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Free Grace

"THE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD"
 
INTRODUCTION
 
1. In Ac 20:24
Paul speaks of the ministry he had received from the
 Lord Jesus...
 
 "to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."
 
2. The word "gospel" means "good news"
and "grace" means "unmerited
 favor"; so Paul was given the ministry to proclaim the good news...
 a. That GOD has provided a way of salvation for sinners
 b. And that HE had done this without requiring merit on the part of 
 sinners!
 
3. In this lesson we shall summarize the "The Gospel Of The Grace Of 
 God" under these three headings:
 a. The "need" for grace
 b. The "provision" of grace
 c. The "reception" of grace
 
[Before we can begin to appreciate why the grace of God is good news

we must understand...]
 
I. THE "NEED" FOR GRACE
 
 A. THE BIBLE DESCRIBES MAN'S TRUE CONDITION...
 1. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" - Ro 3:23
 2. "For whoever shall keep the whole law
and yet stumble in one
 point
he is guilty of all." - Ja 2:10
 3. "For the wages of sin is death..." - Ro 6:23
 4. "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and 
 your sins have hidden His face from you
so that He will not
 hear." - Isa 59:2
 5. "But we are all like an unclean thing
and all our 
 righteounesses are like filthy rags;" - Isa 64:6
 
 B. WHAT THESE PASSAGES REALLY MEAN TO US...
 1. FIRST: We must all plead guilty!
 a. Every accountable person has sinned
  b. We can never demand entrance into heaven because we are 
 somehow good enough
 c. Even the very best of us is without merit in God's sight!
 2. SECOND: Our sins have alienated us from God!
 a. By our transgressions
we lose that precious relationship 
 with God
 b. We experience "spiritual" death
or separation from God; 
 which if left unchecked
will result in eternal separation
 from God (i.e.
hell)
 c. While in this state of "spiritual" death
we are dead to
 God; our prayers are not heard - cf. 1 Pe 3:12
 3. THIRD: As sinners
we cannot accomplish the removal of our 
 guilt on our own!
 a. We cannot run away from this guilt
  b. We cannot work our way out of this guilt
 
[So don't be self-deceived by notions of our own goodness. We are 
sinners in need of salvation!
 
It is fair to say
then
that the FIRST requirement of salvation is 
recognition of our true guilt. Once we acknowledge our sinfulness
we
are in a position to appreciate...]
 
II. THE "PROVISION" OF GRACE
 
 A. OUT OF "LOVE"
GOD HAS PROVIDED HIS SON...
 1. Because God loved us
He sent His Son to die that we might 
 have eternal life - Jn 3:16; 1 Jn 4:9
 2. Because God loved us
He made His Son a "propitiation" for our
 sins - 1 Jn 4:10
 a. A "propitiation" is a sacrifice designed to appease
 b. Therefore God has offered His Son as a sacrifice designed
 to appease Himself
which leads to a related point...
 
 B. OUT OF "JUSTICE"
GOD HAS PROVIDED HIS SON...
 1. To satisfy His justice
God provided redemption through the
 blood of His Son - Ro 3:24-26
 2. God's grace therefore functions in this way:
 a. God's justice requires an appropriate sacrifice for sin
 b. Because He loves us
He provided His Son as a sacrifice for
 sin
 c. God recognizes the death of Jesus on the cross as a 
 suitable ransom for our sins
paid in full!
 
[So to satisfy both His justice and His love
God has graciously 
provided salvation through His Son
Jesus Christ. What we cannot earn

God has provided!
 
But the provision of grace is not unconditional (otherwise all would be
saved). Therefore we need to consider...]
 
III. THE "RECEPTION" OF GRACE
 
 A. RECEIVING GOD'S SAVING GRACE REQUIRES OBEDIENCE...
 1. For Jesus is "the author (or source) of eternal salvation to 
 all who obey Him
" - He 5:9
 2. Freedom from sin comes when one is willing to obey from the 
 heart - Ro 6:17-18
 3. Such obedience involves:
 a. Trusting in Jesus as the Son of God who died for your sins 
 - Jn 3:16
 b. Confessing your faith before men - Ro 10:9-10
 c. Repenting of your sins - Ac 17:30
 d. Culminating with being buried with Christ in baptism for 
 the remission of your sins - Mk 16:15-16; Ac 2:38; 22:16
 
 B. HOWEVER
SUCH OBEDIENCE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH EARNING OR 
 MERITING SALVATION!
 1. Salvation is by grace
and "not by works of righteousness 
 which we have done" - Ti 3:4-5a
 2. But by God's mercy
He saves us "through the washing of 
 regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit" - Ti 3:5b
 a. When a penitent sinner
who trusts in Jesus
is baptized
 into Christ....
 1) He or she is united with Christ by baptism into His 
 death
and therefore rises to walk in newness of life 
  - cf. Ro 6:3-8
 2) He or she is "clothed" with Christ
able to enjoy all
 the blessings made possible by Jesus' death and 
 resurrected life! - cf. Ga 3:26-27; He 7:24-25
 b. Through such a "washing of regeneration and renewing of the
 Holy Spirit"
one is truly "born again of the water and the
 Spirit!" - cf. Ti 3:5; Jn 3:5
 
CONCLUSION
 
1. God has ordained...
 a. ...that through faith and repentance
 b. ...culminating with baptism into Christ
 ...we might receive the wonderful grace of God!
 
2. Why don't more people respond to God's saving grace?
 a. It may be some do not understand the "need" for grace
 1) They consider themselves good
moral people
 2) Yet
in nearly every example of salvation in the book of Acts

 those being saved were deeply religious and very moral 
 already!
 3) But as Isaiah said
"all our righteounesses are like filthy
 rags"!
 b. It may be some are not aware of the "provision" of grace
 1) They may think that they are too sinful to receive God's grace
 2) Yet God desires all to be saved
and has provided Jesus "a 
 ransom for all" - cf. 1 Ti 2:3-6
 c. It may be that some have not been taught the proper "reception" 
 of grace
 1) Many are told to "Say the sinner's prayer"
but are not told
 what Jesus and His apostles commanded people to do to receive
 God's saving grace
 2) People need to listen to Christ and His apostles
not modern
 preachers! - cf. Mk 16:15-16; Ac 2:36-38; 22:16
 
3. We saw at the beginning of our study that Paul's ministry was...
 
 "to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." (Ac 20:24)
 
4. So we have sought to do in this study; and in closing we add the 
 words of Peter...
 
 "testifying that this is the true grace of God in which
 you stand." (1 Pe 5:12)
 
Dear friends
what is your relationship to the grace of God? Have you
received the gospel of the grace of God? Are you standing in the true
grace of God?

－－《Executable Outlines》

"THE HIGH COST OF A FREE GIFT"
 
INTRODUCTION
 
1. Perhaps you have heard it said: "The best things in life are free!"
 
2. This is especially true when you consider that the "best" thing in
 life is a gift...
 a. I am speaking of that which God offers to all who will accept it:
 "eternal life"
 b. It is truly a "gift from God"! - cf. Ro 6:23
 
3. And yet
though eternal life is a gift...
 a. A high cost was paid to offer the gift
 b. And a high cost must be paid to receive it!
 
4. A high cost for a free gift? How can that be?
 a. This "paradox" can sometimes be difficult to comprehend
 b. However
teachings of Jesus are often found in the form of a
 "paradox" (e.g.
the Beatitudes - Mt 5:3-6)
 c. Upon closer examination
such "paradoxes" are not really
 contradictions
but expressions of very important spiritual
 truths!
 
[In this lesson
we shall consider how it is that a gift which is free
can be so costly; beginning with...]
 
I. THE FREE GIFT OF SALVATION
 
 A. MANY HAVE A WRONG CONCEPT ABOUT HOW SALVATION IS OBTAINED...
 1. They think that salvation is earned by the "good works" they
 do
 2. Consider this statement by a devout Muslim: "All my life I
 have obeyed the Koran and worshipped Allah faithfully. If

 after death
I find that there is no paradise and there is no
 houris with which a man may be comforted
as the Koran
 promises
I shall feel that I have been miserably cheated."
 3. Many professing Christians have a similar concept of attaining
 heaven
that their reward is received because of...
 a. Their good life
 b. Their generous giving of their money
  c. Their faithful attendance at church
 
 B. BUT SALVATION IS GOD'S GIFT TO UNDESERVING MEN...
 1. Offered while we were still sinners
ungodly
and enemies -
 Ro 5:6-8
 2. Not because we love God
but because He loved us! - 1 Jn 4:
 9-10
 3. And it is offered to all who will receive it! - cf. Re 21:6;
 22:17
 
[Salvation
then
is offered "freely". But does that mean it costs
nothing? Not at all!
 
Indeed
we shall see that nothing in all the universe has cost so
much...]
 
II. THE HIGH COST OF PROVIDING THE GIFT
 
 A. WHAT IT COST THE FATHER - Jn 3:16; Ro 8:32
 1. It cost Him the sacrifice of His only begotten Son!
 2. He did not spare His Son in an effort to save us from our
 sins!
 
 B. WHAT IT COST THE SON - Ph 2:5-8
 1. It cost Him the renunciation of glory and majesty
which He
 had with the Father before coming to this world
 2. It cost Him the humiliation of servitude
even to the point
 suffering and finally dying by crucifixion for our sins
 
 C. WHAT IT COST THE HOLY SPIRIT - 2 Th 2:13-14; Ep 4:30
 1. A ministry through the ages of patiently wooing the stubborn
 hearts of sinful men through the call of the gospel
 2. Suffering long with men who treat Him ill
being grieved when
 they resist Him
 
[Each Person of the triune Godhead has paid dearly to make the gift of
salvation possible. So certainly from the viewpoint of its
"provision"
we can see "The High Cost Of A Free Gift".
 
But the "acceptance" of this free gift is also costly...]
 
III. THE HIGH COST OF ACCEPTING THE GIFT
 
 A. IT COSTS THE DENIAL OF SELF
AND THE RENUNCIATION OF MUCH THAT
 MEN HOLD DEAR...
 1. Paul
who gladly paid the cost
expressed it vividly in
 several passages - Gal 2:20; Ph 3:7-8
 2. One cannot accept Christ and His salvation on lesser terms
 than the complete surrender of self to Him!
 
 B. THIS IS WHAT MAKES THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST "A HARD GOSPEL" FOR MANY
 TO ACCEPT...
 1. They want to accept Jesus as Savior
but not as Lord of their
 lives
 a. Some even suggest that accepting Jesus as Savior and as
 Lord are two entirely separate acts
 b. But the two are inseparable - cf. Lk 2:11; Ac 2:36; 10:36
 c. Even religious leaders who have led people to think
 otherwise are beginning to see the error of their ways:
 "The church today is paralyzed at the moment of its supreme
 opportunity because we have committed the blasphemy of
 insisting that what is so costly for God shall come easy to
 us. We haven't dared face our congregations with a hard
 gospel." -- Dr. Paul Calvin Payne
General Secretary
the
  Board of Christian Education
Presbyterian Church
 2. No man can accept Jesus as "Savior of his soul" without
 accepting Him as "Lord of his life"!
 a. Jesus Himself made this clear when He warned His hearers
 that the cost of discipleship is high - Lk 14:25-33
 b. The lordship of Jesus over self
life
and possessions must
 be acknowledged if we are to know Him as Savior!
 3. People must realize that Jesus commission His disciples to
 preach "repentance and remission of sins in His name" - Lk 24:
 47
 a. There is no remission apart from repentance!
 b. And repentance involves the whole life! - cf. 2 Co 7:10-11
 1) Not only sorrow for the past
that leads to repentance
 2) But zeal and fervor for the future
that affects how we
 will live
 c. Repentance is therefore the abandoning of our own selfish
 way
to go God's way in obedience and fellowship with Him
 
 C. "JUST ACCEPT CHRIST AND BE SAVED" IS THE APPEAL OF MANY...
 1. And many people assume that it is a matter of "just accepting"
 Him
"with no strings attached"
 2. However
consider the words of Jesus Himself - cf. Jn 14:21
23
 3. To "receive Jesus"
then
requires a full surrender to the
 lordship of Christ
a sincere acceptance of His commandments
 - cf. Jn 15:10
 
CONCLUSION
 
1. That is why the "gift" of salvation
while offered freely
still
 comes a with high cost...
 a. Salvation cannot be earned
nor merited
by any amount of good
 deeds
 b. For even after a lifetime of diligent obedience we are still
 "unworthy servants" - cf. Lk 17:10
 c. But the Lordship of Jesus rightly demands a full surrender to His
 authority - cf. Mt 28:18-20
 
2. Yes
the gift of salvation is costly...
 a. It cost God more than heaven can declare
 b. It cost Jesus the agony and shame of the cross
 c. Even today it costs the Holy Spirit who seeks to woo you through
 the gospel
 d. And it costs everyone who truly receives it the total submission
 of self to the rightful claims of Jesus on the lives and souls of
 all who would be His for time and eternity!
 
Jesus has paid the high cost to offer you the gift of salvation...have
you paid the high cost of accepting it? - cf. Ac 2:36-39

－－《Executable Outlines》