Message 25 - By Jerry D. Green
Saved by Grace
Introduction
Do you know what
the “…Grace
of God…” is? Most everyone has heard of the amazing “…Grace of God…,” but the grace which most people hear
preached today is the grace which Jude spoke of in verse 4 of his
epistle. A grace which is no more than a license for people to continue in sin
while being told that they are going to heaven in spite of anything they could
ever do from this moment in time, forward. Peter, however, tells us in his
epistle about a “…true grace…” of God (I
Peter 5:12) which brings a true salvation from sin. Of which
grace “…the prophets… prophesied… should come unto…” us, following
the sufferings of Christ (I Peter 1:10). If you are one who loves
the truth, you will be blessed and encouraged by the wonderful truth concerning
the “…true grace…” of God which is revealed to us in the scriptures. On the other
hand, if you are one who does not love the truth, you may not want to read this
message. JDG
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Saved
by Grace
What a glorious
thing to be saved by grace. So many wonderful testimonies down through the ages
have been orally proclaimed, as well as written in text and songs, of the marvelous
love and saving grace of almighty God and of His only begotten of a physical
body, Son, Jesus, the Christ (the promised Messiah of God).
I suppose that
most all English speaking people who profess the Lord Jesus Christ, have at one
time or another, sang or heard the beautiful hymn, “Amazing Grace, how sweet
the sound, that saved a wretch like me.” Earlier this morning I heard a song
that said, “I’m just a sinner saved by grace.” I thank God if a person
can indeed sing of the amazing grace of God from the standpoint of having truly
experienced it, but all of those who have truly experienced the amazing grace
of God will be singing, “I WAS a sinner who IS saved by grace.”
If you are still a sinner, you have never experienced the amazing grace
of God. I know that many who hold the testimony of, and/or sing the songs of,
the amazing, saving grace of God, and of Jesus, the Christ, don’t even
understand what the grace of God is; much less what it does. Many people’s idea
of the saving grace of God is that somehow, because of this grace, or by this
grace, or through this grace, which God, by His Son Jesus Christ, has made a
way to take sinners to heaven; thereby circumventing the sentence of
death and hell which is upon all sinners (Romans 5:12; Ezekiel
18:4; Revelation 20:13-15). Well, I’m sorry I must be the one to say
it, but nothing could be farther from the truth. That is not at all what the
grace of God is, or does. To the contrary, the grace of God takes away sin
which is the cause of the condemnation, the sentence of death (Romans
6:23; Ezekiel 18:4; John 3:16-19), for only those who have
been “…washed… FROM… (their) …sins in His own blood” will be going to heaven with Him (Revelation
1:5). Only those who have been made pure and clean, “That He might present… to Himself a
glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it
should be HOLY and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27). This is what the grace of God is about. I
would like to take this opportunity to look briefly into this amazing, saving,
grace of God and the work which it does in the hearts and lives of true
believers.
To be saved, one
must first hear of Jesus Christ, and His Gospel (that which He did for
us [through His sufferings] on the cross of Calvary). Outside of these, there
is absolutely no other possible way for a person to be saved (John 14:6).
Jesus Christ, and that which He wrought for man through His death, burial,
resurrection, and ascension is the true gospel of Jesus Christ; which is
the marvelous saving grace of God to man. The Apostle Paul tells the Romans, in Romans 1:15-17, that
he is “…ready to preach the
gospel to… (those who) …are at Rome also.
For, (he says,) I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ: for IT IS the POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION to every one
that… (believes it); to the Jew first,
and also to the Greek (the
Gentile). For therein (in
the true gospel of God and of His Son Jesus Christ) is the righteousness (or justice) of God revealed from faith to faith: (for) as it is written, The just shall live by faith (Romans 1:17 [‘…by His faith…’; Habakkuk 2:4]).” Why was Paul so adamant about the gospel
of Christ which he was ready to preach to both Jew and Gentile? Because Paul
knew that the believing of the true gospel of Jesus Christ was the only means
by which anyone could ever receive a true salvation. But what is salvation? To
understand salvation, which is being saved or delivered FROM something; we must
first understand what the something is, which we must be saved or delivered from.
The problem fallen
man has, and has always had, is a thing called sin. It is because fallen mankind is a creature of sin,
that he must be saved, for sin is the instrument or medium which ushers
in eternal death to both the body and soul of man (Ezekiel 18:4). It was
sin which brought about the fall of man in the first place. So how is it
we find ourselves in this situation? This question is answered in Romans
5:12. “Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death
by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for…all have (inherited Adam’s sinful,
fallen nature, and because of that
inherent sin nature, all men have) sinned” ([committed sins] Revelation 6:2; Psalm 8:5;
Revelation 6:4 and 8). We were, and are, all born into this world
as sinners and Psalm 51:5 tells us so. “Behold, I was shapen
in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” This is not speaking of an adulterous
relationship or illegitimacy of birth, but of the old Adamic
sin nature being passed down from generation to generation. Such is
common to all men, thus, man’s need of a savior.
It’s not man’s
fault that he is born a sinner, but God Himself can’t change that fact.
Neither can God change the sentence of death which is pronounced upon all sin
(the sin nature) and all committed sins (the act of sinning;
Ezekiel 18:4; Romans 6:23; John 8:34; I John 3;4-8).
But all thanks be to God, in the great love, wisdom, and justice of God, though
costly to Himself, God devised and implemented a plan to save mankind FROM sin
(Matthew 1:21). “Being justified freely by His (God’s) GRACE (which is) through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a
propitiation (an atoning victim) through faith in His (Jesus’) blood, to declare His (God’s) righteousness (justice) for the remission of
sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this
time His (God’s) righteousness (justice): that He (GOD) might be JUST, and the justifier of… (all those who believe; have faith) …in Jesus” (Romans 3:24-26; Revelation 22:17). Did you notice
that God himself would have been unjust to cast men into hell with no
possibility of being saved when it’s not their fault they are sinners?
And did you also notice that remission is of sins that are past.
The sacrificial offering of the body and blood of Jesus Christ was never meant
to be a continual remission of sin so we could continue in sin
and still go to heaven. That’s not at all, what the “…grace of God…” is,
or is about. But the redemption,
which is in the believing of Jesus Christ and His gospel (that which He
accomplished through His sufferings and death on the cross), forever declares
the justice of God, even to the casting of unbelieving sinners
into the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8). The reason He will be just in doing this is: If you genuinely
believe the true gospel of Jesus Christ, you won’t be a sinner.
Now God being the
only one who could possibly intervene for man, would have been unjust to have
stood idly by while men plunged helplessly into hell with no hope of salvation.
But what a terrible price which must be paid. Could even the love and justice
of God endure such a terrible cost? Thankfully the answer is yes. For God, in
His infinite love, wisdom, mercy, and justice, implemented His plan. “For God so loved the
world (the whole of lost humanity), that He gave His
only begotten Son
(the sacrificial lamb
of God), that WHOSOEVER believeth in Him (and all which He accomplished for them through His death,
burial, resurrection, and ascension) should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). This was and is the mighty grace of God
to man. Jesus is the “…WAY, (to the Father of all,) …truth, and …life: (and) no man cometh unto
the Father, but by…”
(and through, and IN Him
[Jesus, the Christ]; John 14:6).
The saving
of man FROM sin, also saves us FROM (the sentence of) “…death and hell… (which is) …the wages of sin…” (the
condemnation; Romans 6:23; John 3:17-18). All of this comes
through simply hearing and believing the implemented, plan of God;
which is the true gospel of Jesus Christ (John 3:14-18-19). Not only does true repentance of our sin, and belief of the true gospel of Jesus
Christ (Acts 20:21), save us from the sentence of death; but we also receive a new sentence, the sentence of LIFE;
for Jesus came that we “…might have LIFE,
and that… more abundantly” (John 10:10).
Not just life as we understand it as a sinner, but the real, abundant,
everlasting life of God as it was,
and is, in Jesus. It is not our
life, and it will never be our life; it is the LIFE of Jesus, the Christ. It is
His Life, and, it is in Him. For “I am crucified WITH Christ (this is the end of my old man of sin, my old sin
nature, and, my life): nevertheless I live; yet (it’s)
not I (that lives), but (it’s)
Christ
(who) liveth in me: and the
life which I now live in the flesh (this
body) I live by THE FAITH
of the Son of God
(the true gospel of
that which He accomplished for me through His sufferings and death on the cross
of Calvary), who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). For God “…hath delivered us FROM the power of darkness (and death), and hath translated us into the kingdom of
His dear Son” (who is light and LIFE and immortality; John
1:4; Colossians 1:13; II Timothy 1:10; II Corinthians 5:17;
Romans 8:1-2). Ultimately it is the LIFE which is in Him that is
our life, and our salvation (Romans 5:10). For “When Christ, who IS
our life (presently), shall appear, then
shall ye also appear with Him in glory” (Colossians
3:4). We don’t wait until we see Him coming in the clouds to have this
LIFE, otherwise we’ll never have it. We receive this LIFE (His LIFE) the very
moment we hear, repent, and believe the true gospel of Jesus Christ from the
heart.
We began this
message speaking of GRACE. The Greek word is charis
(khar'ece), Strong’s #5485
in Strong’s Greek Dictionary. And Mr. Strong’s Dictionary says the word is from
5463; meaning “graciousness (as
gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or
spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life;
including gratitude).” In the King James Version of the Bible, this Greek word
was translated “acceptable, benefit, favor, gift, grace (ious),
joy, liberality, pleasure, and thank (s, worthy).” These words give us better
understanding of what the gospel of God and of Christ is to us, for it IS
God’s incalculable gift, favor, and benefit; His liberality, pleasure, and AMAZING
GRACE to whosoever will hear and believe it.
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For much more
about the “Amazing Grace of God,” please read “Justified by Faith
Grace,” Message 2 by
guest writer Keith Surface, and/or, “True Grace,” Message 6 by guest writer Leroy Surface. You will surely
be blessed by these messages. JDG
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JDG
Message 25 - Saved by Grace
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