Sermon from Pixley UB

"Man's Guilt and God's Grace"

Ephesians 2:1-10

Intro:

During the Spanish-American War, Clara Barton was overseeing the work of the Red Cross in Cuba. One day Colonel Theodore Roosevelt came to her, wanted to buy food for his sick and wounded Rough Riders. But she refused to sell him any. Roosevelt was perplexed. His men needed the help and he was prepared to pay out of his own funds. When he asked someone why he could not buy the supplies, he was told, “Colonel, just ask for it” A smile broke over Roosevelt’s face. Now he understood—the provisions were not for sale. All he had to do was simply ask and they would be given freely.

That is not a bad definition of grace. Today we’re going to talk about grace. We’re going to do that by going to one of the greatest passages in the Bible concerning grace, Ephesians 2:1-10.

We begin where Paul begins with a description of what we were before Christ saved us.

WHAT WE WERE (1-3)

A look at our former life shows we didn’t have “life” at all. Our past life is summed in one word…“dead”

a) WITHOUT LIFE (1)

i)     Dead – Lost sinners are not simply sick people needing help; they are dead people needing life.

ii)   Dead in transgressions & sin – Lost

(1)Transgressions – wrong steps taken, deliberate breaking of the law.

(2)Sin – to miss the mark.

iii) These both aren’t isolated acts; they speak of “a way of life” or “a pattern of conduct”.

b)   WITHOUT FREEDOM (2)

i)     When you followed the ways of this world – the pressures of society & culture led them away from God.

ii)   The prince of the power of the air –

(1)There is a superhuman, spiritual power of evil (Satan) that generates a spirit of disobedience in people.

(2)Air = spiritual realm.

(3)Sons of disobedience – a Hebraic expression indicating their chief characteristic is that of “disobedience”. (LKGNT)

(a)And this disobedience is a matter of choice.

c)   WITHOUT HOPE (3)

“by nature objects of wrath” – condemned to hell

Dead in sin; influenced by Satan; controlled by lust; & under God’s wrath.

Bad news indeed

WHAT WE ARE (4-6)

In vss. 4-6 Paul shows step-by-step how God reverses the bad news of 1-3

Rom.5:20b, 21 “where sin abounded, grace abounded much more”.

And Paul starts this contrast with “but God”

These words signal God’s intervention into our hopeless, sinful condition.

He is not a God of wrath only; he is also a God of Mercy

a)   HE LOVED US (4)

i)     Mercy – The word indicates the emotion aroused by someone in need & the attempt to relieve the person & remove his trouble.

ii)   God’s emotions were aroused by seeing your need. And desires to relieve & remove your trouble

iii) He is “rich in mercy” & His mercy is rooted in His “great Love” for us

That was shown in what He has done in Christ.

b)   HE LIBERATED US (5)

i)     Made us alive – Can also mean “raised, to keep alive, to preserve life, quickened, granted a new spiritual life”.

ii)   Saved us – The perf. tense points to the “completed action w/a continuing result”, thus emphasizing the continual state or condition. “by grace you are being saved”

c)   HE LIFTED US (6)

i)     Raised us up – believers not only receive life, but they experience a resurrection.

ii)   This being raised is with Christ – we have been united with Him in His resurrected life.

iii) “Made us alive”, “raised us”, “seated us” – means that, get this, what happened to Christ WILL happen to us

(1)The believer’s resurrection, ascension, & enthronement must await complete fulfillment; but spiritually this has already happened

(2)God did not give you life & leave you in the cemetery. He lifted you up to sit on the throne with His victorious Son

So, we are brought back to life from our spiritual death; then raised to the presence of God; then seated in heaven.

WHY HE DID IT (7)

a)   He did it so that he might display us as trophies of his grace.

b)   Illus: Painter

HOW HE DID IT (8-10)

This is one of the best summaries of the gospel in the NT.

a)   THROUGH HIS GRACE (8a)

i)     Grace – (12 x’s in Eph) “pleasantness, favor, & gratitude.”

ii)   “the utter generosity that God gives to sinners…even though they don’t deserve it.”

iii) It isn’t only the forgiveness of sin, but includes the gift of God’s power in our lives (which brings about a new kind of life).

b)   THROUGH OUR FAITH (8b)

i)     Through faith/trusting – this indicates the channel through which salvation comes.

(1)It means more than simply agreeing w/an idea. It refers to a total openness to letting God give the benefits of salvation & to obeying the will of God.

(2)Faith is not viewed as a positive work or accomplishment of the individual.

(3)Included in this grace is the gift of having enough faith to believe the Good News of Jesus.

ii)   It is the gift of God – It’s a gift

(1)When a person works an 8-hour day and receives a fair day’s pay, that’s a wage. When a person competes with an opponent and receives a trophy for his performance, that’s a prize. When a person receives appropriate recognition for his long service or high achievements, that’s an award. But when a person is not capable of earning a wage, can win no prize, and deserves no award - yet receives such a gift anyway - that is a good picture of God’s unmerited favor

iii) (9) Not of works/actions –

(1)Illus: I read about an instant cake mix that was a big flop. The instructions said all you had to do was add water and bake. The company couldn’t understand why it didn’t sell—until their research discovered that the buying public felt uneasy about a mix that required only water. Apparently people thought it was too easy. So the company altered the formula and changed the directions to call for adding an egg to the mix in addition to the water. The idea worked and sales jumped dramatically

(2)Isn’t this how some people react to the plan of salvation? To them it sounds too easy and simple to be true. They feel that there is something more they must do, something they must add to God’s “recipe” for salvation.

(3)Unlike the cake-mix manufacturer, God has not changed His “formula” to make salvation more marketable. The gospel we proclaim must be free of works, even though it may sound too easy.

FOR WHAT PURPOSE? (10)

a)   FOR GOOD WORKS (10)

i)     His workmanship – We are a work of art God is in process of designing

ii)   Created – The word points to God’s new creation in Christ.

Now God is working in you & through you to accomplish His great purposes.

iii) In Christ (35 x’s) we have been redeemed, raised, reconciled, & recreated for a new purpose: to be the agency through which God can show the “incomparable riches of His grace” & accomplish the work He has given us to do for Him.

(1)For Good works – We are saved from (negative) a lot that is negative & destructive; but we are being saved to (positive) good works

(2)Illustration of wick & oil. If the oil runs out, the wick burns out. As long as there is oil, the wick doesn’t burn. Question: What’s burning?

When we are trusting, God can mold us, so that we become of God’s making, able to carry out the good actions already prepared by God for us to do.

Message Bible - It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ.

He did all this on his own, with no help from us Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah. - Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus.

Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.



	"Man's Guilt and God's Grace"
	Ephesians 2:1-10
	Intro: During the Spanish-American War, Clara Barton was overseeing the work of the Red Cross in Cuba. One day Colonel Theodore Roosevelt came to her, wanted to buy food for his sick and wounded Rough Riders. But she refused to sell him any. Roosevelt was perplexed. His men needed the help and he was prepared to pay out of his own funds. When he asked someone why he could not buy the supplies, he was told, “Colonel, just ask for it” A smile broke over Roosevelt’s face. Now he understood—the provisions were not for sale. All he had to do was simply ask and they would be given freely. That is not a bad definition of grace. Today we’re going to talk about grace. We’re going to do that by going to one of the greatest passages in the Bible concerning grace, Ephesians 2:1-10. We begin where Paul begins with a description of what we were before Christ saved us. WHAT WE WERE (1-3) A look at our former life shows we didn’t have “life” at all. Our past life is summed in one word…“dead” a) WITHOUT LIFE (1) i) Dead – Lost sinners are not simply sick people needing help; they are dead people needing life. ii) Dead in transgressions & sin – Lost (1)Transgressions – wrong steps taken, deliberate breaking of the law. (2)Sin – to miss the mark. iii) These both aren’t isolated acts; they speak of “a way of life” or “a pattern of conduct”. b) WITHOUT FREEDOM (2) i) When you followed the ways of this world – the pressures of society & culture led them away from God. ii) The prince of the power of the air – (1)There is a superhuman, spiritual power of evil (Satan) that generates a spirit of disobedience in people. (2)Air = spiritual realm. (3)Sons of disobedience – a Hebraic expression indicating their chief characteristic is that of “disobedience”. (LKGNT) (a)And this disobedience is a matter of choice. c) WITHOUT HOPE (3) “by nature objects of wrath” – condemned to hell Dead in sin; influenced by Satan; controlled by lust; & under God’s wrath. Bad news indeed WHAT WE ARE (4-6) In vss. 4-6 Paul shows step-by-step how God reverses the bad news of 1-3 Rom.5:20b, 21 “where sin abounded, grace abounded much more”. And Paul starts this contrast with “but God” These words signal God’s intervention into our hopeless, sinful condition. He is not a God of wrath only; he is also a God of Mercy a) HE LOVED US (4) i) Mercy – The word indicates the emotion aroused by someone in need & the attempt to relieve the person & remove his trouble. ii) God’s emotions were aroused by seeing your need. And desires to relieve & remove your trouble iii) He is “rich in mercy” & His mercy is rooted in His “great Love” for us That was shown in what He has done in Christ. b) HE LIBERATED US (5) i) Made us alive – Can also mean “raised, to keep alive, to preserve life, quickened, granted a new spiritual life”. ii) Saved us – The perf. tense points to the “completed action w/a continuing result”, thus emphasizing the continual state or condition. “by grace you are being saved” c) HE LIFTED US (6) i) Raised us up – believers not only receive life, but they experience a resurrection. ii) This being raised is with Christ – we have been united with Him in His resurrected life. iii) “Made us alive”, “raised us”, “seated us” – means that, get this, what happened to Christ WILL happen to us (1)The believer’s resurrection, ascension, & enthronement must await complete fulfillment; but spiritually this has already happened (2)God did not give you life & leave you in the cemetery. He lifted you up to sit on the throne with His victorious Son So, we are brought back to life from our spiritual death; then raised to the presence of God; then seated in heaven. WHY HE DID IT (7) a) He did it so that he might display us as trophies of his grace. b) Illus: Painter HOW HE DID IT (8-10) This is one of the best summaries of the gospel in the NT. a) THROUGH HIS GRACE (8a) i) Grace – (12 x’s in Eph) “pleasantness, favor, & gratitude.” ii) “the utter generosity that God gives to sinners…even though they don’t deserve it.” iii) It isn’t only the forgiveness of sin, but includes the gift of God’s power in our lives (which brings about a new kind of life). b) THROUGH OUR FAITH (8b) i) Through faith/trusting – this indicates the channel through which salvation comes. (1)It means more than simply agreeing w/an idea. It refers to a total openness to letting God give the benefits of salvation & to obeying the will of God. (2)Faith is not viewed as a positive work or accomplishment of the individual. (3)Included in this grace is the gift of having enough faith to believe the Good News of Jesus. ii) It is the gift of God – It’s a gift (1)When a person works an 8-hour day and receives a fair day’s pay, that’s a wage. When a person competes with an opponent and receives a trophy for his performance, that’s a prize. When a person receives appropriate recognition for his long service or high achievements, that’s an award. But when a person is not capable of earning a wage, can win no prize, and deserves no award - yet receives such a gift anyway - that is a good picture of God’s unmerited favor iii) (9) Not of works/actions – (1)Illus: I read about an instant cake mix that was a big flop. The instructions said all you had to do was add water and bake. The company couldn’t understand why it didn’t sell—until their research discovered that the buying public felt uneasy about a mix that required only water. Apparently people thought it was too easy. So the company altered the formula and changed the directions to call for adding an egg to the mix in addition to the water. The idea worked and sales jumped dramatically (2)Isn’t this how some people react to the plan of salvation? To them it sounds too easy and simple to be true. They feel that there is something more they must do, something they must add to God’s “recipe” for salvation. (3)Unlike the cake-mix manufacturer, God has not changed His “formula” to make salvation more marketable. The gospel we proclaim must be free of works, even though it may sound too easy. FOR WHAT PURPOSE? (10) a) FOR GOOD WORKS (10) i) His workmanship – We are a work of art God is in process of designing ii) Created – The word points to God’s new creation in Christ. Now God is working in you & through you to accomplish His great purposes. iii) In Christ (35 x’s) we have been redeemed, raised, reconciled, & recreated for a new purpose: to be the agency through which God can show the “incomparable riches of His grace” & accomplish the work He has given us to do for Him. (1)For Good works – We are saved from (negative) a lot that is negative & destructive; but we are being saved to (positive) good works (2)Illustration of wick & oil. If the oil runs out, the wick burns out. As long as there is oil, the wick doesn’t burn. Question: What’s burning? When we are trusting, God can mold us, so that we become of God’s making, able to carry out the good actions already prepared by God for us to do. Message Bible - It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah. - Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.