What Does the New Testament Teach About Grace

Well, happy Sabbath to all of you again. The topic of grace is a controversial subject to many people.

Some choose to believe that grace and the law or works are somehow in conflict with each other.

To many, grace and the law of God are like fire and water. They're opposed to one another.

And as is the common practice with religious people, complex theologies have been created regarding grace and what it means, leaving this simplicity, as is, in Christ, a phrase that Paul used in 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 3. Hundreds of books have been written on the topic of grace alone and supposedly what grace means. Well, today I would like to go into the scriptures and look from God's instruction manual exactly what grace is and what it does mean.

I would like to examine this wonderfully powerful word and the concept behind God's grace. Now, I'm only going to do this today from the New Testament for sake of time, but in the near future I would like to explore the teaching of grace from the Old Testament. But today we'll just deal with the concept from the New Testament. So what is grace as explained by the New Testament?

Grace is the undeserved acceptance and love either received or given to another, and it's especially true of the attitude that God has in providing salvation for sinners. For Christians, the word grace is God's gift of unmerited salvation in Jesus Christ. And in the New Testament, there is a particular word that the writers used to talk about the importance of grace, and that Greek word is spelled C-H-A-R-I-S. It's used many, many times. C-H-A-R-I-S, and it's pronounced Charis. So this is a common word in the New Testament, and it had a long previous history in secular Greek. It was related, a word related to the word for pleasure. And the Greek word for joy. Charis originally referred to something delightful or something attractive in a person, something that brought pleasure to others. We use a very similar word today, in which we get from Charis. Have you ever heard of the English word charisma? That's from that Greek word. And if we see it might be a politician, or it might be someone that we know that just has natural charisma. There's something about their personality. There's something about them that is attractive to us as we fellowship with them, or as we hear them, as we see them. And that is English word, of course. Charisma comes from the exact same root as this Greek word. And from this secular definition, it came to have the meaning of receiving favor, or giving favor to someone, a kindness that was done to another person. Eventually, it also included a gift, and the feeling that you have when someone gives you a gift, the pleasure that you experience. So viewed from the standpoint of the recipient, it came to also mean the thankfulness you feel when someone does something nice for you, when they do a favor for you, or they give you a gift. Now there are Hebrew words, as we'll see next time, that convey the same kind of meaning, but in the New Testament, only there does it have a deeper spiritual sense, that word, carous, or grace, that we can understand and appreciate today as God's children. So let's begin to look at some examples. We're going to go to 1st Peter. We'll take a look at some of Peter's examples. So we'll go to 1st Peter chapter 1.

As you're turning there, the word carous does not occur even in the gospels of Matthew or Mark.

Luke used extensively the word carous in his writings, and that shouldn't surprise us because guess who used the word carous most in all of his writings? It was the Apostle Paul, so it shouldn't surprise us that his traveling companion, Luke, because of conversations he had with Paul, and discussions would also use the word carous a lot in his writings, and he certainly does.

Sometimes he used it with basically secular meanings, such as receiving a benefit of something.

He does that in Luke chapter 6 verses 32 and 34. Sometimes Luke used it as a reference to just being thankful. Thanks. He does that in Luke chapter 17 and verse 9. And sometimes he goes back to the original idea of someone being attractive in the way that they spoke. He does that in Luke chapter 4 and verse 22. So Luke used this word carous a lot. Peter used it. Let's take a look at a few examples and survey just a few verses here in 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 6.

He says, in this you greatly rejoice. Now he's talking about going through trials. It's always hard to rejoice through trials, isn't it? In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little time, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. I have a number of beloved brethren here who are grieved because they're going through some real difficult trials right here, right now, in their lives. We have some brethren here who are going through some health issues of their own, and they're grieved by various trials. And for all of us, it may be different. It may be a fear about finances. It may be a fear of job loss. It may be that we're underemployed. It may be that we're struggling with depression. It may be something health-wise, but God's people are grieved by various trials. Continue here, verse 7, that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. And that's a compliment. Paul says you haven't even seen Jesus Christ, and yet you love him. Just think about, remember what Jesus told Thomas, hopefully not a relative of mine, who was kind of unbelieving. He said, well, I'll believe when I touch his side, when I see the holes in the side of his body, and the wounds, the scars on his hands. And Jesus said, you know what? You're blessed, but blessed more are those who will never have this opportunity you have and will still believe in me in years to come. So as Paul is complementing here, verse 8, whom having not seen you love, though now you do not see him, yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end, that is the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. And that's certainly what they looked forward to. Verse 10, of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully who prophesied of the grace, that's that Greek word, carous, that would come to you.

And again, this word means favor. It means something you receive that you don't deserve, something that's unmerited. It means a gift of love, something very special given to us. And Peter is saying here, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you. And God has given us his grace. And we'll take a look at more of the meaning in just a few minutes. Let's take a look at chapter 2 and verse 19. The word is used again in the New King James Version. The original Greek is translated into the word commendable. For this is commendable. Other translations say thank worthy.

This is something to be thankful for. The original Greek is the word carous. If because of conscience towards God, one endures grief, suffering wrongly. So here's another place that Peter uses the word.

Chapter 4 and verse 10. Let's take a look at another use that Peter has. Chapter 4 and verse 10.

He says, as each one has received a gift, minister it one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace, carous, of God. He said, God, because he loves us so much, gave all of us different gifts.

And together all of those gifts put together make for a healthy congregation. But if God gives me gifts and I don't share them with you, I don't give them back to you, I don't pay it forward, but I just kind of keep it to myself, you can't benefit from it. You have talents. We all have talents. We all have gifts. Every gift we have is something that came from God. Every talent that we have is a gift itself that came from God, either because of the way our DNA came together or maybe later on something that we developed. But it all comes from God, and we are all given those gifts so that we can share them with one another and together have a healthy and fully functioning church. So that's why he says, as good stewards of the manifold, carous grace of God.

So those are a few examples of how Peter used the word. Let's take a look at the Apostle John. Let's go to John chapter 1 and verse 14. Grace only occurs three times in John's gospel, and they are in chapter 1 when he is describing some of the qualities of the word. The only time in the entire gospel of John that he uses that Greek word carous. We'll pick it up here beginning in verse 14.

John chapter 1 and verse 14. It says, and the word became flesh and dwelled among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of carous, full of grace. Do you remember the voice that came out of heaven when Jesus was baptized? Now he wasn't baptized to forgive sin. He was baptized to set an example for all of us of the need for baptism.

And that voice said, this is my son in whom I am well pleased. Again, that's Matthew chapter 3 and verse 17. He was full of grace. Continuing now with John, full of grace and truth.

John bore witness of him and cried out, saying, this was he of whom I said, he who comes after me is preferred before me, for he was before me. So John humbly is saying that Christ has a more important ministry. He actually is pre-existent on this earth, and he has a more important ministry than I have. Picking it up now in verse 16. And of his fullness we have all received, and grace for grace, that's carous for carous, that's what the Greek says, meaning we've received one free gift after another. Verse 17, for the law was given through Moses, but grace, carous, and truth came through Jesus Christ. So these are the times that John uses the word carous. He also uses it in the book of 2nd John. He uses it two times in the book of Revelation. We won't turn to the very last scripture in the Bible, the very last scripture, Revelation chapter 22 verse 21.

You know what it is without turning there? The very final words say, the carous, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. So he uses that word in the very last verse in the Bible. The word carous also appears a number of times in the book of Hebrews. It's one evidence that perhaps Paul wrote the book of Hebrews. We don't know for sure, but the book of Hebrews uses that word like Paul's writings do many, many times. It's also used once in Jude. Let's turn to the book of Jude, and we'll take a look at verse 4, where Jude himself used the word in a very powerful way as a warning. Jude verse 4. Here's what Jude wrote, for certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation ungodly men. So he was warning the church that there are people who show up, and they kind of creep in. They look okay on the outside. They're terrors, and it's hard to tell them from the genuine crop that Jesus Christ is raising in the church.

They kind of creep in. They just show up. They're usually, they kind of look in the outside like everything's going on okay, but there's a problem there. He says, they were marked out for this condemnation ungodly, who turn the grace, that's the carous of our God, into lewdness.

Or some translations have, into immorality. And they deny the Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

So Jude warns here that some would abuse God's gift by using grace as an excuse for sin.

Oh, I don't have to obey law because I'm under grace. I don't have to worship on the Sabbath because I'm under grace. I don't have to be faithful to my marriage because I'm under grace.

I don't have to worry about not stealing from other people because I'm under grace.

He warns about that as an excuse. He also warns about their examples and how bad that certainly would be. The Apostle Paul used the word carous more than any other author. He used it in a way that was common in secular writing, and I'll just quickly give you a few examples to that.

He urged his readers to make their speech gracious or attractive. He does that in Colossians chapter 4 and verse 6, like any secular Greek writer would have. Also in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 29, he referred to his visit to Corinth as a grace which would give them pleasure. He does that in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 15. He also often used the word carous to mean a thanksgiving over a meal. He mentions that in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 30, and these were all common secular ways in which the word carous would be used in coined Greek at the time.

He used it in songs of praise. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 16. Frequently, he employed the expression thanks be to God. The original Greek is carous. Carous be to God. He does that in Romans 6 and Romans 7, 1 Corinthians 15, 2 Corinthians 2, 2 Corinthians chapter 8, chapter 9, 1 Timothy 1, 2 Timothy 1. He uses that quite often. Praise be to God, a phrase that he uses regularly.

However, Paul elevated the understanding of grace as a spiritual understanding so that the children of God could appreciate just what God has done for us and how much he loves us. So he takes this secular Greek word, which in its root means receiving favor and thankfulness. Receiving a gift means something that just someone arbitrarily gives to us. We didn't earn it. We may not deserve it. Someone just says, hey, I have a gift for you. And he takes that to a whole new level of spiritual understanding. And he uses that Greek word to cement home to us the point of just how much God loves us and what he's done for us. Let's begin by going to Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 4.

Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 4.

Paul wrote, but God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace, you have been saved. So we were living our own lives. We were guilty of sin. We were condemned because we had broken God's law.

And that's what he means by this phrase, you were dead in trespasses. But because God called us and we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and we became baptized and received his Spirit, we have been made alive together in Jesus Christ. We now have a whole new life, a whole new purpose, a whole new reason for being. And again, he says, by grace you have been saved.

Verse 6.

So he is holding our reward with him. He is our great high priest in the heavens and he's bringing that reward back with him when he returns to earth. He's bringing our reward with him at that time.

Verse 7.

What is Paul getting to here? In his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus, he hits the nail on the head here in verse 8. For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast. Paul is pointing out here that we were condemned because of sin but God granted us salvation through Jesus Christ. Our faith in him as our Savior inspired the Father to give us a very precious gift and Paul is saying that's called grace. It's undeserved, it's unearned, and it's free. It is absolutely impossible to earn or qualify for salvation by obedience or works. Obedience and good works are a result of having God's Spirit dwelling in us, changing us, helping us to develop the mind of Jesus Christ. The law is good, works are good, but they cannot save us. Keeping the law of God perfectly for the rest of our lives cannot save us. Salvation is the result of God's love and God's gift of salvation, though we don't deserve it, we can't earn it, and it's free. That is what grace is. Even before we were baptized, we started to conform to God's law. To remember what it was like as you were growing, leading up to baptism, we began a change process and we obeyed God's instruction to repent and be baptized. That's a proper response of obedience to God to say, hey, I'm a sinner, I need a Savior, I need my sins washed away, I need something to help me to get through this life, God's Holy Spirit, so I'm ready to make that commitment and that change. And there were small fruits that were evident before we were baptized. Maybe we prayed more, we studied more, we started cleaning up our language, we started thinking differently, we started reading religious things, or before that we probably weren't that much concerned about God or his way of life. You know, even John the Baptist expected change to see some fruit and change in people before he baptized them.

He told the Pharisees in Matthew chapter 3 and verse 7, he says, but when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, brood of vipers who warmed you to flee from the wrath to come. Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance. You see, they hadn't repented. It was a fad. Everyone else is in line. John has a popular ministry. Everyone is going to John. Many are repenting, hopefully most of them, and John is baptizing them. So they just get in line. And they come up to John and John says, you're not repenting. You're self-righteous.

You're not here for the right reasons. I see no fruits in your life that you've made any changes, that you have repented of your sins, that you're ready to turn your life around and walk in a new direction. That's what John told them. Now, I want you to notice that John said fruits worthy of repentance, not fruits worthy of salvation. He wasn't saying they had to have fruits in order to be saved. He said, I don't even see the elementary basic fruits in order for you to be baptized. That was the context of his statement. But brethren, we must understand that fruits, perfect obedience, keeping any law, keeping all laws, will never, can, never provide salvation.

It is a free gift from a loving and merciful Father that we never earned, can't earn, that we certainly don't deserve, and it's free, given by him. Romans chapter 3 and verse 23.

Let's take a look at another statement that Paul mentions here using this Greek word carous in this expanded spiritual way, a level that helps us to understand more of what our Father is like and how much he loves us. Romans chapter 3 and verse 23.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified, or the Greek word would, proper Greek word would be being acquitted, meaning like avoiding the death penalty, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Paul was a carnal human being and a former Pharisee. He had a profound understanding of human nature and sin. He had a profound understanding of it, too profound to believe that any person could ever earn God's acceptance or God's gift of salvation. As a Pharisee, he had sought to do that most of his life, until he was in his 30s. He tried to keep the law perfectly, thinking that if he perfectly kept the law and if he even tithed off of herbs, that that somehow would give him salvation. It would make him righteous in God's eyes.

And now he had come to see that it was not a matter of earning God's approval, but rather of coming to accept God's gift of salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. So Paul came to see a sharp distinction between earning salvation by keeping the law, which no one can do, or accepting salvation as an undeserved gift of God's love and grace towards us.

Trying to gain salvation by keeping any law, and thinking that we can do that, is only the way of self-help of trying to earn our own salvation by what we do. Grace is God's only way of salvation, a totally unearned and an undeserved gift. And when you accept and receive God's grace, you are motivated to keep God's law by the power of the Holy Spirit. You love and observe the commandments because you want to, not out of fear or intimidation. I've mentioned this before, but I'll mention this again. There are three primary types of human motivation. The least effective is called fear, and the problem with fear is a number of things. Number one, it's external. Someone has to make you fearful, and they have to do it almost constantly, because as soon as that pressure leaves, then you no longer feel a sense of fear.

Fear is external. Someone has to apply it to you from the outside. Fear stunts your growth. You usually only grow to the point to eliminate a person getting off your back. You don't go to great levels, excuse me, new levels, expanded levels. You do just enough to get someone off of your back. And finally, people grow in immunity to fear. Just take a look at people in our federal prisons, tattooed everywhere. You can't intimidate them, so kill me. Who cares? Put me in solitary confinement. I don't care. So eventually you become immune to fear. It is the least effective way to motivate anyone. How well did it work in motivating ancient Israel?

The second type of motivation is incentive, and it's much better than fear. But the problem with incentive motivation is it also has to be applied from the outside. Someone has to provide you with an incentive. The challenges with it are that with any incentive, we are wired as carnal people to take everything as an entitlement. So last year's incentive becomes now our expected norm.

We almost demand it. We expect it. If we get less than that incentive, we felt like we're being denied. And again, someone has to apply that on the outside. The best form of motivation, the truly effective permanent form of motivation, is called attitude motivation. It's internal.

And we do things because we want to, because we love to, because we have habitually developed ourselves to desire those things. It comes natural. No one has to apply any pressure, fear, or incentives from the outside. We do it because it comes from the heart.

And that's what the Holy Spirit can do for us. That is the kind of motivation that God wants in his children, not people who live through eternity. Oh, fearful, God will beat me up if I do something wrong. Or God's always got to give me some ever-growing level of glory in order for me to be motivated. That's not what God's trying to do. I think I've explained in the past, when my children were very, very small and their minds were not yet developed rationally and be able to make good decisions, I had to use fear motivation. Because I had to protect them from themselves and the decisions that they would make. As they grew up into teenagers, it became incentive form of motivation. You get an allowance, you take the garbage out, you do this, you do that. But the goal all along was never to terrify my children. It was never to teach them an attitude of entitlement, and they got to be paid for everything. It was always so that they would wake up as mature adults and want to do the right things, want to keep God's law, because they want to. Because it's wired from the inside. It's their value system. And that's a whole world different than people doing things out of fear or being bribed or incentivized to do something. Let's take a look at 2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 7. 2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 7.

Paul talks about a very difficult health trial that he went through here, that it refers to a thorn in the flesh. And as I said, we have some brethren in our beloved congregation who certainly been dealing with a thorn in the flesh, some for years, some recently. 2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 7.

Unless I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of revelations, Paul says God spoke with me personally, so I didn't get the big head. So I didn't think that I'm better than everyone else or some super apostle. A thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure, lest I get the big head. Verse 8. Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me, and he said to me, my grace, my carous, is sufficient for you. That's all you need, Paul. For my strength is made perfect in weakness. Paul is saying, when I'm weak and it's not all about me and I'm not thinking about what I want to do and I'm not thinking about everything that's centered around me, then I have time and I'm whole enough to think about God, to think about the future, to think about what God is doing in my life. So my strength is made perfect in weakness. I let go and I let God do things.

I stop trying to do everything myself, continuing, therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in my infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong. When I'm humbled physically, when all kinds of stuff is going on, when I don't feel well, I've got lots of time to pray. I've got lots of time to review my life, all the things I've done. I have lots of time to think about God. I like a comment here from the Reary Bible Notes regarding this. Here's a comment regarding this verse from the Reary Bible Notes. Quote, The power of Christ in him was more important than freedom from pain. I'd like to read that again.

The power of Christ in him was more important than freedom from pain. God is saying to Paul the same thing he wants us to know. God's love and favor and undeserved acceptance of us as his children is all that we really need. Can I get real with you for a few minutes? Eventually, I don't care how good your health is. Eventually, it turns to illness. I don't care how young you are today.

Eventually, that turns into old age. The present eventually becomes the past. And as we get older and we look out into the future of our physical lives, the shadow of the future gets narrower and narrower as we get older and we realize the average life expectancy of human beings and as Mr. Graham mentioned a few weeks ago that the age that his parents were when they died, we start looking into the future and we see that shadow getting shorter and shorter as we get older.

But through it all, this is what Paul is saying, God's grace is everything we really need.

When all is said and done, it was God's grace that all we ever really needed.

That's the point that Paul is bringing out here. Now let's go to the book of Romans and see Paul contrasts the result of Adam's sin in contrast to the grace of God and how they differ. He's going to point out two contrasts here so that we can all better understand God's gift of grace a little more powerfully. Romans chapter 5 and verse 12. Paul writes, therefore, just as through one man, he's talking about Adam, this is the first contrast, sin entered the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned, for until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law. So until the law was written, codified, it was still sin, as we'll see in verse 14. People still died from the beginning of Adam, but it's more accentuated. There's more of a clarity when it's in writing. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. So he's saying here that when it's unwritten, it's still sin, but when it is written down, it has a strength and a clarity that's more profound.

Verse 14, nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam. Now, Adam died because he rejected a direct command from God, which few of us have ever heard. We died because of other sins, because we'd broken God's commandments or his law, but not in the same way that Adam did, continuing, who is a type of him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense, for if by one man's offense, that's Adam, many died, much more the grace of God and the gift of the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, what we can call the second Adam, abounded to many. Verse 16, and the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned, for judgment, which came from the one offense, resulted in condemnation, in contrast, the free gift, which came from those many offenses as a result of those many sins, resulted in justification. Verse 17, for if by the one man's offense, that is Adam's, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. Therefore, as through one man's offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation. That's one hand, that's Adam, and the result that we all live in, until we are received righteousness of Christ, continuing, even so through one man's righteous act, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. So the law was written, and it was far more clear what disobedience is when something's in writing. There's no question about it. You shouldn't do this, you should do this. He said, and when the law was written, sin became more evident and obvious. He says, but the beautiful thing is, is where sin abounded. Here we're in the latter part of verse 20.

Grace abounded much more. So that as sin reigned in death, that was the result of Adam, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So again, Paul is contrasting Adam and the end result of death, and Jesus Christ. Adam was the pioneer of sin, and sin leads to death, and that's the condemnation that all human beings are under.

Death is earned by sinfulness. Death is something that we earn. In contrast, Jesus Christ died so that we can receive the gift of righteousness because of his obedience and grace towards us.

We are granted, can't earn it, we earn death, but you can't earn forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. That is, as Paul says here, a free gift. The law can't save us. It only reminds us that we're sinners. It only reminds us that we need desperately to have a Savior.

Like we go into a mirror, and you look into a mirror when you get about my age, and you say, look, my hair is graying, my hairline is receding, I see all these additional wrinkles, these sun damage, etc., etc., from a physical sense. In a spiritual sense, when we look into a mirror, it reveals our spiritual defects. The fact that we are sinners. The fact that we desperately need a Savior. But we are saved by grace through faith, not by keeping any laws or all laws.

We do those as a natural response as the children of God because we love our Father, and we have an attitude motivation that prompts us to love God's law, to love being obedient to our Father, to please Him in that way. Paul continues the next chapter. We're going to take a look here at chapter 6 by drawing a metaphor. He's going to change things around a little bit.

He's going to compare the life and death and resurrection to Jesus Christ to the symbolism of baptism. And an hour or so after services today, I have to leave a little bit early because I am attending two funerals this afternoon. But the good news is, is they're going to be coming out of that water as new creatures in Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 6 and verse 1. But what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we, who died to sin, live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized in the Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death. So Jesus Christ died and He was buried in a tomb. And in our case, in baptism, we were put in water. And symbolically, we were plunged under that water, which was a watery grave. It represented our death, just like Jesus Christ had died, continuing that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life.

The good news is that when that minister baptized us and He put us under the water, He allowed us to come back up. Wasn't that nice? And coming back out of that water represented Jesus Christ and Him being resurrected from the dead? Symbolically, we are doing what Jesus Christ did because we believe due to our faith in Him that we too will be resurrected and have life once again. So just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in the newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, meaning a new spirit. Think about it. Jesus Christ was physical. He died. He had one goal. That goal was to be the perfect sacrifice for God. When He was resurrected, He was spirit, totally spirit, and He had a new purpose. He had a new life. He was now to be a great high priest, an intercessor on behalf of God's children throughout the ages.

So His role changed. The same is true of us. We went into that baptismal tank as carnal people who had lived most of our lives thinking only of ourselves. And when we came out of that water, we were intended to live and walk in the newness of life, represented by having a new attitude, a new spirit, a new purpose. Verse 6, knowing that this our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves. Pretty powerful word to sin. This is the Greek word du eu which means to be in bondage to something, to literally be enslaved to something. Now Paul strongly condemns the idea of being under God's grace, that that somehow makes sin acceptable. And he, in no uncertain terms, condemns that. And even more perverse is some people who believe that the more we sin, the more abundant God's grace is, so that's a good thing. That's also kind of a perverse theology that some people have. Paul reminds us that the purpose of our baptism was to represent the death of the old carnal self and the raising of a new spiritual creature with a new attitude, with a new appreciation for what he had been given. I'd like to give you an example. Just a few weeks after we moved into this building, I was heading home. I don't take Route 83 to come here. I take some back roads, including Chamberlain, and there's one area that's 25 miles an hour is the speed limit. Well, I knew that was the speed limit, and I was coming home from church after we'd met here for just a few weeks. I had my wife's van and my grandchildren in a car, and I'm going through an area in which it's a 25 mile an hour zone, and I was going about 35 miles an hour, and one of my grandchildren said, Grandpa, there's a policeman behind us, and red light, and I pulled over, and another one of my granddaughters, I think it was Reagan, said Grandpa, what have you done?

The policeman came out, very nice. Man, sir, could I have, you know, you know the routine.

May I have your proof of insurance and your license?

Sir, did you know you were going 35 miles an hour? This is a 25 mile an hour zone.

Yes, officer, I know. I'm sorry. I should have been doing that. I got distracted. I've been going to the church that was the former Baptist Church down the road, and these, traveling traveled these streets very much, and I forgot. I just forgot that this was a 25 mile an hour zone, and I'm sorry.

That goes to his car. About five minutes later, he comes back. He says, sir, just be very careful, and remember, this is a 25 mile an hour zone. Now, what did the officer do? The officer gave me grace.

I earned a ticket. He, because of his kindness, gave me grace even though it was undeserved, and unearned, he gave me a gift. It probably saved me about $80, as far as a speeding ticket.

Now, as a result of that, I did not get back into the van and look around and No, I didn't. As a result of that, think, well, now I can speed. Now it's okay to break the laws. No, the laws were still there. The rules were still applicable, and I can assure you that I was more careful than ever having received the gift of grace to stay within the rules and the laws and the speed limit. And that's basically what Paul is saying here. Let's take a look at verse 7.

For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now, if we died with Christ, again, symbolized by baptism, this is verse 7, we believe that we shall also live with him. And that's the symbolism of us coming out of that water after we've experienced that watery grave. We come out of the water to live with him. Verse 9, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more.

Death is no longer has dominion over us. For the death that he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life that he lives, he lives to God. You see, when he was resurrected, he had a new purpose as a high priest. He had fulfilled his role as being the perfect Lamb of God. Now he was a great high priest. Christ had a new purpose, and Paul is saying we should have that attitude too when we come out of that baptismal tank. Verse 11, likewise, you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, so we shouldn't love sin, we shouldn't be attracted to sin, we should come out of there with a new attitude, a new approach to life. He calls it, but alive to God, meaning a new purpose in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore, do not let sin reign. Another powerful word. He says sin shouldn't reign in our life. This is the Greek word basiluo, and it means kingly rule. He says sin shouldn't dominate our lives like it's a king over us.

That shouldn't happen. Do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey its lust, and do not present your members. Now, in context, he's talking about our body parts.

Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

So every body part we have, our mouths, our hands, our feet, every body part we have, should now be an instrument of righteousness to God instead of a tool to be dominated by sin.

Verse 14, for sin shall not have dominion. Another strong word. He says it shouldn't control our lives.

This is the Greek word kureyuo, and it means it shall not have lordship over you. So he's used some strong words. Sin shouldn't be a king. It shouldn't have kingly rule. It shouldn't have lordship over us. Again, verse 14, for sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law. You're not under the deserved death penalty. That no longer hangs over your head, but under grace. That is the free gift of salvation, and we should appreciate that, and it should motivate us to love God, to love His law, and to avoid sin. Paul's drawing a metaphor between the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and what should happen to us at baptism. Christ died physical.

He rose transformed with a new role to be a great high priest. In baptism, our old self died. It was buried in water, and we should also rise being transformed into a new creature in Jesus Christ.

Jesus lived his physical life to atone for humankind, but he arose alive to God with a new purpose. In contrast, we, too, simply lived our lives for ourselves before our baptism, but when we rise out of that water, we were supposed to live a life for God with a new purpose.

So is that transformation taking place? Are we living in a new purpose, or are we in a rut?

Paul realizes... now Paul is human. He realizes that we're still a work in progress, and that because of our carnality, we will occasionally sin, but he makes a distinction and a difference between sin due to human weakness and sin that controls our lifestyle.

And he uses very strong words to condemn any sin that literally is controlling us.

He states that we shouldn't be in bondage to sin, that we shouldn't be ruled like a king by sin, we shouldn't be dominated by sin. Just a few more scriptures. Let's take a look here at Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20. Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20.

Paul here, of course, is writing regarding the context of those teaching that one needed to be circumcised to be saved. Now many people want to twist the context of Galatians and say, all is talking about the Sabbath or the Holy Days, or it's talking about Eclean and unclean mates, but if you read it, I mean he's very clear about what his context here is. He's condemning those teachers who were saying that you needed to be circumcised in order to be part of the new covenant, in order to achieve salvation, and he is condemning that. He says here, beginning in verse 20, chapter 2 and verse 20, I've been crucified with Christ, it's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God. Paul is saying I'm being transformed. Now it's all about Jesus Christ. It's all about what he can do with me. It's not about me. What I can do with me is about what God is doing in my life.

Continuing, who loved me and gave himself for me, verse 21, I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. What do you mean by this statement? He's saying if it were possible for anyone to receive salvation by being obedient to the law, then Jesus Christ died in vain. There is no other way.

Christ had to live a perfect life, had to die, because it was the only way for us to receive God's grace. All the righteousness that we think we can muster, all the fanatical obedience that we can do to God's laws, any laws, cannot earn us salvation, cannot give us God's grace. His point again is that salvation is a free, undeserved, unearned gift from God. It's not the result of something we do in an attempt to earn it or qualify for it. Our obedience to God is the result or the byproduct of salvation and God's spirit, prompting us, molding us, coaching us to love God's law and do it with the right attitude, because we want to, not because we have to.

Chapter 3 in verse 1, oh foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? The original Greek word is very similar, like he's saying, what sorcerer has taken over your minds? Where did this come from? Thinking that it's so important to cut off a little piece of flesh and that somehow gives you salvation? Who's bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among youth crucified? This only I want to learn from you, did you receive the spirit by the works of the law or the hearing of faith?

He said, were you converted and baptized because I showed up in your city, may have met you in a synagogue, and preached to you the good news of the coming kingdom of God, and you said I'm responding to that message. I'm a sinner. I need to repent of my sins. I need to be converted. I need to receive the gift of God's Holy Spirit. He said, did you become converted because of that, or was it because you heard about some rules or rituals or customs or doctrines of men?

I said, okay yeah, I need to draw closer to God. Paul said it was because you responded to the message, the power behind the message of the gospel. That's what he's telling them, continuing here, are you so foolish? Having begun in the spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? You're going backward. You're not moving forward. So again, he's asking these Gentile Galatians, did your conversion result from responding to hearing the gospel that I preached to you, or rules and laws and customs and doctrines of men?

He says we began in the spirit. We need to finish in the spirit and not just go back to all kinds of do's and don'ts and rules and meticulous tithing off of herbs and 108 things we can do on the Sabbath day and can't do on the Sabbath day, and all these things that people fixate on. That's Paul's warning. Our final scripture today in Acts chapter 2 and verse 24, he uses a phrase about the gospel that I think it's very important for us to understand.

As we finish today, our discussion on grace as spoken of in the New Testament, Acts chapter 20 and verse 24 will end on his trials and persecutions just like we began talking about from Paul and even Peter about enduring trials and persecutions. He says here in Acts chapter 20 and verse 24, our final scripture today, talking about his life and all that had preceded his events up until this period of time, Acts chapter 20 and verse 24, but none of these things, that's the trials and persecution that he had just listed, move me.

I don't take any boasting or any glory that I endured all of those things, nor do I count my life dear to myself. If I die, I die, he says. It's not that important to me anymore. So that I may finish my race with joy, the right attitude, whatever I'm going through, whatever trial and persecution, I'm going to finish this race not as a sourpuss, not as a bitter old man, not grumpy.

I'm going to finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus Christ to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Now what does he mean by the gospel of the grace of God? You know, we look at the kingdom of God, and that's the gospel is the good news of the kingdom of God. Have you ever really thought about the fact that the kingdom of God is God's gift of grace? Humanity hasn't earned the kingdom of God.

Humanity doesn't deserve the kingdom of God. The fact that God's going to intervene on behalf or for the sake of the elect at the last minute before the earth destroys itself is an act of grace on God's part. He's establishing a perfect kingdom, and he's healing, and he's providing peace and prosperity for future generations, not because we earned it, not because humanity deserves it.

It's God's free gift to everyone, and that's his grace, and that's why Paul can say to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.