sinless,
we go automatically to heaven.
Genesis 2:17.
Our problem is that even though we know
that sin causes death and condemnation, Romans 6:23,
we sin anyways.
We're helpless victims of our weak flesh,
and we are condemned for it, Romans 7:15.
So God solves our problem by sending Jesus
to live that perfect life in our stead,
and then he offers it back to God as a payment
for our imperfect lives.
In other words, one perfect life offered
for all of the imperfect lives.
So God has solved our problem of sin
and he saved us from judgment and condemnation
and eternal suffering.
You know that.
You're familiar with that.
Now, we have two ways to be saved.
Live a perfect life.
That's one way.
Or receive a perfect life through faith in Jesus Christ.
Those are the two ways.
God's grace, or God's gift, produces a new way
to be saved which is available and possible for all.
Because originally there was a way to be saved,
it just wasn't possible for everybody.
The way existed, but nobody could get there that way.
So the gift of grace opened up a new avenue of salvation
whereby everyone had the opportunity and the ability
to be saved in that way.
Another thing that grace gives us as a gift,
grace produces righteousness.
You know one of the most unpleasant feelings we have
as human beings is the knowledge and the feelings
that accompany the fact that we are imperfect,
impure, unworthy, and unholy.
We don't like self examination
because when we do that,
we see the ugliness, right?
We see the imperfection.
So this knowledge of our own sins and imperfections
lead many people to all kinds of warped behavior.
Some become depressed and insecure.
Others overcompensate and they become proud
or cynical or boastful.
And still others rebel in their own evil,
with their own evil rather,
and they plug into its power in their lives.
But the gift of grace gives the individual
something that nothing else can as far
as righteousness is concerned.
The gift of grace gives individuals this thing
called imputed righteousness.
Let me explain.
There are different kinds of righteousness.
Know what I mean by righteousness?
I mean, being right,
being acceptable to God.
That's what righteousness is.
The shortest version.
Being right with God.
I'm okay with God.
That's if you're righteous.
Well there are different ways to get there.
One is what's called inherent righteousness.
Inherent righteousness is what you have
because it is your essential nature.
It's what you are naturally.
And there's only one person that has inherent righteousness
and that is God.
He has inherent righteousness.
That's his character.
Another kind of righteousness is achieved righteousness.
Achieved righteousness is the righteousness you earn.
You cultivate it through willpower and training.
This is the degree of goodness and acceptability
that we have through our own efforts.
Through conditioning by parents and training,
so on and so forth.
In the Bible it's the righteousness that one achieves
through the law.
And then, there's this thing called imputed righteousness.
Imputed righteousness is the righteousness
that someone else gives to you.
This is the righteousness that God gives you
through faith in Jesus Christ.
So, the righteousness, this goodness,
this acceptability that we need
to be with God in heaven,
the quality of it that we need,
we need his righteousness.
Our righteousness has to be as good as his
for us to be with him.
In other words, what is required
is not inherent righteousness
or achieved righteousness,
we need Godly righteousness.
And we can only have this level of righteousness
when it is imputed or given to us by Jesus Christ
through faith in him.
You know, this is why people who may have a very high level
of inherent or achieved righteousness,
that may even surpass that level of righteousness
of some Christians, are not necessarily saved.
They have righteousness,
but not the quality required for salvation.
That righteousness level can only be imputed by God himself
through Christ.
You understand what I'm saying.
Haven't you ever met people,
you're thinking boy, what a wonderful person.
He helps the poor.
He does this.
I never heard a bad word come out of his mouth.
He treats his, been faithfully married 50 years.
Only one thing.
He doesn't believe in Jesus.
And yet, his life is so much more, I don't know,
good, than mine.
I've made mistakes.
There's been a divorce over here and whatever.
Maybe not all my kids are the best
and I sometimes I don't act real well, you know?
So if I were to compare my righteousness
with this man's righteousness,
well I wouldn't stand up 'cause he has been training
and achieving righteousness at a higher level than me.
How can I be saved and not him?
Well the answer to that is because the righteousness
given to Christians is the righteousness
that God himself has.
And so the gift of grace is a great blessing
because through it we receive the same godly righteousness
possessed by Christ himself.
That's what Paul says in Galatians.
And I'll read that passage.
Verse 26, chapter three, verse 26 he says,
"For you are all sons of God through
"faith in Christ Jesus.
"For all of you who were baptized into Christ,"
listen to this,
were clothed with Christ.
You know it's like that, imagine righteousness
is like a coat that you put on.
You have put on.
It isn't your righteousness,
it's not your coat.
But in baptism you put on the coat of righteousness.
It is imputed to you.
It's given to you.
Imagine, I'm wearing the Lord's cloak of righteousness.
So no matter how much we try
and how much we train,
we can never achieve the same degree of righteousness
through our own efforts as we receive freely
as a gift through faith in Jesus Christ.
That's why good and moral and nice
and kind people who do not have Christ,
are still lost.
A person may have a high degree of personal integrity
and rightness in his or her life,
but they will never be able to substitute this
for the covering of Christ's own righteousness
when they stand before God himself.
You know you were, God will be asking you,
what coat do you have on?
You know that guest at the wedding,
he didn't have the right clothing there?
That's an insight into this idea.
All right, and then what else does grace produce?
Remember, we're talking about what it's value as a gift.
Grace produces life.
We often think about grace in abstract
or future terms only.
Grace washes away my past sins.
Or grace produces this sense of righteousness.
I have to give it all kinds of physical terms
for us to grasp it.
Or grace gives eternal life.
But grace is also a gift for the here and now.
It is a gift that blesses our daily lives as well.
It is grace that motivates good works.
It is grace that motivates perseverance
and joy and obedience in a Christian's life.
Remember, we are doing all these things
for a kingdom that we cannot see.
And a savior we cannot touch.
Jesus said that he was the vine,
and we are the branches in John 15:3-4.
And so this clearly teaches that those
who are in Christ, in grace,
they will bear fruit.
The vine feeds the branches.
And so the Lord feeds us and motivates us,
enables us to do good.
Let me ask you something.
You have the urge to do something good.
You have the urge to go beyond
what your normal comfort zone
in service or faith or whatever it is,
you just, you have the urge to do something crazy for God.
I'm asking you something.
Do you think that's your flesh that's doing that
for one moment?
That's the grace of God that's doing that.
Your flesh is the thing saying nah, don't be crazy.
Come on, you got to play it safe.
Let's face it, you can't do that.
Step out in faith?
No, no, no, no.
That's what your flesh is saying.
Not God's grace.
The good life that we have,
the holy life that we aspire to,
the struggle we have with sin,
the personal spiritual victories that we obtain at times,
all find their original source in Christ
and in his grace.
What part of our flesh desires to fight against sin?
No part of our flesh.
Our spirit says I'm going to tackle this sin
in my life.
And our flesh answers over my dead body you are.
And therein lies the struggle.
But never, never,
never make the mistake
that the impetus to do what is right
and to step out in faith
and to seek to live more righteously,
that that has its source in the human flesh.
That has its source in the spirit
and the spirit is motivated by the grace of God.
So don't be afraid that leaning on grace
will cut your appetite for good
or make you take things for granted.
Grace has exactly the opposite effect.
Grace produces growth,
produces challenge.
Well, it wouldn't be right to talk about grace
and so on and so forth if I didn't at least address
the issue of falling away from grace.
Because that has to be discussed as well.
What about this issue of losing grace?
Let me give you just a little bit
of background information first.
And talk about the extreme positions
on this question of can we fall away from grace?
One side of this issue I suppose is well represented
by Calvinism.
And Calvinism has so many different kind of variations
of their teaching.
But basically, they have five doctrinal statements
when it comes to this issue of falling away from grace
and if it's possible.
And it's called the Tulip Acrostic.
Five letters, T-U-L-I-P.
So the first, and all of these embody
their basic doctrinal position.
So very, very briefly,
the first is of course total depravity.
They believe that man is so lost,
so depraved, he can't even respond to the gospel.
Can't even make up his mind.
Too lost for that.
U is for unconditional election.
Which means that God chooses some for salvation
and some for damnation.
The L represents limited atonement.
Meaning Jesus died only for those God chose,
no one else.
I represents irresistible grace that
those who God chooses cannot resist God's grace
in choosing them.
Can't resist.
And number five, the P, in tulip,
is perseverance.
Those who fall away from the faith
are actually those who are never, ever chosen to begin with.
So those are the,
that's in a very brief nutshell
this idea of this doctrinal basis if you wish
for a lot of evangelical thinking.
Now these doctrines were invented to support
the position that once you were saved,
you were always saved.
You could never be lost.
You couldn't lose the grace of God.
That's one extreme position.
Of course, a quick review of the Bible shows
that this premise,
once saved, impossible to be lost is actually unbiblical.
I mean, we could do a whole lesson on this.
I only want to give it a minute or two.
But think now, Adam and Eve,
perfectly created right?
What happened to them?
Well they were lost.
How about Israel?
Chosen by God.
What happened to them?
Well they stepped away from God.
What about Judas?
Chosen by Jesus himself.
He was lost.
And Demas, chosen by Paul the apostle?
Well he was lost.
And the book of Hebrews was written to warn people
who were definitely saved to be careful
not to be lost.
In Hebrews chapter six, let me read just one passage
out of Hebrews chapter six
that actually deals with this idea.
Hebrews 6:4 says for in the case of those who have,
listen now, check, make a checklist, okay?
Tell me if this does not describe a Christian,
a saved person.
You ready?
Okay, now he says,
for in the case of those who have once been enlightened,
and have tasted of the heavenly gift,
and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
that's three I got.
And have tasted the good word of God, that's four.
And the powers of the age to come.
That's five.
Who we talking about here?
Are we talking about Satan?
Are we talking about sinners?
Or are we talking about Christians?
I think we're talking about Christians, right?
Listen to what he says.
And then he says, have fallen away,
it is impossible to renew them again,
to repentance since they again crucify to themselves
the son of God and put him to open shame.
The point I'm making is the Hebrew writer says
these people over here,
they were saved,
and because they fell away,
they were lost.
And so the Bible definitely teaches that it is possible
for a person who is truly saved
through faith by God's grace
to then be truly lost.
And that includes you and me.
So this is one extreme, one group
that teaches that it's impossible to be lost.
Once saved, always ...
And then you have another extreme over here.
I call 'em the pessimists.
They don't have one teacher in particular.
Or one particular doctrine.
It's more of a kind of an attitude.
I would say it's an attitude that's kind of prevailed
in our congregations to a certain degree.
I think in an effort to confront and correct Calvinism,
sometimes we go too far to the other extreme
and become way too pessimistic.
You know pessimists don't have any formal set of doctrines.
It's more like an attitude as I said.
Pessimists don't only teach that it is possible
to fall away, that apostasy is always possible,
they teach well it's probable.
(laughs)
That's not very encouraging.
The main error of pessimists is that they misunderstand
several basic ideas about grace.
Let me share those with you.
We'll bring this lesson to a close.
Let's read Galatians this time, chapter five, shall we?
Verses two to six.
First thing that they don't understand
is this idea of falling from grace.
In Galatians 5:2-6, it says,
"Behold I, Paul, say to you that
"if you receive circumcision,
"Christ will be of no benefit to you.
"And I testify again to every man
"who receives circumcision that he is
"under obligation to keep the whole law.
"You have been severed from Christ,
"you who are seeking to be justified by law,
"you have fallen from grace.
"For we through the spirit, by faith,
"are waiting for the hope of righteousness."
So notice he falls away from grace.
But listen, what does Paul say falling from grace is?
We sometimes equate falling from grace
as the same thing as falling into sin.
Which means that in order to remain in grace,
then a person would need to be sinless.
Falling from grace is when you leave grace
in order to go to a works system to save you.
That's what falling from grace is.
For example, do we think that perfect adherence
to the rules of worship,
do we think that's what saves us?
Or do we think that proper understanding
of all the key concepts,
do we think that's what saves us?
Being in grace is the realization that your performance
is very limited by sin.
Your knowledge is imperfect.
But, you are saved anyways.
Because God's grace permits you to be saved
through believing and trusting in Jesus Christ.
I want to tell you brothers and sisters my trust,
my trust meter, is not about food and clothing.
Oh I trust God'll provide food,
I trust God'll ...
That's not, I don't lay awake at night
for that kind of stuff.
My trust meter is dear God,
I trust that you will save me despite myself.
That's my trust meter.
Dear God, I,
(laughs)
I review my life and what I am,
and even today what I am,
and I trust you despite all of that,
to save me anyways.
Another idea that we don't get many times.
This time in Philippians, chapter, what is it?
Chapter two.
Take a look at Philippians chapter two.
Philippians, chapter two, Paul says, verse 12,
"So then, my beloved,
"just as you have always obeyed,
"not as in my presence only,
"but not much more in my absence,
"work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
"for it is God who is at work in you,
"both to will and to work for his good pleasure."
So a lot of times, we think that the idea
is that we create grace somehow.
In other words, in order to remain in God's grace,
we've got to work at it.
You know you've got grace,
but unless you work,
unless you perform well each day,
God will remove it.
When Paul wrote this, he was addressing a congregation
that he had begun and led and loved,
but had not seen in a long time.
He complements them on their perseverance
and good faith even in his absence.
And then he gives them a word of encouragement.
And this here is a word of encouragement,
not a threat.
He says work out your salvation.
The verb here means to finish,
or to complete.
Complete the process that was begun in them
at their conversion.
We are saved from judgment and condemnation,
but until Jesus returns,
we must preserve that salvation by remaining faithful.
Despite our sins we need to continue
and follow Jesus despite the yuck factor in our lives.
Finishing, or working out salvation means
to remain faithful.
Not to do something to earn or to deserve something.
It means to persevere, not to deserve.
And then he says, in fear and trembling.
A lot of people think that means
in fear and trembling of God.
Or in fear and trembling because of punishment.
Brothers and sisters we've been saved from that.
Fear and trembling of the evil seductions.
That's what I'm afraid of.
The wicked plans of those who would try
to destroy what we have,
those are the people I'm watching out for.
It's an encouragement to be on guard
for those who would try to steal what we have.
Fear the devil.
Fear the world.
Don't fear God.
He's on your side.
He sent his son to die.
Why should you be afraid of him?
And then he says God is the one who wills and works.
If God is the one who wills and works within me,
why should I work?
If you ask this question, you don't get it yet.
You need more teaching.
Paul reassures them that despite the obstacles,
despite the evil in the world,
despite the weakness of our flesh,
we possess God's Holy Spirit and we have the word
and through these, God will guide our work
and motivate our will so that we can reach our goal.
Through God's grace we're not only saved,
but that salvation is protected
while we are still vulnerable to sin.
While we still can fall,
God protects us.
All right, one other thing.
Romans, shall we?
Romans 6:1-2.
I told you there were three things we didn't get.
This is the third one.
And that is the idea that assurance leads to arrogance.
Paul says in Romans 6,
"What shall we say then?
"Are we to continue in sin so that grace might increase?
"May it never be!
"How shall we who died to sin still live in it?"
If someone sins more because he
thinks grace covers his sins,
that person doesn't understand the gospel,
and he's never even been touched by grace.
Assurance, confidence, peace, joy,
this is the primary fruit of grace.
Not arrogance.
Not laziness or spiritual pride or immorality.
Grace motivates love and service and piety and faithfulness.
You know there are some people that think it's arrogant
to claim 100% certainty that they are saved
and going to heaven?
You ask a class, how many here
are 100% sure they're going to heaven.
Not all the hands go up.
95% sure.
80%?
75%.
Everybody's going for a C.
C plus.
They think that not to be too sure about salvation
is somehow being modest.
But what does Paul say
to Timothy in 2 Timothy, 4:7-8?
He said listen, he says,
"I've fought the good fight.
"I have finished the course.
"I have kept the faith.
"In the future there is laid up for me
"the crown of righteousness which the Lord,
"the righteous judge, will award to me on that day.
"And not only to me,
"but to all who have loved his appearing."
Tell me something.
Does Paul sound pretty sure?
Does that sound like a guy who's like 75% sure?
Note that Paul is assured of his crown
because he finished, he fought,
he was faithful.
Not because he was perfect in knowledge or performance.
To be sure of salvation is the final goal of grace.
It's what God wants his grace to do in our lives.
Listen, it's a long lesson tonight,
forgive me for that.
If someone asked me
what would you want your 35 years
of preaching to have accomplished
in the lives of the people
that you have preached to?
What one thing would you want to accomplish in that?
And I would say to them the one thing I want
to accomplish in the lives of the people
I have preached to
is that they are 100% sure that they're saved
and going to heaven.
Because if they're 100% sure of their salvation,
they will be powerful in ministry.
They will be joyful.
They will be gracious.
They will be godlike.
We need to see grace in the light of the gospel.
It's not a commodity that we can buy or exchange.
It's not a thing that we can earn
or let slip out of our hands.
Grace is like a relationship.
It involves a relationship with God.
It is a relationship with God
that's based on faith and trust,
not on perfection.
I'll give you an example.
I am married.
But I am not a perfect husband.
However, I am a faithful husband.
I am 100% sure that I am a faithful husband.
And I'm 100% sure that I am not a perfect husband.
You see how that works?
I am a preacher.
I am not an all knowing preacher.
But I am faithful to my calling.
And remain faithful to my calling.
We are Christians.
We are not sinless Christians,
but we are faithful Christians.
Because of grace, God allows us to have a relationship
with him based on faith,
not perfection.
And this is his precious gift to us.
So that precious gift is available
to all who believe in Jesus Christ
and who respond to him in faith.
Even this night.
Even with all the noise of the big weekend
and kicking off the summer,
all kind of things going on,
those of us who preach,
continue to faithfully preach
to those who will hear.
If you need to have a faithful relationship with God,
if you need to have your sins forgiven,
then we call on you to come and confess Christ
this very night.
Repent of your sins.
Be baptized.
And begin that saving relationship with our Lord
this very day.
If you need to respond to that invitation of grace,
then please come now as we stand
and as we sing our song of encouragement.