Amazing Grace!
By
Rev John C. Orlando, Jr.
Incirlik AB Chapel, 16 Jan 2003
Announce Text: Eph 2:1 – 10
Read
Text
Pray
Intro
“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see…”
We all are intimately familiar with those words that open one of the most famous hymns of all time, “Amazing Grace,” a hymn that has touched the hearts of countless Christians through the years. And for the Christian, one thing is clear: all that we have, all that we are, and all that we ever will be in Christ is due to and because of the wonderful, powerful, amazing grace of God alone.
But just what is grace, and what so amazing about it?
Many have a view of grace that merely has God, out of the goodness of His heart, providing a mere opportunity for us to be saved. However, both in the hymn, and in the Bible, grace is spoken of in much greater terms.
Grace is not merely an opportunity that God extends to us, and then leaves up to us, but it is the effectual power that flows from the Omnipotent Hand of an absolutely Sovereign and Perfect Redeemer who actually saves everyone whom He intends to save. God never fails! God’s grace is amazing because it actually accomplishes something; it does for us what we could never do for ourselves! It does what God has designed it to do: it saves!
Let
us then contemplate all that our Sovereign God has done for us, and meditate
upon His grace that truly is amazing.
Background: Before moving into his exposition on the grace of God, Paul first alerts us to what serves as the background to all he is about to say. Notice the very first words of the text “And you…” Paul is building off of all he has told us in Chapter 1 that describes God’s perfect plan of salvation that was conceived by Him before time began and which He infallibly brings to pass in time. In Chapter 1, Paul has given us what amounts to a long doxology of praise for all of the glories of our salvation. We see Paul enumerating such indispensable truths as the sovereign election by God of unworthy sinners, and how Christ made a perfect atonement for their sins.
After this, Paul now turns his attention to explain in more practical terms how this all manifests itself in the life of every believer…First, Paul describes
I.
Our Plight - Verses 1 – 3
A. What We Were: Dead in sins! Verse 1 - “you were dead in trespasses and sins” – What does it mean to be dead? Our whole nature: mind, emotions, and will are radically corrupt. We were in total bondage to our sin nature and incapable of inclining ourselves to any spiritual good. This is the critical point. We were not simply sick unto death, but we were dead. We were in bondage to our sin nature. (Rom 8:7; 1 Cor 2:14; John 6:65, John 8:42—43).
Martin Luther: “free will without God's grace is not free at all, but is the permanent prisoner and bond-slave of evil....”
B. What We Did - Verse 2 - “in which you formerly walked:” We were motivated and driven irresistibly by these 3 forces: The World, the Flesh and the Devil. Our whole manner of living was completely opposed to God, and here is the vital point: we could not do otherwise.
C. The Result - Verse 3 – "by nature children of wrath" – The essence of who or what we were was not something that would illicit God’s favor; rather, it provoked His wrath. This is in direct contrast to what many people seem to think; namely, that God is obligated to save people. However; the only thing God is obligated to give us is justice, and we are all justly condemned before the bar of His Holiness.
The great mystery isn’t why God hasn’t or doesn’t save every single person, the great mystery is why God has saved even one person. God’s meting out of justice to wholly unworthy sinners is not mysterious at all. God’s pouring out His grace on objects who deserve nothing but that justice is what is amazing, and awe inspiring--but not for those who seems to think that God just isn’t fair if He saves one person and not another. But dear one, is there unrighteousness in God? God forbid!
The Good News is that at one time we were by nature objects of His wrath, but now we are not. We will speak more about that Good News. As for God's wrath, that word in the Greek word here is "orge" which signifies the indignation, or righteous scorn and anger of God toward sin. The word suggests a more settled condition of the mind with a view to taking vengeance. God loathes sin and His wrath is directed toward those who engage in sin.
Prior to union with Christ, our plight is dire indeed. The only way any of us will ever be saved is if God works effectively and powerfully in our lives, and that is exactly what He does, as we see Paul now points us to…
II.
God’s Power – Verses 4 – 5
A. “But God” Those 2 simple words are the key to understanding not only this text, but all of our salvation! It is the monumental breakthrough not only of this passage, but of the whole Bible! Though our plight was the same as every other person in the world, GOD did something on our behalf. It doesn’t say, but you because of the power of your free will, or you, because of all of the good works and deeds you had done! No! It says BUT GOD. And this beloved is the difference between Biblical Christianity and every other man-made religion and philosophy in the world.
B. "Who is rich in mercy….because of His great love" - Who is the “us” that God loved? It is all those who were chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the earth as Paul tells us in Eph 1:4. We were nothing but objects of wrath…just like the rest. The difference between us, and the rest, isn’t because we were smarter than the rest, or more righteous than rest; but it is because God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the earth, and loved us in Christ before the foundation of the earth, and in the fullness of time He worked powerfully in our lives that we might experience practically what we are from all eternity, which is exactly what we see happening next in verse 5….
C. “even when were dead…Made us alive” Not we ourselves, but God’s amazing grace working powerfully in the life of His people. He brings them to spiritual life, and they in turn infallibly come to Christ! Illustrations/Quotes:
1. Lazarus, come forth!
2. Drowning versus drowned
3. Charles Spurgeon - “Sin is sovereign till sovereign grace dethrones it.”
God raises us to spiritual life, and Paul now speaks of what we are positionally in Christ…
III.
Our Position – Verses 6 – 8
A. Verse 6 "seated in the heavenly places": It’s a done deal, and all to His glory (v. 7) (Rm 8:28-34)
B. Verse 8 – "By grace you have been saved..." - "Have been" saved, not "might" be saved
C. We Enter in Through Faith
1. John Piper – “And when you believe as you ought to believe, you will discover
that your belief -- like all other spiritual blessings -- was purchased by the death of Christ."
2. In other words, faith is not something that the sinner contributes towards the price of His
salvation. Jesus has already paid that price in full for us. Saving faith is the supernatural result of the Spirit working infallibly in the life of His people. This infallible work is called regeneration, or the new birth, or being born again. The result of this new birth is that we necessarily embrace Christ in saving faith. To put it simply, no new birth, no saving faith. One must be born again before he can even see the kingdom of God.
3. John Calvin - “Man cannot ascribe to himself even one single good work apart from God's grace.”
IV.
God’s Purpose – Verse 10
A. "His workmanship…created…" – The great Architect of our Faith. Notice, we have been "created." It wasn't something residing in us, but something God had to work in us. The ultimate purpose is that we might produce...
B. "Good works, prepared beforehand by God..." As Paul would tell us elsewhere, our lives are now hid in Christ, and the life we live we live by in Christ, who is Himself living His life through us. The ultimate good works prepared beforehand by God is the Great Commission. He has tasked us, His church, to go forth proclaiming the Gospel of His amazing grace to every creature, and it is Jesus Himself, our Great God and Savior, who is accomplishing this work through us, and He is with us even to the end of the age.
Conclusion
Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! Oh, beloved, what a glorious truth! The grace of God is amazing because it actually accomplishes what it sets out to do…it saves, and it does so infallibly!
Grace is not merely an opportunity that God extends to us and then leaves up to us, but it is the effectual power that flows from the Omnipotent Hand of an absolutely Sovereign and Perfect Redeemer who actually saves everyone whom He intends to save. God never fails.
Many would preach a Gospel that
says "God casts His vote; Satan casts his, but you must cast the deciding
ballot"? My friend, if that is
what the Gospel is, there wouldn’t be one single person who would ever be
saved. It may sound good to our
ears which have been tickled by the misunderstanding of the depth of man's
depravity, but that is no Gospel. Not
only is it no Gospel, but it completely turns the true Gospel on its head.
In that scheme, man is the deciding power in who will and will not be
saved. In the true Gospel, it is
God. And not only does God cast a
vote, but he vetoes the votes cast by Satan, and anyone whom He has determined
from all eternity to save He saves!
Our perfect God implemented a perfect plan to save certain imperfect sinners, whom He calls His sheep, by sending His perfect Son to accomplish all of His perfect holy will, and He sent forth His perfect Holy Spirit to perfectly apply and bring about all that is related to His perfect plan. And it is all by grace alone, God’s unmerited favor bestowed upon completely unworthy sinners.
We have seen Our Plight…God’s Power….Our Position…God’s Purpose…
Are you in Christ today? Understand that it is due to nothing but the grace of God, and the difference between you and the unbeliever is one thing: GRACE.
Are you not in Christ today? Flee to Him now! Cry out to Him in repentance and forgiveness! Today is the day of salvation, and it is all due to His grace alone!
Amen.