His Good Grace, Freely Given…

Title: His Good Grace, Freely Given…

Scripture: Romans 3:20-24

20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. 21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Introduction

The use of credit in the world, such as credit cards or bank loans, is phenomenal! Look at these credit card statistics of graduate students in the U.S. in the year 2,000:

Ninety-five percent of all graduate students had credit cards.

Of the 95% who have credit cards:

• Average number of credit cards = 4

• Average credit card debt = $4,776 (median=$3,068)

• 20% have credit card debt between $6,000 - $15,000

• 6% have credit card debt greater than $15,000

Here’s some more statistics about debt in the United States, specifically bank loans :

The U.S. consumers’ average debt is 12 percent higher compared to the same time last year.

The U.S. consumers have an average debt of $11,224 compared to last year’s average debt of $10,024.

25 percent of U.S. consumers have debt that is above the national average of $11,224

Where are we going with all this? I think we really need to know what is out there in the world and what is going on in the world. The world wants us to spend our hard-earned money on non-essential things that don’t really help us very much. The world wants us to have a false sense of security so that if we don’t have the money now, we can always either place it on some type of charge card, credit card, or maybe even borrow the money from the bank.

I’m sure many of you read the newspaper and listen to the news. I like to watch the news through a variety of sources on the internet. Through multiple sources one can readily see that things are getting much worse in the world. The world is falling apart, very quickly.

Here are some headlines from just one day, Tuesday, July 5th:

Human remains found in hunt for boy.

Gunmen killed at Indian Temple.

Teenager killed for his IPOD.

Al Qaeda suspect killed in Riyadh

Sex Killer released from prison.

What a mess! As a race of people where are we heading?

Now here’s a question, “Why does the world reject something that could solve this chaos in an instant?” Why do they instead seek to ridicule the Christians and their beliefs?

Christian nations are put down and made fun of as ‘infidels.’ What’s an infidel, a person who does not acknowledge your god.

Many countries in the past have welcomed missionaries into their war-torn or starving nations. But, after helping them get back on their feet, they are kicked out, or maybe something worse was done.

Many countries have welcomed the help of Christian nations. As a matter of fact, I recently read of a country that was indignant with the U.S. because the United States wouldn’t send any money to them. The U.S. is not a rich country as many countries believe. It’s simply a country that had its start in Christianity and has been blessed by God. But, lately, I’m not so sure…

The Bible is explicit in the fact that God will bless you, when you are following His will for your life. And, it is explicit in the fact that God doesn’t care who you are:

(Romans 2:11) For God does not show favoritism.

Today we are going to look at some Biblical aspects of ‘What will’ and ‘What won’t’:

I. What Won’t Save You?

II. What Will Save You?

III. The Subject of Grace

I. What Won’t Save You!

In verses 20 and 23 of Romans chapter three, Paul lets us know just who is included in the fallen nature.

20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Now, if you’re wondering if that includes you, don’t wonder any longer, because it does include you. There are no exceptions to this rule, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

When we go back to Genesis 3, we see what happened when Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil:

(Genesis 3:7) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.