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INTRODUCTION
ILLUS: Revised Humpty Dumpty Poem by Ron Anderson
Last week I sought to make it perfectly clear that without Christ we are lost sinners with
great capacity for evil because of the total depravity of man. Sin begins small darkens our
mind, degrades our emotions, makes our will disobedient to God, and damns our soul. Sin will
destroys our very life. I did give you some help last week. Though today I promised the
solution.
Timely Truths that Transform Us. Church Statement of Faith:
We believe in SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH: that salvation is the free gift of
God, neither merited nor secured in part or in whole by any virtue or work of man, but
received only by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom all true believers
have as a present possession the gift of eternal life, a perfect righteousness,
sonship in the family of God, deliverance and security from all condemnation, every
spiritual resource needed for life and godliness, and the divine guarantee that they
shall never perish; that this salvation affects the whole man; that apart from Christ
there is no possible salvation.
Solution is SALVATION = deliverance and preservation. Savior. Saved.
Delivered from: all condemnation, and perishing
Preserved for: eternal life, perfect righteousness, family of God, every spiritual resource
for life and godliness
Solution is centered on 2 great words: GRACE and FAITH. Text Eph. 2:1-9
1. Grace
- Cartoon little girl/pastor “Who is this Amazing Grace you keep talking about?”
QUOTE: “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I
once lost but now am found was blind but now I see.”
- vs. 1-3 We are spiritually dead in our sin, following Satan,
disobedient, following our lusts, by nature children of wrath, we are mess
- v. 4 “But God...” God has to first work in us,
in spite of us - that is grace. Salvation is all from God.
- Grace is God giving us needy sinners all the blessings for time and eternity from the
storehouses of His eternal abundance.
- Grace is unmerited favor. Grace is giving us personally good we don’t deserve -
happiness and prosperity for now and eternity. We don’t at all deserve anything
good from anybody much less a just and righteous God. BUT GOD chooses to work in our
life anyway - that is grace.
- God works out of His great love for you and me v. 4. God
takes the initiative. 3 times the word grace: vs. 5, 7, 8
- God blesses us not because of who we are but because of Who He is.
- An OT self portrait of God Exodus 34:6-8
- In NT we see the ultimate self love of God given through worthiness of the
person and work of Jesus Christ Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7
- Acronym of GRACE - God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense
- Grace - is all from God...Statement: “salvation is the free gift of God,
neither merited nor secured in part or in whole by any virtue or work of man...”
QUOTE: Bill Bright’s 4 Spiritual Laws. Law 1 “God loves you and offers
a wonderful plan for your life.” GRACE...
- Is God working in your life? If so first thank Him... How can you tell? Sense
Presence, conviction of sin, cherish Jesus, Bible alive, blessings...
HYMN: “Marvelous Grace of our Loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and
our guilt! Yonder of Calvary’s mount outpoured, There where the blood of the
Lamb was spilt.”
2. Faith
- Grace is all from God, let us also understand faith too is all from God.
Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest: “This faith was
not Paul’s own faith in Jesus Christ, but the faith the Son God had given to
him... It is no longer a faith in faith, but a...faith that comes only from the
Son of God.”
- “When we accept the finished work of Christ on our behalf, we act by the faith
supplied by God’s grace.”
ILLUS: When a person stops breathing, there is nothing he can do to breath again.
If he breathes again it is because someone else starts him breathing.
- A person who is spiritually dead cannot even make a decision of faith unless God first
breathes into him the breath of spiritual life - God out of grace breathes into us
faith to believe. Salvation is by grace through Faith.
- That gift of faith shows us we are lost and guilty sinners and need Christ: 1 Tim.
1:14-15 “and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and
love which are found in Christ Jesus...Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.”
- Christ is the focus of our faith, we believe in Him: Romans 6:23; 5:1,2. Heb. 12:2
“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith...”
- Acronym of FAITH = Forsaking All I Take Him
- Grace is God working in your life. Faith is God helping you respond to His working in
your life. Have you responded by faith in Christ?
- Faith’s answer to the question “How?” is one word, “Christ!”
- Our church statement “apart from Christ there is no possible salvation.”
NOT: Confirmation, baptism, communion, church membership, church attendance,
trying to keep the 10 Commands, living by the Sermon on the Mount, giving to
charity, being a good neighbor, or living a moral and respectful life - None
saves. Works don’t save, faith in Christ saves alone.
- Grace Alone. Faith Alone. Christ Alone. A “gift from God”
APPLY: A gift... Just hold out your hand and receive it.
CONCLUSION So, do you believe you are saved? YES or NO
The Four Spiritual Laws by Bill Bright, Campus Crusade for Christ
Law 1: “God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.”
Law 2: “Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience
God’s love and plan for His life.”
Law 3 “Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for man’s sin. Through Him you
can know and experience God’s love and plan for your life.”
Law 4 “We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, then we can know
and experience God’s love and plan for our lives.”
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