The Grace of God

The title of the sermon today, The Grace of God. You've probably never heard a sermon just devoted to the grace of God. We have been so concerned about the law not being done away. We've heard very little about grace. We're going to try to plunge the depths here of this. There will be some repetitive parts because we want to hammer it as much as we can in a good way.

And I'll start with this question, why are you here today? There are many possible answers that we could offer. You're here because you are commanded to be here. You're here because you enjoy the fellowship, friendship. You're here to grow in grace and knowledge.

Now, all of these are good reasons for being here, but what is the most basic reason as to why you are here? The most basic reason that you're here is because God, who is loved, wants to share His very being with you in a family relationship. Because God is loved, love is the greatest motivating force in the universe. Because He is loved, He created humankind in the first place.

You're here because of God's love and mercy. And grace is very closely related to mercy. You're here because God has called you into His marvelous light, and you have responded to that calling. That calling is purely gracious. It is unmerited. There was nothing that you could do for you to be called now.

The Greek word charis is the word that is translated grace. And this word charis, there are 147 verses in the New Testament that has this word charis in it.

And so it's a principle theme, one of the principle themes of the New Testament. It's also quite prevalent, as we shall see in the Old Testament.

It is spelled C-H-A-R-I-S, and it's pronounced with a K, charis. And it's translated 147 times. Well, it's translated about 130-something times. It's in 147 verses. It's translated about 130-something times as grace.

And it's translated six times as favor, and four or five times either as think or thanks.

Another Greek word that we'll talk about later, charisma, the Greek word charisma is translated gift. Both charis and charisma come from another Greek word. The root word is cairo, in which James in James 1.3 says, My brethren, count it all joy, cario, when you fall into different trials.

So it is grace and charisma are some, in a way, connected to being joyful, happy, and that kind of thing, that kind of emotion.

Let's look at Luke 1.30, where charis is translated as favor. Luke 1.30.

In Luke 1.30, we'll look at verse 26.

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God under a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin, and this is sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph for the house of David.

The virgin's name was Mary, and the angel came in under her and said, Hail you, you are highly favored, divine favored, a derivative of carous, the eternal is with you, blessed are you among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at this saying and cast doubt in her mind. What manner of salutation is this?

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for you have found carous, you have found divine favor with God. Mary hadn't done anything. She was totally surprised by this. She had not done anything good or bad to seek this at all.

And behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a child, and call his name Jesus. Which, by translation, is God with us, Emmanuel. She goes on to talk about how can this be? I've never known a man. And then it talks about in verse 35, the Holy Spirit will overshadow you and come upon you, and that which will be in you will be of the Most High. So this is totally unmerited favor.

Usually in the Church of God, I'm teaching a Fundamentals of Theology each Wednesday for 24 elders who are online in this Ministerial Certification Program. This week we talked about grace, and I asked, well, what is your definition of grace? What is grace? And generally, it's almost like a robot. It is free, unmerited part. Free, unmerited part. And that is an aspect of grace. It is free, unmerited pardon.

As we shall see, though, how that comes about today. In Luke 2, verse 40, notice here about Jesus Christ in Luke 2, verse 40. This is when Jesus Christ was a child. And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the caterests of God was upon Him. Of course, Jesus Christ didn't need free, unmerited pardon of sin because He never sinned. But God highly favored Him. And Jesus Christ increased in grace because He was totally obedient, submissive, and did the will, and was determined to do the will of His Father.

And so He grew in grace with God and man, as it says here. The grace of God was upon Him. Now, in the Old Testament, so we've sort of basically... Well, let's look at one other place. We'll look at Luke 6, and verse 32. Luke 6, verse 32, where this word, caterest, is translated, thank, or thanks, in Luke 6, 32.

Luke 6, 32, For if you love them which love you what, cahress, what grace, what favor have you, for sinners also love those that love them. And if you do good to them which do good to you, what, cahress, grace, favor have you, for sinners also do even the same. And if you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what, thank, or grace, or favor have you, for sinners also lend to sinners to receive as much again.

But love you your enemies and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward shall be great, and you shall be the children of the highest. So those are examples of carroths being translated for something different than grace. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word that is translated grace is spelled C-H-E-N, and it has a K sound like Kain, C-H-E-N, Kain, and once again it means divine favor in the broadest sense. It's translated grace 38 times, favor 26 times, twice as gracious, once as pleasant, and once as precious. Now we go to Genesis 6. Genesis 6. Why did God spare Noah and his family?

Noah and his family. As a result of Cain's sin and Cain being sent out, and he built his own city, and you have the line of Cain, which brought about a civilization that was totally set upon evil. And you come to Genesis 6, where in Genesis 6 it says, you look at verse 3, and the Eternal said, My spirit shall not always strive for man, for that he also is flesh, yet his day shall be 120.

So apparently Noah was on the scene preaching for 120 years. In verse 5, God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it grieved him, verse 6, that he had made man. Then verse 7, the Eternal said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man-beasts and creeping things, bowels of the air, and it repents me. I'm sorry, I'm grieved. It really hurts me, because I have created these human beings for them to be eventually in my family, in my kingdom, and look what they have done.

Look the way that they have gone. And then we are saved by verse 8, But Noah found grace, Cain, favor in the eyes of the Eterna. How did Lot escape from Sodom? You look at Genesis 19, verse 19. You remember that Lot was Abraham's nephew, Lot's father, Terah, and Abraham were brothers. You remember that there became a dispute between Abraham and Lot, and he told Lot, You choose the way you want to go. You choose the best land, so Lot pitched his tents toward Sodom. That looked to be the best pasture land, the best land, and I say unto all of us, if we pitch our tents toward Sodom, we will wind up in Sodom and Lot did.

Sodom and Gomorrah, of course we have talked about Sodom and Gomorrah, given over to that which is not natural, homosexuality. The very word sodomy lives to this day. In Genesis 19, verse 19, Behold, now your servant has found grace in your sight, divine favor, and you have magnified your mercy, so grace and mercy closely related, which you have shown unto me in saving my life, and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me and I die. Behold, now this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one. Oh, let me escape there, if not a little one, it is a little one, and my soul shall live. I think Lot probably thought that that was, quote, the end of the age, per se, and he was afraid for his life. You know that Lot, what happened with Lot and his daughters, they got him drunk, they became pregnant from their father, and that was the beginning of Moab and Ammon, which is probably modern Jordan today.

Why did God choose Jacob and not Esau?

We look now at Romans chapter 9. Now, hopefully you're beginning to see, with regard to grace, there's like two aspects. One, one of the aspects is just totally unmerited favor. You didn't do anything to earn it, deserve it, Mary didn't do anything, so that she would be the one chosen to be the mother of Jesus. Noah, he was one who tried to live rightly, it seems, and so he found grace in the eyes of God. Lot, he sat at the gates of the city and he tried to plead with the people there, so you could see why perhaps God gave him some favor.

You look at Romans chapter 9, the first part of Romans 9, Paul laments the fact that very few Israelites, according to the flesh, descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, have been called or have accepted Jesus Christ. And so in verse 6 he writes, Romans 9-6, Not as though the word of God had taken non-effect, for they are not all Israel which are of Israel. And of course he's talking about, on the one hand, physical Israel, on the other hand, spiritual Israel or the Israel of God. Neither because they are the seed of Abraham, according to the flesh, are they all children, but in Isaac shall your seed be called.

Why would the seed be called in Isaac? Because Isaac is a son of promise. Isaac was by faith. Abraham and Sarah believed God, and they were able to eventually conceive, and Isaac was born. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, they are not the children of God. So just because you are descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that doesn't make you of the Israel of God or spiritual Israel.

But the children of the promise are counted for the seed. And of course, you're familiar, we've turned there a few times, in recent months in Galatians 3, 15, 16, which says that, speaking of Abraham, that it is not of many, but as is one, and that seed is Jesus Christ. And the last part of Galatians 3 is, If you be in Christ, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

For this is the word of promise, that this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived, by one even by her father, Isaac, for the children being not yet born, still in the womb, neither having done any good or evil, the purpose of God, according to election, which in this case could be equated with grace or divine favor, might stand not of works, but of him that calls.

And as we've already mentioned, you are here because God, in his divine favor, has called you. You didn't do anything to, quote, deserve it. We sing that song taken from 1 Corinthians 1, that many mighty, not many noble, are called at this time. And he continues here, It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. So Esau was born first, and the first born was the one who would get the birth right, generally speaking. It is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

What shall we say, then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. Or he said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So that it is not of him that wills or of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy, or that gives the divine favor. So not having done good or evil, still in the womb, God favors, he gives Jacob the birthright.

Now, you know the story of how Jacob deceived his father Isaac. Jacob and Rebecca hatched up the plot to deceive Isaac. And Esau came in hungry from hunting and sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. And we know that story. So why did God call you and I? Was it because of works or any other facet of our being, or was it because of his great grace? If I look at my own life, why would he call me, where I came from, what my background was, and so on and so on?

I mean, we were church-going and all that kind of people, and what you might call God-fearing people, as people understood God. But why me? Why you? It was because of God's great grace, his divine favor. But grace is perhaps the most misunderstood, misused, and abused word in all of Christendom, that is nominal Christendom. There are aspects of grace that are totally unmerited, as we have already mentioned some of those, like in the case of Mary being the mother of Jesus, the case of Jacob being chosen still in the womb.

But there's a lot more. In other words, humanity did nothing to receive God's favor when it comes to their very existence. The very fact that God created humans is through an extension of love and grace. Love is the greatest motivating force in the universe, but love that is not shared is, I guess you would call it, self-love. God wanted to share his being, who he is and what he is, in a family setting.

So he created humans who had the potential to be in his family. And because God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son for the sins of the world. This is a totally gracious gift. Now, it's somewhat difficult to get all of these things just exactly chronologically in order, so let's sort of set up the chronology a little bit now and go back to what we've already mentioned, that because God is love and because he wanted to share his being with humans, he created us.

So the very fact that we have life is an act of love and grace, is divine favor. Now, when human beings were created, they were created subject to sin and death. They were created in a neutral state, having not sinned, but they were subject to vanity, to temporarity, to having their own thing now. And God and Jesus Christ knew that they would sin. Now, this plan, knowing that they would sin, necessitated a plan for a Redeemer to come on the scene, and that plan of redemption is very old. In fact, it dates back to what the Bible calls before time began. Look at 1 Timothy.

In 1 Timothy 1 and verse 9. Now, this aspect of time, let's talk about that while you're turning there. Remember in the recreation week in Genesis 1, long about verses 15-16, it says, And God said, The heavenly body is the sun and the moon, the stars, to mark time and seasons.

So time in one sense is sort of meaningless to God in one sense. A day is a thousand years, a thousand years is a day. But He was about to create humans. And remember in earlier verses, He said, Let there be light, there was light, and then He divided the light from the darkness, and the new day begins at sunset and ends at sunset.

The beginning of the day, the new day will begin at sunset, first day of the week sunset on God's calendar. Today at sunset begins the first day of the week. And so He set the sun, moon, and stars in the heavens to mark time, and we mark time, and it's to a large degree based on the movement of the heavenly bodies, that the earth revolves around the sun, 365 1 fourth days it takes. That is, a day and a night, what the Bible calls a day. It's the night and the daylight portion. Now sometimes just the daylight portion, twelve hours, is referred to as a day, but in the total sense, it's 24 hours. Then the moon revolves around the earth, once every 28 or 29 days. We call that a month. And we learn to mark in segments how many, quote, we call it minutes, takes to make an hour, and an hour to make a day, and so on. Here in 1 Timothy 1.9, knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, I need 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy 1.9, who has saved us and called us with an holy calling, this is repeated again, but the, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose, and his purpose is to bring us into his family, his purpose is to bring us into his family, according to his purpose and grace, divine favor, which was given us in Christ Jesus before, now the King James says, the world began. The Greek word for world here is kronos, C-H-R-O-N-O-S. It is the word from which we get chronology. So, I don't know if you have a translation, the more exact translation would be, given us in Christ Jesus before time began. Before time began.

According to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before time began.

Now, in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 17, 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 17, And if you call on the Father, who without respect to persons, judges according to every man's work pass the time of your sojourn here in fear.

For as much as you know that you were not redeemed, bought back with corruptible things as silver and gold, from your vain conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb, without blemish, without spot, who verily was foreordained. Now, the Greek word is progonosko. P-R-O-G-O-N-O-S-I-K-O, something like that, progonosko. Which means to know beforehand, who verily was known beforehand, before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing you have purified your souls and obeying the truth through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently.

So once again, Jesus Christ was foreordained, was known before the foundation of the world, that he would die for the sins of the world. Now we go to Revelation 13. Revelation 13, verse 7. This is speaking of the beast power. It was given unto him, the beast power, to make war with the saints, to overcome them, and power was given to him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. It didn't say son. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of the life of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. Foreordained before the foundation of the world, known before time began. So the creation of man, provision for a Redeemer, all of that, that's totally unmerited. The plan of salvation, the Redeemer, totally unmerited. Your calling, unmerited. That's grace. God's divine favor. Now at this point, I want to point out that you can fall from grace. So we'll note that in Galatians 5 and verse 4. So we see, mainly we focus now more on this, you didn't do anything. God, through his love and grace, gave us life. Through his love and grace, he provided a Redeemer, a plan of salvation. Through his grace, he has called us into his marvelous light. Now with regard to remaining in a state of grace, that's another question. But at the same time, there are times in which this unmerited grace continues in our lives. There are times in which God intervenes in our lives, and it's an act of grace, that I'm very convinced that we don't even know about. But now I've asked you to turn to Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5 verse 1. The big question, of course, in Galatia was, how is a man justified? There were Judaizers in Galatia who were teaching that you had to be circumcised, according to the law of Moses, in order to be justified. Galatians 5, 1, Stand fast therefore in the liberty, wherewith Christ hath made us free. Be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, if you be circumcised, if you think you have to do this physical act to be justified, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that thinks he's got to be circumcised to be justified, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. You have to keep it all perfectly, but even there. See, the law was ordained for life. The fact that the law was given is an act of grace within itself. Because in Romans, chapter 7, it says that the law was ordained for life, that is, to sustain it. The law does not give life. As it says in Galatians, if there could be a law given that would give life, then there would be no need of Christ, paraphrasing. But the fact that you have a law, that you're not left to your own machinations as to what is good and what is evil. And because humankind has rejected the law of God, they find themselves where they are. That's why we read these news articles about the state and condition of humankind, where they are trying to solve the problems of humanity, part of God, who cannot be done.

Galatians 5.4 Christ has become of no effect of you, whosoever you are justified by law. If you believe that because you are circumcised and because you do the various washings, oblations, and ordinances under the Mosaic law, or even if you kept the Ten Commandments perfectly once you are convicted, that would not blot out sins that are passed because wages of sin is death. So then you get this free, unmerited pardon of sin. But will God forgive one who remains in his sins? Is this quote, free, unmerited pardon of sin, administered if one refuses to repent? You remember what Peter cried out on the day of Pentecost? As he completed his sermon, they were pricked in their heart, and they said one to another, and brother, and what shall we do? And Peter said, repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now, Peter didn't include in that faith in Jesus Christ, but faith in Jesus Christ is a part of repentance, hopefully as we shall see, because you can't have your sins remitted unless you exercise faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Christ has become of no effect unto you who believe you are justified by the law. You are fallen from grace. You can fall from grace. And once you are justified in the initial justification that is described in Romans chapter 3, and you cross over to that line where you are justified, you're no longer in your sins. God has removed your sins as far as the east is from the west. You are in a state of grace, as Paul talks about in Romans 6. Maybe we should turn there Romans 6 and read verse 1 especially. What shall we say then shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. No way, no how. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Now some people get hung up on verse 14. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace. Yes, you are in a state of grace. Paul calls this in Ephesians 3.2, the church age, as the administration of grace. And so you are there, but you can fall from that state. And to enter into it in the first place, you have to repent and exercise faith in the sacrifice of Christ. Let's go to Psalm 103. We see here, especially more clearly, the connection between grace and forgiveness and mercy.

We can all be very thankful that Psalm 103 is in the Bible, and it means what it says.

Psalm 103, verse 18. The Eternal is merciful and gracious, they go like hand and glove.

Slow to anger, plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger forever. He has not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far as we removed our transgressions from us.

Like as a father, pity is his children. So the eternal pity is them that fear him, for he knows our frame.

He remembers that we are dust. As for a man, his days are as grass as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

So today is December 1st. I can't believe that there are 30 days left in 2012. I'm still back in 2011 or 2010. Life is just flying by, as they say.

And one of the main lessons I've learned, if I've learned any, life is short. So indeed, redeem the times. Make the most of it. For the wind passes over it, it is gone. The place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the eternal is from everlasting to everlasting. It's like infinity. It has no beginning. It has no end. Everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him. So this mercy and graciousness does have this condition. Them that fear him, to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

In order for God to dwell in each one of us, we must be reckoned as sinless before God. So we talked about this. He created us. He ordained us knowing that we would sin, ordained us a great plan of salvation, provided a Redeemer. He's called us. He's convicted us. In order for us for him to dwell in us, there are conditions. Let's go now to Romans chapter 5 verse 1. Now those first things that we lived, the very fact that we were created, the plan of salvation, the Redeemer, the calling, we didn't do anything with regard to that. Surely didn't create ourselves. We surely didn't provide a Redeemer. We surely didn't plan out the plan of salvation. And we didn't call ourselves. In Romans chapter 5 verse 1, Therefore being justified by faith. Now in Hebrews chapter 6, there are seven fundamental doctrines. We used to have a booklet, I don't know if it's in print or available, I know it was in worldwide, called the Great Doctrines of Hebrews 6. There are seven. There are seven doctrines listed. One, repentance from dead works. Two, faith in God. Three, baptism. Four, laying on the hands. Five, resurrection. Six, judgment. And seven, going on to perfection. Perfection cuts across all of those from the time that you begin to repent and it's a lifelong process going on to perfection, going on to maturity. As we have said so many times on the Hebrews 11.6, that faith is a springboard to all things spiritual, so therefore being justified by faith. Now faith also includes believing God, doing what he says. So we would have to say that repentance is a part of, is linked to faith. Because if you don't repent, your faith is in vain. James says faith without works or obedience is dead. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace. So we believe that God exists. We believe he has this great plan of salvation. He's provided a Redeemer. He's called us. We've been convicted of our sins and by faith, access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. That the great big picture that one of these days we're going to be resurrected is glorious, radiant spirit beings in the kingdom of God. Verse 6, The one holding the gun takes the bullet for someone in the physical realm on the battlefield that has happened. But God committed his love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You see, God will not dwell with sin. Thus this Redeemer is necessary because it is through this Redeemer that the sins can be removed as far as the east is from the west and remembered no more.

Much more than being now justified by his blood, of course, you have to have blood symbolizes his death, his sacrifice.

We shall be saved from wrath through him, for when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. See, that's that initial justification.

We have, through faith, we have access into this grace. That's verse 2, once again.

So this gracious plan of salvation, by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. In other words, once we are reconciled and viewed as sinless, then God will give us the Holy Spirit of the ghetto.

See, God set up a process when he created human beings.

And of course, he already had this process in mind. And we talk about reproduction, and I'd rather use generating to engender. Husband and wife come together, and they both supply genetic material, and they conceive a child. So you have the ghetto, conception, birth.

In the spiritual realm, after we are viewed as sinless, God will beget us.

Then we are in the conceptual stage, the Church of God, the Mother of us all, the Jerusalem above, Galatians 4, 26.

And there we are to be nourished until that time of the resurrection. Whether we are dead or alive, we shall be changed.

See, if it were not for the grace of God, we would have never had the opportunity to exercise faith in God and Christ.

But because they so loved us and showered favor on us, we had that opportunity.

When we are begotten of the eternal Spirit and born through the Spirit into the family of God, we become inheritors of God and inheritors of eternity.

Look at Romans 8.

Followed a few pages. Romans 8, verse 14.

Romans 8, 14.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. This is the Begethah and being conceived.

For you have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of sonship, Huiaothesia, not adoption, sonship.

I've explained this several times, but I'll keep on.

In adoption, you have the legal rights that a natural born child has.

But you did not come out of the loins, the genetic material, of your parents who adopted you.

But with us, the very essence of God. God is Spirit.

His very essence is what begets us to a new creation.

So we are conceived in the spiritual sense.

The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.

So indeed it is sonship.

Verse 17, And if children, then heirs of God.

So if we're an heir of God, we inherit something that He is. The main gift that He has to give to us is eternal life.

But that gift, the gift of eternal life, is conditional.

If it were not conditional, everybody would be saved.

Why are we even sitting here? We just float into the kingdom.

And if children, then heirs of God, join heirs with Christ.

Jesus Christ is now the born Son of God.

And it says in Romans 1 verse 4 that He became the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead.

Join heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.

Now, based on what we have said today, I'll summarize a little bit. I'm not near through. We'll be going all the way. Once again, we note that humans were created subject to sin and death. Knowing that humans would sin, God ordained this gracious plan of redemption that would cleanse the sinner from all unrighteousness.

As we have noted, God will not dwell with sin. So Jesus Christ, the righteous, is our propitiation for sin. He went in our stead.

Now, with all this backdrop we have so far, now we go to John chapter 1.

And now John 1, beginning in verse 14, should come alive, perhaps more, with better understanding than maybe it has in the past. John 1, 14.

John 1, verse 14.

And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

This was he, I'm sorry, verse 15. John, bear witness, this is John the Baptist. John, bear witness of him and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spoke. He that comes after me is preferred before me, for he was before me.

Yet John physically was six months older.

And of his fullness have all we received, and of his fullness have all we receive, and grace for grace.

Jesus Christ, the grace of God was upon him, and through his divine favor of God and Christ, we can be recipients of that grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

The living Word of God, your word is truth, John 17, 17.

And if it were not for Jesus Christ, see, we could not have this ultimate grace of God and have God living within us.

That's the ultimate gift of grace, as it were, as long as we are in the flesh. Now, obviously, when we are born into the family of God through the resurrection, that great gift of eternal life. So now let's address something here in Ephesians 6. I mean Ephesians, I don't know why I do that, but it's Ephesians 2.

In Ephesians 2, verse 4. Ephesians 2, verse 4.

But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath he quickened together with Christ, made alive by grace your saved. Now, if you just read that and go your way by grace, you're saved. For he unmerited pardon, divine favor. I just believe in Christ. He did it all. And that's basically what nominal Christianity preaches.

And he hath raised us up together and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. See, we have access to the very throne of God, as it says in Hebrews 2, that you can come boldly before the throne of God and make your wants and petitions known. So we've been able to sit, we can come into the holy of holies in that sense, that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, divine favor, in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. So we read from John, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

And because we have that Redeemer, because of God's grace, we can say that this whole plan of salvation, as we've already said, is totally gracious. Now we come to verse 8.

Verse 8 is one that I've discussed with, if I called his name, you would know, once upon a time an evangelist and worldwide. But anyhow, verse 8. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God. Now the big question here is, by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. The big question is, what does that not of yourselves modify? Does it modify faith, or does it modify the gift of God, eternal life?

The Greek word for gift is charisma. Remember we mentioned charisma earlier, that karis and charisma come from the same Greek word kahiro, which means joyful.

Salvation, eternal life, is a gift, but certain conditions must be met in order to receive the gift. We read from Romans 5, verse 2, that we have access into this grace through faith, or it's worded the other way, through faith we have access into this grace, whichever way you word it. Through faith we have access to the grace. And once again the question is, does that not of yourselves modify faith, or does it modify the gift of God?

If it modifies faith, that you don't have to do anything, that God just gives you the faith. Now it is true, as in 1 Corinthians 12, faith is a gift of God, and also it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, as in Galatians 6, 22.

But faith is like a reciprocal. You can't have one without the other in a sense. Faith begins with God, in that He begets you, and first He calls you and begins to open your mind, begins to draw you to Christ, as in John 6, 44. And you become convicted of your sins, and as you become convicted, you can either respond to that conviction, or you can reject it. You can turn away. Now if you accept it, and you come to understand that through faith and sacrifice of Christ, your sins can be forgiven. That is an act of faith, and God begins to increase your faith, and in that sense it's a gift.

But if we look at it this way, that not of yourselves it is a gift of God's, so if anybody should be lost, why didn't God give the gift to everybody?

The Bible definitely talks about the second death, and everybody doesn't make it, not by a long shot.

So then, if you didn't give it to everybody, God would be a respecter of persons.

So, just as in the English grammar, in Greek grammar, follows very strict rules, so the question here is, what does that not of yourselves modify?

The phrase, that not of yourself, has two possible antecedents, either salvation, the gift of God, or faith. Now, most people assume, as we've already said, that not of yourself refers to faith rather than salvation.

In Greek, as in English, the pronoun always agrees with the antecedent and gender.

In the original text, the word faith is feminine, and that is neuter, therefore that cannot modify faith. Faith is feminine.

But, gift of God, feminine, does agree in gender, therefore that not of yourselves refers to the gift of God.

For by grace are you saved, and this, through faith, not of yourselves, it is a gift of God.

It depends on how you punctuate it and how you place the emphasis, but if you look at the rules of grammar, it becomes very clear.

And if you just look at it logically, as I've said, if God didn't give this faith to everyone, then He would be a respecter of persons.

Now you go to Galatians 2, verse 15, which ties together a lot of what we have been talking about here. In Galatians 2, once again the big question in Galatia, how is a man justified?

He who is a Jew by nature, not sinners of the nations, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, even keeping the Ten Commandments perfectly, as we've noted, will not forgive, censor, or pass.

But by the faith in Jesus Christ, this particular evangelist who was talking about, he insists that it should be translated of the faith of Jesus Christ. Like it's not our faith, it's the faith of Jesus Christ, that not of yourselves. Well, we've shown that not of yourselves modifies salvation, the gift of God, and not faith.

And in the New King James, it does translate it in Jesus Christ. That we might be justified by the faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

But if while we seek to be justified by Christ, as faith in Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, so therefore Christ is therefore a minister of sin. Well, no. So if you didn't have to repent, then Christ would be the minister of sin. But oh, it doesn't matter. You just stay in your sins. It's okay. I'm the minister of sin. I think he's a minister of righteousness. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. I remember back in 1996, we're in this transitional period to some degree. Maybe this was 9. I think this was 95. Anyhow, there was an organization that sprang up during this transition called Friends of the Sabbath. I was invited to one of their seminars in Hartford, Connecticut. And we had there Samuel Bakayoke, the Seventh-day Adventist scholar. We had Samuel, well, I don't remember his name. Anyhow, we had a man there who was a Messianic Jewish person. He had divinity degrees from Harvard, from Yale. He was one of the most fluent people I've ever heard speak. We had Ronald Dart, and we had some others. And this question of justification came up. Oh, Ernest Martin. He was there. Some of you old-timers know about Ernest Martin. He used to be dean of faculty in Bricket Wood. He eventually went out on his own and basically preached the law he was done away with. Well, I defended that in order to be justified, you had to repent and stop breaking God's immutable spiritual law. So Mr. Martin gets up, and he begins to talk about, Well, if I had this service station, and I'm serving people, people have flats on the Sabbath, and they need gasoline, you tell me that I would have to close this station. I said, Well, if the Ten Commandments are a part of God's immutable spiritual law, the answer is yes. Because it says in Acts 2.38, in order to receive the Spirit of God, you must repent. What do you repent of? Breaking God's immutable spiritual law. And if the Sabbath is a part of God's immutable spiritual law, the answer is yes. You need to close your station. Silence. But after the session, and they began to whisper in little areas by themselves, it changed no one's mind. And I asked this Messianic Jewish person, I said, Well, how do you view the resurrected Christ? He said, Oh, God is ineffable, God is this, I said, Well, we know that, but how do you view the resurrected Christ? He said, Frankly, I've never considered the question. But they call themselves Messianic. I'm sure that all don't view it that way. So what we have established here, we receive grace, divine favor through faith, believing God, doing what He says.

Grace stems from God's love. Love is outgoing concern. It is of not effect. If it's not shared, God has developed a plan of salvation whereby we can share in it. He has favored us. He's extended His grace to humankind by ordaining this great plan of salvation. So we can state that we are saved by grace, but that statement assumes that a person understands the conditions for receiving the grace. And hopefully we have explained that. In the universal sense, the plan of salvation is a product of God's grace, divine favor.

And so we have talked about God's motive, the reason for creating human beings. So based on what we have heard and seen up to this point, how would you define grace? How would you personally define it? Of course we have the meaning of the biblical words, divine favor, and all that. But for me to put it in language, maybe just common language, I would define it as, grace is God's love, care, and concern for His creation, physical and spiritual. For example, Matthew 6, He so clothe the lilies of the field, He takes care of His creation, not even as Pharaoh falls to the ground unless he is aware of it. He has love, care, and concern for His creation. In the physical sense, how much more with us, as Psalmist writes, His thoughts are ever toward us. If I should count the number of them, they are more than I can number His thoughts ever toward us.

He has sent to us angels, ministering servants to the heirs of salvation. He has not dealt with us according to our iniquities. There are many times in life that we face situations that seem impossible. Even when we are striving to do our best, we still fall short. But as we read from Psalm 103, He knows that we are but flesh. How do you grow in grace or divine favor with God? Will you go through trials and tribulations and difficulties as God has revealed to us in His Word? And we grow in grace and knowledge. Remember the last verse in 2 Peter, 2 Peter 3, 18. We grow in grace and knowledge where Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The three Hebrew children would not bow down and worship Nebuchadnezzar's golden image. And God gave them divine favor. He spared them. Daniel was cast in the lion's den. The mouths of the lions were shut. He was spared. And they would go on with God's divine grace. There are times, this is not in my notes. Probably my eye might fall on it quickly. Go to Job 34 maybe. We'll see when we get there. In Job, just before Psalms, in Job 33, verse 14, For God speaks once, yet twice, yet man perceives it not. This is Job 33. Now we're going to read Job 33. 15. In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls upon men, and slumberings upon his bed, Then he opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. You probably pray for protection every night when you go to bed. How many times have you been protected through God's grace, his divine favor? In the still of the night, or in the traffic of the day, who knows? He is chasing also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain, So that he abhors bread and his soul dainty meet. His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out. Yes, his soul draws near under the grave, and his life to the destroyers. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, That shall unto man his uprightness, that is, the uprightness of God, Then he is gracious unto him, and says, Deliver him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom. So how many times has God intervened in our lives, and we knew it not? When we just get a little glimpse of the great grace of God, we should fall on our faces and praise God.

Oh, like the hymn goes, oh, that man would praise the Eternal for his goodness, And for his wonderful works to the children of men. Now we'll close with one final verse. The Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 15.10, that I'll read. While you're turning there, we ask the question again. So why are you here today? Why are you here today? Because of God's love, his mercy, his grace, the three handmaidens of salvation, love, faith, grace. So why are you here today? Let's answer that with the words of the Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 15.10. But by the grace of God, that doesn't sound right. I'm sorry to take away from it like this, but I thought that was in Romans.

Now, 1 Corinthians 15.10, But by the grace of God, I am what I am. Paul writing, I am what I am. And his grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God, his divine favor, which was with me. And may the grace of God be with you, all of you, world without end.