What Everyone Needs.. God's Saving Grace Series

Series: Born Again To Live Anew (An Exposition of Ephesians)

Sermon: "What Everyone Needs.. God’s Saving Grace"

Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-10

By Rev. Tom Dooley

www.preachingtheword.com

I heard about an 83 year old man the other day who had lived his entire

life as a bachelor. One day this man gathered his four nephews and

announced that he was planning to be married. His nephews were in

shock. One spoke up and said, "Uncle are you getting married because

this woman is beautiful?" He said, "No." Another nephew asked, "Uncle

are you getting married because this woman is a great cook?" Again he

said, "No." The third nephew questioned, "Are you marrying this woman

because she is rich?" "Of course not," was his reply. The final nephew

said, "Uncle if your not marrying this woman because she is beautiful,

or because she is a great cook, or because she is rich, then why are you

marrying her?" With a wink he said, "I’m marrying her because she can

drive at night !"

I like a man who knows what he needs.

Do you intend on going to heaven? Do you know what you need in order to

experience salvation and make sure that heaven will be your destination?

Paul tells us in our text what it is that we need in order to experience

salvation and make our destination sure. Paul says that we

need............ grace !

We need God’s saving grace. Unfortunately many have no concept of what

God’s saving grace is all about.

>From this passage however, we can learn first of all of....

I. THE OBJECTIVES OF GOD’S SAVING GRACE

The objectives of God’s saving grace as expressed here in the book of

Ephesians are three fold.

First, God extends His saving grace to us that we might be...

1. Resurrected ( v. 1 )

Notice Paul’s startling announcement there in verse 1. "And you hath He

quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins."

Here Paul refers to a condition of death. Death in the scriptures

speaks of seperation. Physically when one dies there is a seperation of

body and spirit. Spiritual death, and that is the condition that Paul

is speaking of, is sinful man being seperated from God.

Without a personal relationship to Jesus Christ, you are living in a

condition of spiritual death. You are not alive to the things of God.

You need to be resurrected... made alive !

Then secondly, note that God extends His saving grace to us that we

might be....

2. Reconciled ( v. 4-6 )

Look again at verses 4-6. And I want you to pay attention to a word

that is repeated. "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love

wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened

us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up

together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:"

Did you catch the repeated word? What was it? "Together..."

That is significant because it helps us to understand that God’s

intention in providing salvation to us is that we might be brought

"together" with Jesus.

Theologically Pauls point is that every person who has trusted Jesus as

their Savior is made alive... "together with Christ". That means we

share in His life. We are identified with His resurrection and we are

"raised with HIm"... that means we experience newness of life. And we

"sit together in heavenly places" with Christ. That means we are

enjoying eternity with Christ.

God wants us to have an intimate relationship with Him. However for

that to be possible we must deal with what seperates us from the Lord.

That which seperates us is our sin. The scriptures teach us that there

is only one thing that provides a solution to the problem of our sin,

and that is Christ death.

Romans 5:10 says, " For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to

God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be

saved by his life."

Christ work at the cross became a bridge between sinful beings and God.

Only what Jesus did can provide forgiveness. Only Jesus death could

reconcile man to God.

Then notice that God not only extends His saving grace to us that we

might be.. Resurrected and Reconciled, but that we also might be...

3. Redeemed ( Epehesians 1:7 )

We need to look back now to chapter 1 and verse 7 to see this. It says,

" In whom ( context= Jesus ) we have redemption through his blood, the

forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;"

Redemption is through the blood of Jesus and is possible because of the

riches of His grace.