- one of the defining phrases of the new testamentis "saved by grace." that's because the new covenantthat christ established with his peopleis based on grace. and because of god's grace wehave the hope of eternal life. but what is grace? and what does it mean whenpeople say we're saved by grace? and does salvation bygrace mean that there's no response on my part in orderto benefit from his grace.
find out right now, onlet the bible speak. ♪ music ♪ announcer: from the churchesof christ let the bible speak with evangelist kevin presley. i'm very glad that you've chosen to be with me today forour study of god's word. you know there are alot of important things we could talk about today.
but none is importantas god's message to man. and there's not a morethrilling part of god's word to discuss than the onewe want to study today. one of the most oft quotedpassages of the new testament is found in ephesianschapter two in verse eight. and as i read it today ithink you'll recognize it. but i want to read the versesthat follow it as well. so we'll look atephesians chapter two, and i want to begin therebeginning in verse eight.
the apostle paul says "for by grace are yousaved through faith. "and that not of yourselves. "it is the gift of god. "not of works, lestany many should boast. "for we are his workmanship. "created in christjesus unto good works, "which god hath before ordained "that we should walk in them."
well thank god for that passage. you know, i've done alot of things in my life that i disappointed and evenangered god, and you have too. paul said "all havesinned and come short "of the glory of god." romans chapterthree and verse 23. every last one ofus needed something that we ourselvescould not provide. every one of us owed a debt
that we did not havethe means to pay back. and if it were left up to us, we would have nowhere to turn. nothing of which to boast, and no hope to claim. we would be doomed eternally. but god changed all of that. and he did it for one reason. he loves us andhe smiled upon us,
even though we didn'tdeserve it in the least. now grace by definition isthe unmerited favor of god. and it provided something thatwe all desperately needed, instead of what we all deserved. now grace is greatlymisunderstood today. and it's so greatlymisunderstood because the justiceand the holiness of god is also misunderstood. some people todaybehave as though grace
gives them a blankcheck to allow them to do as they please withoutany fear of condemnation. but that can't be becausepaul asked rhetorically in the roman letter"what shall we say then, "shall we continue in sinthat grace may abound. "god forbid." romans chaptersix and verse one. others believe that sincewe're saved by grace, then god requiresnothing on the part
of the sinner to be saved. baptism for exampleis unnecessary because we're savedby grace they tell us. but is that really true? and if so, then what didjesus mean in matthew seven and 21 when he said "noteveryone that sayeth "unto me lord lord shallenter the kingdom of heaven, "but he that doeth the will "of my father whichis in heaven."
does grace precludeobedience to the gospel? well let's look intothe scriptures today and see if we can sort allof this out in just a moment. before i sayanything else today, i want to make itabundantly clear, i believe we are saved bythe grace of a loving god. i can't believe the scriptures and then deny a fact soplainly stated within them. nor would i want to denysuch a wonderful truth.
i would be a very frightenedman when i thought about the judgementday if i didn't believe in the grace andthe mercy of god. no passage of scriptureis any plainer than paul's affirmativein ephesians chapter two in verse eight. "for by grace are yousaved through faith." the question todayis what is grace? what does it mean tobe saved by grace?
now grace is favoror kindness shown without regard to theworth or the merit of the one who receives it. and in spite of whatthat person deserves. or to state it more simply. it is the undeservedfavor of god. now grace is one of thekey attributes of god. exodus chapter 34and verse six says, "that the lord god ismerciful and gracious.
"he is long-sufferingand abounding ingoodness and truth." and god is stillall of those things despite a verysinful human race. now man may look athimself in the mirror and like what he sees, but you see god doesn'tlook at him that way. he may be a moral, law abiding,kind, compassionate person, he may be very pious anddevoted to his religion. but isaiah remindsus that we are all
as an unclean thingand all of our own righteousness is as filthy rags. and we all do fade is a leaf. and our iniquities like thewind have taken us away. and there is none thatcalleth upon by name that stirreth up himselfto take hold of thee. isiah chapter 64verses six and seven. the apostle paul summed it up in the seventhchapter of romans.
where he personifies himselfunder the law of moses, trying to bejustified by perfectly keeping it's commandmentsand ceremonies. and he found himselfhopelessly frustrated. for he said "thateven though he tried "with all of his might to meet "all of the requirementsof moses law, "sin took occasion tothe flesh and slew him "or kept him in bondageto sin and condemnation."
that's what thatchapter is all about. and his conclusionin verse 24 was, "oh wretched man that i am, "who shall deliver me fromthe body of this death." now paul realizedthat the strength to be saved wasn'twithin himself. and so he says in verse 25, "i thank god throughjesus christ our lord." in other words christprovided what paul himself
could not produce by hisown strength or goodness. so that's what grace is. it is god's willingnessto forgive our debt of sin and save us from it's penalty even though wedeserved to perish. now you can't buy orearn the grace of god. the bible says it is a gift,ephesians two and eight. but if we're saved by grace, well doesn't thatmean that the gospel
comes with no strings attached? that i'm saved beforeand independent of any act of obedienceto the gospel. why, wouldn'tsalvation by grace mean that baptism for exampleis irrelevant to salvation? after all wouldn'tbaptism be a work. and paul said therein ephesians two, we're not saved by workslest any man should boast. but yet the biblecommands the sinner.
it doesn't suggest,it commands the sinner to be baptized for theforgiveness of sins. just as plain as paulwas in ephesians two and verse eight in sayingwe are saved by grace, peter was just as plainin acts two and 38 when he told the peopleon pentecost to repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christfor the remission of sins. and peter as well wrote
in second peter chapterthree in verse 21. where unto the like figurebaptism doth also now save us. well are these bible teachingsat variance with each other? does one void out the other? by saying that baptism is arequirement for salvation, why wouldn't that makeunnecessary the grace of god? well you know maybe theconfusion doesn't come from not understandingwhat grace is. but rather understanding whatbaptism and obedience is.
i'll look at colossianschapter two and verse 12. colossians two and verse 12. paul there says, "buriedwith him in baptism, "wherein also ye are risenwith him through the faith "in the operation of god whohath raised him from the dead." in other words, when we submit to being baptized into christ, we're not placing ourfaith in ourselves. we're not relyingon our own strength.
and what is there in baptismthat is meritorious anyway? paul says "we are raisedfrom the waters of baptism "through faith not on ourselves "but faith in theoperation of god." you see in baptism weare obediently trusting in christ to saveus from our sins. now his blood is whatwashes our sins away, not the actual water. but yet saul wastold by the preacher
in acts 22 and 16 to arise and be baptizedwashing away thy sins. calling on the name of the lord. now really it's pretty simplewhen you put it all together. in baptism, ananiah said "we're calling upon the nameof the lord to be saved." and we're allowing hisblood to do it's work and to cleanse usfrom our past sins in the obedience of baptism.
now go back and lookat ephesians two verses eight through 10 again. paul there says, "for by graceare you saved through faith. "and that not of yourselves, "it is the gift ofgod not of works, "lest any man should boast for "we are his workmanshipcreated in christ jesus "onto good works. "which god hath before ordained
so paul doesn't haveevery kind of work in mind when he says that we aresaved by grace through faith not of works lest thena man should boast. he's talking aboutthe kind of works that give man a reason to boast. he's talking about worksof the old testament law. that law was predicated uponmans ability to keep it. and if you would berighteous in the eyes of god, it was because youperfectly kept the law.
and if you failed, evenin the minutest of things, well, the bible concludes you become guiltyof all of the law. well no man has ever beenable to meet that standard. nobody has ever been able todo that except jesus our lord. he lived up to the standardof the law in every respect. and because of that heis perfect and righteous. now no other person, noman, can make such a claim. now there's a vastdifference between man
trying to save himself and a man on the other hand submitting in faith tothe teachings of jesus. speaking of which, didyou know that faith is called a work in the bible? it is, in john chaptersix verses 28 and 29. jesus said they said, or they said unto jesus "what shall we do that wemight work the works of god?"
and jesus answeredand said unto them, "this is the work of god "that you believe onhim whom he hath sent." so jesus therecalls faith a work. yet paul said inephesians two and eight that we are saved bygrace through faith. not of works. so evidently some type of workis involved in our salvation. but not a work of merit,
of which man can boast and claim credit forhis own salvation. but the work of faith you see, that brings the glory to god. now nearly anyoneacknowledges that faith is necessary to be saved. everybody except forthe universalist. paul said without faith itis impossible to please him. hebrews chapter11 and verse six.
but now is faith justa mental affirmation of what the bible says? do i have saving faith in christ when i admit to myself thatjesus is the son of god? well you know ifso, then the devil and all of his minionsin hell are saved. because james chaptertwo in verse 19 says "thou believest that thereis one god thou do us well. "the devils alsobelieve and tremble."
no, the key is inthe next verse. james says, "but wiltthou know oh vain man "that faith withoutworks is dead?" you see faith must be put intoaction before it is faith. "and i submit to you my friends, "that the center putshis faith into action "when he submitsto the commandment "of christ and isbaptized into christ." now in baptism he earns nothing.
but he does demonstratehis faith in jesus. and he meets christ in thisdivinely appointed step and christ washes hissins away by his blood. thus paul says "buriedwith him in baptism "and raised with him throughfaith in the operation of god." colossians chapter two. well now let's lookat some examples of how grace workswith obedience. and i want you to see
that they don'tcollide they cooperate. and let's begin byconsidering the ephesians to whom paul madethis famous statement about salvation by grace. now much of paul'swriting was done to debunk the false teachings of jewish legalistsand pagan humanist. and both camps weretrying to influence young and vulnerablechristians to reject
the grace of god as thepremise of salvation. judaizers wererampant in the church, and they were tellingthose who were weak in the faith thatthey had to go back and to keep the law of moses, because it was only throughkeeping the law of moses that they could be seenjust in the eyes of god. and so in additionto the new covenant in order to be savedthey had to keep the old.
well paul is refutingthat in no uncertain terms here in ephesians two and eight. and he says that they had beensaved by grace through faith. but what did that mean? well do you know you couldread about the salvation of the very people towhom paul was talking? we can read about thesalvation of the people who made up the church atephesus in the book of acts. and it's found inacts chapter 19.
and if you look thereverses one through five, the bible says thatit came to pass. that while apolloswas at corinth, paul having pastthrough the upper coast came to ephesus andfinding certain disciples he said unto them"have you received "the holy ghostsince you believed?" and they said unto him "wehave not so much as heard "whether there beany holy ghost."
and he said unto them, "underwhat then were you baptized?" and they said "underjohn's baptism." then said paul,"john verily baptized "with the baptism of repentancesaying unto the people "that they shouldbelieve on him. "we should come after himthat is on christ jesus." but when they heard this they were baptized in thename of the lord jesus. so the ephesianswere saved by grace.
but they were also baptized. and paul thought thatbaptism was important enough that he commandedthem to submit to it. and not only that, theright baptism at that. so salvation by gracein no way eliminated the need or requirementfor baptism. you know the corinthianswere also saved by grace. paul said in second corinthianschapter six and verse one, "we then as workerstogether with him,
"beseech you alsothat you receive "not the grace of god in vain." but yet the book of actstells us how the corinthians were saved whenpaul first preached to them in the house of justice. acts chapter eight the endof verse eight says that "crispus, the chiefruler of the synagogue "believed in the lordwith all his house "and many of thecorinthians hearing
"believed and were baptized." so baptism on the part onthe believers at corinth that didn't negatethe grace of god. and neither does ittoday when a center in pennant and faith isbaptized into christ. now you probably knowthe story of noah and the great flood pretty well. god looked down at thisold sin cursed earth and he had enough.
man was as sinfulas sinful can be. and it was a vile and evil place because man had sopolluted the earth with his sin and the patienceof god had reached it's limit. so god decided thathe would destroy the world in a great flood. nothing would survive thismassive deluge of water. he would scrub the earth clean of it's wickednessand start over.
now i suppose that godcould have recreated man after the waters recededbut that wasn't his plan. there was one man outof the whole world that god had mercy on. genesis six andverse eight says, "but noah found grace inthe eyes of the lord." now that's significant. noah found grace. it wasn't that noah was sohigh and mighty and perfect
that god owed him something. god looked down at noah anddecided to show grace to him. god would save noah,and would use his family to replenish the new earth. and so god spoke to noah one day and told him he was going todestroy the world with a flood. and he told noah to build an ark for the saving ofhe and his house. and that ark wasto built according
to the plans that god gave him. the writer of hebrewsmemorialized the faith of noah in hebrews chapter11 and verse seven. when it says "by faithnoah, being warned of god "of things not seen as yet. "move with fear." he prepared an ark forthe saving of his house. by the which hecondemned the world and became heir of therighteousness which is by faith.
now noah was saved fromthe antediluvian world because of god's grace. there's no question about that. it was predicatedupon god's grace. but now let's supposethat noah had not done what god told him to do. suppose noah had said "well god doesn't needa boat to save me." or "god's all powerful,
"why doesn't god buildthe ark himself?" oh he didn't dare. the bible says thatnoah moved with fear. and he did exactlywhat god said to do. and that ark carriedhim and his family through the flood to salvation. now think it about this way. noah couldn't turn around and then brag aboutwhat he had done.
noah couldn't pound his chest and claim that hesingle-handedly saved the human racefrom extinction. he wouldn't have knownanything about a flood. and he certainlywould not have known what to do to save his family. were it not forthe grace of god. now friends, that's howit is with our salvation. we were doomed toeternal death with no way
of saving ourselvesbut god's grace provided a planfor our redemption. it was by grace thatgod sent his only son walking down the starrystairway of heaven to be slain on thatbloody hill of calvary. and he didn't have to do that. and we certainlydidn't deserve it. he came as the friend of sinners and he died for our redemption
while we were yet his enemies. he died for the screamingmob at the foot of his cross who were revelingin his suffering. and only one wordcan describe that. grace. grace beyond our comprehension. grace beyond ourability to show. grace that only god could have toward his belovedbut fallen creation.
roman chapter fivein verse 15 says, "but not as the offense,so also is the free gift. "for if through the offenseof one, many be dead. "much more the grace of god "and the gift by gracewhich is by one man "jesus christ hathabounded unto many." it was by grace that godgave us his wonderful plan in the form of the gospelso we could be saved. in ephesians chapter threeverses two through four,
paul spoke of the dispensationof the grace of god which is given me to you-ward. he says, "how that byrevelation he'd made known "unto me the mysterywhere by when you read "you may understand my knowledgein the mystery of christ." now all of that is by grace. and it is only by grace. paul told titus "forthe grace of god "that bring us salvationhas appeared to all men."
titus chapter twoand verse eleven. but now here's the catch. not all men are saved. jesus said not allmen would be saved. most would be lost. why? if salvation is by grace, and the grace of god hathappeared unto all men, shouldn't everybody be saved?
well we know thatwon't be the case. jesus said that"narrow was the way "that leadeth unto life, andfew there be that find it." so why won't all men be saved when god has providedhis grace for all men? the answer's found inhebrews chapter five verses eight and nine. for speaking of jesus, paulsaid "thou he were a son "yet learned theobedience by the things
"which he sufferedand being made perfect "he became the authorof eternal salvation "unto all them that obey him." do you see what paul is saying? god by his gracehas given man a plan a pathway for his salvation. christ is the authorof salvation, butman has to accept it. and paul places a conditionupon receiving it. he says "christ is theauthor of eternal salvation
have you obeyed the lord today? have you renderedobedience to the gospel in baptism for theremission of your past sins? i hope you'll do that. this very day withoutany further delay. if you would like afree printed transcript of today's lesson,we'd be more than happy to send you one free of anycost or obligation whatsoever. just let us know you would like
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