SAVING GRACE, SERVING GRACE
Ephesians 2:8-10
By Kenny McKinley
(Read Text)
Now, if you will turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Romans, chapter 3 and follow along as I read, beginning in verse 9 (read Rom. 3:9-18). In these verses Paul is speaking about all of humanity, he says that we ALL have sinned, that we are sinners by nature and sinners by choice, In verse 23 Paul sums it up by saying, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
Now I’ve heard people say that they aren’t sinners, and that they don’t sin, but 1st John 1:8 says, “If we say that we have no sin, then the truth is not in us, and we have deceived ourselves.”
In Romans chapter 5 Paul tells us that this happened because of Adams transgression. In Romans chapter 5 vs. 12 Paul says, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the wold, and death through sin, and death spread to all men, because all sinned.” See Adam was sort of like mankind’s representative, and when he fell all of man fell. Now again I’ve heard people say that this isn’t fair. They say that they shouldn’t be held accountable for what Adam did, but if you think about it, we are held accountable for people all the time. Take for example our president. Let’s say that this evening President Bush were to tell the Soviet Union and China where they could go, and Russia and China decided that they didn’t like it. So the Soviets and Chinese decided that they were going to show us and launch nuclear weapons in our direction. Well if this were to happen we would suffer the consequences even though you and I were not directly involved. But because the President represents us, then we would have to pay the consequences. Now here’s the thing, we (sinful people) elect our government representatives but God Himself chose man’s representative. Now I don’t know about you, but I would rather have God choose than man any day. But you see my point. We are all sinners because of our ancestor, Adam, which means that we are sinners by nature, and we are all sinners by choice, meaning that because of our sin nature we choose to sin.
Now people say, ok, so I’m a sinner, but so is everyone else, so what’s the big deal? Well Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. Now that doesn’t just mean dying a natural death. It means death, hell, and eternal separation from God.
Pretty heavy stuff huh? But guess what? We don’t call this the good news for nothing.
Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And 1st Timothy 1:15 says, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” So to those who would say that they are not sinners, then I would have to say that Jesus didn’t come into the world to save them.
Now I said all of that to get to our text. How does a person get saved? By grace, that’s how.
Ephesians 2:8 “for by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” It’s by Gods grace alone that we are saved. By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
We can’t do it, we can’t earn it, and we can’t buy it. We can never be good enough to keep God’s righteous requirements, that’s why it’s totally of God’s grace.
The Bible tells us to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord and in due time He will exalt you. And that’s what we do when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
We humble ourselves and say, Jesus I believe that you paid the price that I owed, but could never pay, and that You have accomplished my salvation on the cross. That You are my Lord and Savior. I’m not in charge of my life, and I humble myself to your authority.
It says, “my righteousness is as a filthy rag, but I have become the righteousness of God in Christ. It’s saying, “In me, that is, in my flesh, there is no good thing.” And so we TOTALLY trust in the mercy of Christ. That’s what it means to believe, that’s the part that faith plays. Faith reaches out and receives the gift that is being given to us.
Now there’s a story in the Old Testament that demonstrates this perfectly. My wife has heard me talk about this story several times, but it’s a beautiful picture of the entire process of salvation.
Turn with me to 2nd Samuel chapter 4 and beginning with verse 4 lets read it Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son, who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth. Now this particular verse of Scripture tells us about Mephibosheth and how he became lame, but that’s the last we hear about him for 10 or so years. But his story picks back up in chapter nine, verse one which says, Now David said, “Is there anyone who is left in the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?
Now we need to understand that David is now the king over all of Israel. He’s healthy, he’s happy, he’s never lost a battle, and the whole country is prospering under his reign. When all of a sudden he remembers a promise that he made.
And I want you to notice that David didn’t ask if there was anyone who “deserved” kindness, or who was “worthy” of kindness. No, he just asked if there was “anyone.” The story goes on to tell us that a man named Ziba was brought before David and Ziba told him about Mephibosheth (read to vs. 4). Basically Ziba said, “Yeah there is one guy left, his name is Mephibosheth, and he’s Jonathan’s son. But you wouldn’t want anything to do with him. He lives in the wrong neighborhood, he’s crippled, and basically of no value.” You see, Ziba was kind of like we can be at times when it comes to inviting people to church. We say things like, “well they’re to old, or they’re too young, or whatever.” But David wouldn’t hear it. So he sent for Mephibosheth and had him brought to him.
Verses 6 and 7, “Now when Mephibosheth… had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, ‘Mephibosheth.’ And he answered, ‘Here is your servant.’ So David said unto him, ‘Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan, your father’s sake. And will restore to you, all the land of Saul, your grandfather. And you shall eat bread at my table continually.”
Now I’m pretty sure that Mephibosheth was probably pretty scared. He had been told his whole life that if David ever found him, that he would be put to death. He probably even blamed David for his crippled feet. But David told him not to fear and then restored all that had been lost. This is an excellent example of God’s mercy and grace that is manifested to us in Christ Jesus. See David wanted to show kindness for Jonathan’s sake. He didn’t even know Mephibosheth. And here was a guy who for all intents and purposes, was a nobody. He’s crippled, his life has no meaning, and no one wants anything to do with him. But what we tend to forget is that this was all of us at some point in our lives.
See, at one point in time Mephibosheth had fellowship with his father, just like Adam did in the Garden of Eden. But then someone lied to him and he fell and became crippled, and that’s exactly what happened when Satan lied to Adam, and Adam sinned. Humanity became crippled with sin. Mephibosheth ended up living in fear, in a far off wilderness away from the kingdom.
Just like those without Christ, are living apart from God, in fear that they will someday have to meet Him.
Yet, because of David’s love for Jonathan, and the covenant between them,
He extended grace towards Mephibosheth. Just like God, who because of His love, and the covenant with Christ, continues to extend grace and mercy towards us. Mephibosheth didn’t deserve it. He didn’t have anything to do with it. And neither do we. We just accept it by faith. See, Mephibosheth could’ve said, “I don’t believe this.” And he would’ve missed out on all that David was offering him, but he didn’t. He took King David at his word, and began to enjoy the benefits of being an adopted child of the king. Sure it was kind of humbling for Mephibosheth, but in the end it was well worth it.
Romans 5:1-2 says, “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 where in we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Let me put that in layman’s terms. Because of our faith in Jesus Christ, we are justified, and because were justified, we now have peace with God. And because we are in Christ, we are covered with God’s grace. And since we are covered with God’s grace, justified, and have peace with God, we can rejoice.
And let me just say this, that the only way that we can ever have this peace is to have faith. See, if we had to work for our salvation, or if we had to earn our salvation, then how in the world would we ever know that we’ve done enough? And so we would struggle and strive day after day, after day, never knowing for sure if we’ve done enough. That’s why salvation is by grace through faith. That’s why it’s all of Jesus and none of us.
That’s why it’s saving grace. But it’s also serving grace. Look at the last part of our text. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
When you’ve been saved by grace through faith, then you can have peace with God and rejoice, but that doesn’t mean that you can just wait for the trip to heaven either. We were not saved to sit idly by while the rest of the world goes to hell. In Romans 10:14 Paul asks the question, “how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?”
You know if you read the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you’ll see that a lot of the people that Jesus ministered to were people that were brought to Him. The disciples would bring people to Him. When Jesus went to Mark’s house, Mark through a party and invited all of his old tax collecting friends. The lame mans four friends brought him to Jesus. The woman at the well brought the entire city to meet Him. Over and over again in the gospels you see that. And then you get into the book of Acts and you see Christians preaching the gospel everywhere they went, despite the persecution and suffering they endured.
God’s grace is a saving grace and a serving grace. And it’s a city changing grace. I look out there at all of you, and I see ministers. I see potential, and I see opportunity to change this town for the glory of God. But it begins right here, right now, with you.
Now as I was preparing this I thought about some of the arguments that some of you might come up with about sharing the gospel.
Some of you might say, that you’re not a good speaker. And I’d say, neither was Moses, but it’s not about your speaking ability, it’s about the Gospel. Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.” The Gospel is the power of God, not you’re speaking ability, or your charm.
Some of you might say, that you don’t know what to say. And I’d say, if you haven’t been in church long enough to understand the gospel, then bring to someone who does. Don’t let that stop you, bring them to church, I’m sure that there’s someone here who can explain it to them.
Now some of you might say, well we don’t have a pastor right now. And I’d say, your not supposed to be bringing them so that they can get to know your pastor, your bringing them so that they can get to know Jesus.
And others of you might say, I’m scared. And I’d say, so am I. I get scared every time I stand in the pulpit. It’s a natural thing, because we want people to accept us, and like us. But let me tell you, there are things I’m more afraid of than persecution, and rejection. I fear standing before God and giving an account to Him as to why I didn’t share my faith. And I fear that someone may miss an opportunity to receive Jesus because I didn’t share my faith with him or her.
What I’m saying to day, is that God’s grace is sufficient, it’s sufficient to save you, and it’s sufficient to empower you, so that others might be saved.
It’s an amazing, amazing, thing that God would want to save us. That Jesus would die for us sinners. But He did. He did because He wants to give you new life. See the Bible tells us that without Christ you’re dead in trespasses and sins, and that you’re lost and doomed.
But it also tells us that we don’t have to stay that way. It tells us that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
You may be in the wilderness. You may be crippled with sin. But today, is the day of salvation.
God wants you to sit at His table, and He want’s others to join you there.
ALTER CALL
