Saved By Grace
Grace. It’s a word that’s often used in the church, but not often understood. It used to be that saying a prayer before a meal would be called “saying grace.” We sing songs like “Amazing Grace,” but do we really understand what grace is and how significant it is.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul speaks on this topic of grace, but before we can understand God’s grace, we must first understand our situation. In the first part of our scripture this week, Paul is setting the stage (Ephesians 2:1-3). He lays it out for the church and tells them, “you were dead in your transgressions and sins.” We talk about this in church regularly, we’re all sinners. We’ve all done things that keep us from upholding God’s holy standard. However, sometimes I think we get so used to this idea that we forget the gravity that it holds. We get bumper stickers that say, “I’m not perfect just forgiven,” but do we really take the time to ponder the implications of that sin? Paul said, “you were dead.” Death is a serious, heavy thing.
I love the field of Christian Apologetics. Some great Christian Apologists helped to bring me through a rough patch in my walk with Christ. This week, a pastor friend shared a video with me of a Christian Apologist. The speaker’s name is Dr. Voddie Baucham, and his message was so powerful I had to share it. He speaks of his time on college campuses speaking with students. Inevitably one student would find him after the presentation and ask him the loaded question, “If God is so powerful and so good, how come bad stuff happens?” I absolutely love his response. It demonstrates clearly the importance of the topic we’re addressing this morning. There’s no way I could do it justice, so I’ll let him tell you himself (see the full video here).
Too often we forget that there is a price to be paid for our sin. Paul writes, “for the wages of sin is death.” In a world that glorifies sin, we joke around and trivialize it. I fear that we don’t take this problem of sin seriously. We ask the question, “If God is so powerful and so good, how come bad stuff happens?” All the while asking the wrong question. We have no right to be here. We have no right to be gathering together and singing songs. If we were to receive what we were due, God would strike us down where we stand. “Why, oh God, does your judgement and your wrath tarry?” Why is it that God hasn’t struck us down for all the times we’ve cursed him and turned our backs on him? Why hasn’t he destroyed us for turning up our noses at him and telling him we don’t need him or even denying his existence?
One of the attributes of God is love, and they say that as God relates himself to us that attribute of love manifests itself in two different ways. The first is through his mercy. I’ve tried to instill in my children this concept of mercy. As I explain this concept to them, I try to simplify it in a way that they can understand. I explain to them that mercy is when you don’t receive the punishment that you deserve. If you know that the consequence of your actions is that you have to go to bed early, mercy would waive that punishment. In disciplining our children, I make it a point to let them know when mercy is being shown. It’s not shown all the time. There are times when, as a father, I feel that desired outcome will not be accomplished if I show mercy. There are even times when, knowing they’ve done something wrong, my children will ask me to show mercy. This concept of mercy is the same whether it relates to my children and me or to God’s children and him. If the consequences of your actions, the wages for your sin, is God’s judgement, wrath, and death, but that punishment is waived, that is mercy.
Paul touches on this in Ephesians 2:4-5. We know that the wages of sin is death, so “Why, oh God, does your judgement and your wrath tarry?” It’s because God has chosen to show us mercy. Our God is rich in mercy, and by his grace we have been saved. This brings us to the second way that God’s love manifests itself as he relates to us. It is through his grace.
We show grace to our children all the time, but unlike mercy, we don’t typically tell them, “I’m showing you grace right now.” What is grace? A simple definition would be “unmerited favor.” Just like mercy is not getting a punishment that you deserve, grace is receiving favor that you don’t deserve.
We, as parents, want to give our children nice things or do things for them just because we love them. We want to buy them that bike or take them out for ice cream, not because of good grades or a job well done. It’s not because they have necessarily done something to deserve it, but simply because we love them and want to show that love to them.
Likewise, God chooses to show his grace to us (Ephesians 2:6-7). Just like a father desires to show grace to his own children, God has demonstrated his love for us by not only showing us mercy and saving us from our due punishment, but he demonstrates his love for us by allowing us to share in his incomparable riches.
The beauty of grace is that it’s not merely favor, but it’s unmerited favor. God’s desire to share with you the riches of his grace has nothing to do with anything you’ve done. You haven’t earned it, and you don’t deserve it. But that’s exactly the point (Ephesians 2:8-10).
I heard a story of a pastor that went to the barber for a haircut. He knew the barber well, and he knew his views on God. All during the haircut he sought a way to shift the conversation toward God, but the barber never gave him a chance to interrupt.
When the barber was finished, the pastor went to the counter to pay. Finally, as the barber was ringing him up, the pastor had a chance to speak, so he asked the barber if he was a good man. The barber said yes. The pastor then asked him if he believed in God. The barber, again, answered yes. The pastor finally asked the barber if he believed that he would one day go to heaven. The barber said, “Reverend, I believe in there is a God. I believe that God holds the keys to heaven, and I believe that when I get there he will look at my life and let me in because I’ve been a good man all my life.”
Seeing the barber’s boldness, the pastor decided to try a different tactic. He quickly changed topics and, looking at the barber and seeing his shaggy hair, told him that he could use a haircut as well. The barber agreed, relieved that he had dodged the pastor’s questions. He told the pastor that he’d just been too busy to take time to get it done.
The pastor looked at him and said, “I have a few minutes now. If you’ll sit down in the chair, I’d be happy to cut your hair for you.” The barber politely refused stating that the pastor hadn’t had any training or experience in cutting hair.
The pastor reassured him telling him, “I may not have formal training, but I’ll surely do my best to give you a great haircut.”
The barber looked at him and laughed saying, “I’m sure you would, but honestly, your best just isn’t good enough to do it right.”
The pastor responded, “That’s right, and no matter how good of a person you try to be, your best will never be good enough to enjoy God’s riches in heaven.”
The good news is this. While we’ve established that each of us are terrible, vile people, each of whom is deserving judgement, God, in his mercy is willing to postpone that judgement. Through his grace, he has extended to us the opportunity to be raised up with Christ and to be seated in glory with him. This isn’t because of anything we’ve done, for there’s nothing we can do to earn that position.