The Grace Paradox
Sermon 2 in the series, “Free Grace in Focus – A Biblical Answer to Lordship Salvation”
Chuck Sligh / August 26, 2010
TEXT: Acts 10:1-8
INTRODUCTION
I want to talk to you today about the greatest paradox in the Bible. That paradox is captured in this statement: “A good person can go to hell and a bad person can go to heaven.”
That sounds so strange to our ears, doesn’t it?—“A GOOD person can go to hell?… and a bad person can go to heaven?”
That just doesn’t make sense—unless you know your Bible well. We’ve been conditioned all our lives to believe that anything we get in life, we must earn.
Illus. – When I was growing up, in order to instill a work ethic in me, my dad had several short maxims he repeated many times in my life. He’d tell me, “Son, there’s no free lunch.” – In this life, that is so true. He’d also remind me, “Chuck, never forget: there’s nothing free in life.” – In society, that also is true. And he said often, “Son, if you want something, you’ve got to work for it.”
Because we must earn what we get in everyday life, it’s easy to assume that must also be true in the spiritual realm. But as far as what the Bible teaches—nothing could be further from the truth!
Our popular culture has conditioned us to accept the lie that we can get to heaven by our works or the good life that we live or by doing good deeds.
Illus. – How many of you have ever watched Tom and Jerry cartoons? Remember whenever Tom was tempted to whack Jerry on the head? A little angel with a halo would fly up to his ear and whisper, “If you do that you won’t go to heaven.” Another reinforcement by popular culture that heaven is earned by works. It never worked, though—Tom still always whacked Jerry anyway.
Illus. – I remember the TV show “Touched by an Angel” about an angel going about doing good in people’s lives, showing them they should change their lives. It was a good clean show, but you went away from every episode with the impression that the path to heaven was by cleaning up your life, by turning to goodness, by being a better person.
Those are all good things, and they make for a better society and better families. But again, the idea being good to get to heaven or be forgiven is found nowhere in the Bible; Just the opposite, in fact.
Look with me Isaiah 55:8-9 where God says to Isaiah: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
The Bible teaches that the way God deals with us is not the way that fits our understanding of the way the world works. No, God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. Nowhere is this more true than with salvation.
Now listen carefully to what I’m about to say—it is the major premise of this sermon: The Bible clearly and unequivocally teaches that NO ONE can get to heaven by his own effort, or works, or religion. These really have NO BEARING WHATSOEVER on where you spend eternity. One is saved by the grace of God alone, through faith in Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross alone.
Therefore, a person who is GOOD in man’s eyes, but who has never trusted in Jesus Christ for eternal life and forgiveness of sins, will not go to heaven. And a BAD person, who has never served God, or done any good works, or whose bad deeds outweigh his good is eligible for heaven if he’ll simply trust in Jesus to save him.
This is the “Grace Paradox.”
You say, “Chuck, how can this be? This defies human reason. This doesn’t make sense.” Beloved, there is massive Scriptural support for this, both in Scriptures that teach the principle of the grace paradox and in illustrations of the grace paradox. In fact, the Bible teaches no other way to God.
Let’s look at just two such illustrations for our study today. I’d like to look at two contrasting people. One was a good man on his way to hell; the other was an evil man whom Jesus Himself assured He would see him in heaven.
I. THE FIRST MAN IS CORNELIUS – A GOOD MAN ON HIS WAY TO HELL.
To see this illustration, please turn in your Bibles to Acts 10 in the New Testament: Verses 1-8 say, “There was a certain man in Cæsarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, 2 A devout man, and one who feared God with all his house, who gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always. 3 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. 4 And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Your prayers and your alms are come up for a memorial before God. 5 And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: 6 He is lodging with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what you ought to do. 7 And when the angel who spoke to Cornelius had departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually; 8 And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.”
The story ends well with this centurion believing in Christ and being saved. But the thing to see here is that before Peter came to him and preached the Gospel to him, this pious Roman soldier was very good and religious and sincere. But there was something he lacked—Jesus Christ!
Look with me at several things in this passage:
1. Note first of all that Cornelius was sincerely religious—but that did not save him. – Verse 2 describes him as “a devout man...” Cornelius was a sincerely religious man, but he was not saved.
Illus. – You can go to the medicine cabinet and sincerely believe you’re taking out medicine to help you; but if you take out poison instead, no amount of sincerity will protect you from the consequences. And neither will sincerity save anyone: Cornelius was sincere, but lost and Paul was sincere, but lost.
2. Second, I want you to see that Cornelius was a God-fearing man who led him family in spiritual things—but that did not save him. – Verse 2 goes on to say that Cornelius was a man who “feared God with all his house...”
3. Third, Cornelius gave selflessly to others—but that did not save him. – You see that also in verse 2 where it says that he “…gave much alms to the people…”
4. Fourth, Cornelius prayed to God—but he was nevertheless still not saved. The last phrase of verse 2 tells us that he “…prayed to God always.” Many sinners pray to God, but that does not save them from judgment.
5. Notice also that Cornelius had a religious experience—but he was still lost. We’re told in verse 3 that Cornelius had a vision in which an angel appeared. Even after his vision, Cornelius was still lost in his sins. It was not until Peter came to him with the Gospel and he believed on Jesus Christ that he became a child of God.
6. Also, we see that Cornelius was a just man, but he still wasn’t saved. The centurion’s servants described him in verse 22 as, “a just man...” “Just” here means “morally upright in the eyes of others” Cornelius had good morals and was honest and upright.
7. Finally, Cornelius was loved and respected and esteemed, but he was lost. Verse 22 says he had a “…good report among all the nation of the Jews…” His good life earned him the respect of the Jews who generally hated Romans.
So here was a man who was “good” in man’s eyes—but not good enough for God. He needed to hear the Gospel and trust in Jesus and His sacrifice on Calvary!
II. NEXT I WANT TO SEE IS THE THIEF ON THE CROSS – A BAD MAN WHO WENT TO HEAVEN
This is found in Luke 23:39-43 – “And one of the malefactors [i.e., “criminals”] which hanged railed on him, saying, If You are Christ, save yourself and us. 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, Do you not fear God, seeing you are in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds: but this man has done nothing wrong. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when You com into Your kingdom. 43 And Jesus said to him, Verily I say to thee, Today you will be with me in paradise.”
Note three things this man did not have that many people associate with gaining heaven.
1. First, this thief had no good WORKS to present before God—but he died a saved man and went to heaven when he died. He was a thief, a criminal. He was not moral or clean or upright like Cornelius. Yet Cornelius was on his way to hell and this thief ended up in heaven!
2. Second, this thief was not RELIGIOUS—but he went to heaven. He obviously was not religious, for He had disobeyed the Ten Commandments. The Eighth Commandment is “Thou shalt not steal.” The Romans didn’t crucify just any common criminal. Crucifixion was reserved for those who were incorrigible, those who were repeat offenders, those hopelessly reprobate. This thief had no religion or piety to present before God. And he knew he was guilty too, for he said in verse 41 – “And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds: but this man has done nothing wrong.” And yet Jesus says to him in verse 43 – “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
3. Third, this thief was never baptized, but he still made it into heaven.
So why DID this thief get to heaven? Because of GRACE which he received by his faith in Jesus Christ. What is grace? The word’s basic meaning is simply, “Unmerited favor.” Grace is God giving us something we do no merit nor have earned. Someone has defined grace in regards to salvation with the following acrostic…
G-od’s
R-iches
A-t
C-hrist’s
E-xpense
Look at what the thief said in verse 42 – “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into Your kingdom.” Does this sound presumptuous to you? Here’s a man whose whole life was spent disobeying God’s commands, and now in his final moments, he has the audacity to ask Jesus for forgiveness.
What could prompt such an incredible request? I’ll tell you what it was—FAITH! No one could possibly expect a lifetime of sin to be instantly erased by another dying man on a cross unless he had faith that Jesus could indeed save him. And that, dear friend is the only way you or anyone else can come to God by faith.
To understand this, go to the book of Romans, which Paul wrote to explain salvation. Look with me at Romans 4:5 – “But to him who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”
First, to understand this verse, let’s define some of the words. “Justifies” simply means “declares ‘not guilty’ of sin before God.” The word “counted” means “credited.”
So Paul is saying that to the person who does not work for his salvation, but believes on the One who declares the ungodly “not guilty” before God, his faith is credited as righteousness in God’s sight.That is, God sees him not as a sinner, but as perfect, sinless and righteous.
I don’t have the time to explain fully the idea that Christ was our “vicarious substitution.” It’s a big theological term that simply means this: Because of sin, you had a negative balance before God and your court day comes up when you die. Jesus, who never sinned, paid your sin debt for you and if you’ll let Him, He’ll not only wipe the slate clean on the negative debt you owe for sin, but also He’ll positively credit His perfect righteousness to your account so that in God’s standing, He doesn’t see your sin; He sees the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ instead.
Illus. – Suppose your business went belly up and you owed $100 million. Your court day’s coming up and you’re in big trouble. You realize there’s only one person in the world who can help you. So you call up your big brother, Bill Gates, and you say, “Billy, you were right about my business practices. I messed up Help me!” And Brother Bill says, “I tell you what I’m going to do. If you’ll allow me to take ownership of your company, I’ll not only pay off your $100 million debt, I’ll credit into your account 1 billion dollars.”
As crazy as that sounds that’s what Jesus offers you in salvation. He forgives you your sin debt and credits to you the righteousness of Christ.
Now, lets break this verse down:
--Who does Paul say is justified?---The person who works, or goes to Mass, or is baptized, or obeys the Ten Commandments? NO!—He who BELIEVES on him who justifies (that is, Jesus Christ).
So what does it mean to “believe”? Our English word “believe” has more the idea of agreement to facts. The word the Bible uses is pisteuo (Grk. ), which means “to place confidence in, trust in, rely on.” To believe in Jesus for salvation is to have confidence in; to trust in JESUS alone to save you instead of having confidence in yourself, or your works or your goodness, or religion or religious acts.
--According to this verse, who justifies the ungodly? Do WE justify ourselves by OUR works or OUR goodness or OUR obedience to commandments or OUR piety to religion? NO!—It is GOD who justifies.
--And who does God justify? The righteous person? The holy person? The religious person? NO!—God justifies the UNGODLY. And in truth, whether we realize it or not, whether we’re willing to admit it or not—we’re ALL ungodly to some extent. Cornelius might be described as a “good” sinner, but he was a sinner nevertheless who was destined for God’s judgment without Christ. The thief on the cross might be a “bad” sinner, but he was able to access God’s grace readily because he recognized his need. Only the guilty need forgiveness; only sinners need a Savior.
Paul tells us in Romans 3:22b and 23, “For there is no difference. 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
That’s a sad truth, but Paul does not leave us without hope. In the very next verse he says this: “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”
There’s that word “justified” again—being declared righteous by God. How does he say we are justified? By our works or religious activities? NO!—We’re justified FREELY by His GRACE—God’s “unmerited, undeserved favor”—God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
And HOW was this grace obtained for us?—Look at verse 24 again: “Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
“Redemption” means “purchase”, and is the idea that Jesus paid the price of the penalty for our sin. Notice that there is nothing about works here, or religion or communion or baptism or confirmation to EARN our justification. There’s nothing about goodness or kindness to our fellow man. When Jesus died on the cross, He paid the penalty for your and my sin. He offers forgiveness of sin and eternal life if you’ll only trust in Him. Rest in His promise to save you from sin.
CONCLUSION
Folks, the grace paradox is that God makes sinners into saints in right standing to God. He does it absolutely freely, with only one single condition—that you believe God’s promise; nothing more. Here’s how Jesus expressed that promise in John 3:36 – “He who believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.”
You either have the wrath of God abiding on you and are headed to hell, or you have everlasting life through believing, resting in, trusting in His Son for your salvation. Which is it for you?
Illus. – There was a man once who had the wrath of God abiding on him, but one day he trusted in Christ to save him and gloriously experienced God’s paradoxical grace. For if there ever was a man who deserved God’s wrath, it was him.
In a corner of the churchyard of Olney Parish Church in England, which I have seen, there is a large tombstone on which the inscription reads: “John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ preserved, restored and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy.”
John Newton was the son of a sea captain engaged in Mediterranean trade. His mother died when he was 6, and after several years at school, he joined his father’s ship at the age of 11. Immorality, debauchery and failure followed. Rejected by his father and finally jailed and degraded, he later served on slave ships where his slide into sin and degradation reached its lowest point.
He was eventually brought to his senses by reading The Imitation Of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. He was soon converted to Christ, and at the age of 39 he became a minister of the Gospel and was the Pastor of the Olney Church for 15 years. He wrote many hymns, but the most familiar contained these immortal words:
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.
The grace of God can save you—but only if you trust in Jesus Christ.
“He who believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Today I invite you to stop trusting in yourself or your good works or your religious acts and just rest in, trust in, BELIEVE IN the Lord Jesus Christ who gave his life on the cross and was buried and rose again the third day to pay for your sin.
(If interested in the PowerPoint used in this sermon, you may request it from me at chucksligh@hotmail.com.)
