| “SAVING GRACE” Rev. John Fowler July 13, 2003 Ephesians 2: 1-10 |
I want to share from you from the second chapter of Ephesians. I will be sharing several messages from Ephesians this summer. Ephesians is a letter written by Paul when he was in prison and he is writing especially about the significance of the Church, the purpose of the Church and how important it is as the body of Christ. I hope that the Church is important to you. I think of all that the Church of Christ has done for me, as far as growing up in the Faith, and also finding my wife in the Church, and then being surprised by the calling to be a pastor of the Church; then I look over the years, at what little bit I have given, and know that I have been given far more in return, and it hard for me to imagine my life without the involvement of the Church of Jesus Christ. I pray that these messages will help you to understand what a great gift God has given us in the Church of Jesus Christ, and today this is the doctrine that the Protestant Reformation was based upon-that is, the salvation by grace, through faith- that we are put right with God through believing in Jesus Christ, His death on the cross, and simple faith in Him. And through Him we have forgiveness of our sins and believe that we are going to live eternally. I especially want to emphasize today that, in light of that, what a difference it makes in the life that we live. We don't do good works in order to get God to be pleased with us; because we love God and are so grateful for what He has done in our lives, we want to spend our lives busy, especially, with what He wants us to be doing, and make our time count for Him. In Ephesians Chapter II, the Apostle Paul writes: As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. At age twenty-nine, the former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, thought his life's direction was pretty clearly set. At age eighteen he had entered the Naval Academy and now, for the next eleven years, he had been involved in the Navy. He was a Navy Man. He loved going out to sea. Rosalyn has gotten used to being married to a Navy Man and they had a good life. They had grown up in the small town of Plains, Georgia. They appreciated their upbringing, but they felt some excitement going to different towns, different assignments. But that all changed. His father was very ill so he came back to Plains for several weeks. At that time, he became reacquainted with a lot of people that he had grown up with, as he had gone away and didn't get back very often. He always appreciated his dad, his quiet Christian faith, his being a business man, his involvement in the community. And more and more people came by, he realized that his dad really had a bigger impact in the community than he realized. He did things anonymously, like helping people with their education. Or people who couldn't buy groceries, he would give them some money. His dad did things like that, and he began to find it out. Then a very uncomfortable feeling came into his life - that God was calling him to come back to Plains. He had his chart set - where he wanted to go. He was ambitious. He was rising in rank. God had other plans. When his father died, he finally made the difficult decision to come back to Plains, to leave the Navy, because he believed that God had something else in store for him. I noticed in the bookstore that Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church, a large Christian Church in California, has written a book that is not just in the religion section. It is over there with the New York Times' Best Seller List - - A Purpose Driven Life. He wrote a book years ago on The Purpose Driven Church, but now making it more individual, people jump on that - because people want to know: “Why am I here? What is God's purpose for my life? If someone can help me with that, I'd like to know.” I believe one of the ways that we know what God has in store for us, how he wants to use us, what our purpose in life is, is to especially look at the big picture. The big picture begins with salvation by grace through faith, or understanding what saving grace is. That is, when God reaches out to us with His grace, His unmerited favor and His love in Jesus Christ. It is more than not going to Hell and going to Heaven. It's living a life following what He intended, using the gifts that He has given to us to touch peoples' lives. He really had a reason. It is an abundant life, and when we believe that, we can embrace it. This morning, first of all, I want to look at what is saving grace. It is, especially, deliverance from the sin nature. Now, if you don't believe that you have much of a sin nature, saving grace doesn't mean a whole lot to you. The Apostle Paul certainly understood about sin. He does when he writes: As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. Paul could get very specific about sin. There are several sin lists. If you go back a couple of pages in Galatians, he talks about some of those that we call “big sins”. He says in Galatians Chapter 5, verse 19: The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I told you, he gets very specific. Well, if you had done all that this past week, you would have a lot to confess, wouldn't you? There is plenty there, and there are other lists that go on longer, that Paul has; and generally, sometimes we miss it, about saving grace, because we think, “ Whee.. I haven't done any of that this week, and so I am all right.” But sin is far more than the outward sinful “big things”. Especially in Ephesians, the word here that is used for sin means “to miss the mark, to fall short”. That is, that, we can be, in our own estimation, pretty good people law abiding, no major sins that we know of. The way we sin, is that we hold out on doing what God wants us to do. When it comes to the good works that we do do, we are in control. We really don't want Him to take us out of our comfort zone. We really don't want to do something new. We don't want to do something that is going to involve a big change like Jimmy Carter had to go through. We just like to keep it on the same course, the same path. Christian, going to Heaven, but falling short, often times; missing the mark. What is Saving Grace? Well, it is, especially, forgiveness of sins... believing that Jesus died on the cross for us. In Romans….. sometimes it is called the Roman Road….. Romans, Chapter I says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation… In Romans, Chapter 3 it says: For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God… In Romans, Chapter 5, it says: But God showed his own love for us , for while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. In Romans, Chapter 6, it says: The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And Paul writes in the 10th chapter of Romans: If you believe in your heart, that Jesus is Lord, and believe that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. Yes, it is that. But it is especially believing that God is calling us to a new life. He is calling us and giving us the power to be delivered from the power of sin in our lives. How do we receive it? We receive it by faith. Paul received it in dramatic fashion on the road to Damascus and his life was transformed. But it was simply by faith. That is why Paul was so adamant that you don't add anything to “just faith in Christ” for salvation. There were people, early on, who felt that, well, you had to be circumcised and be a Christian. And he fought that vehemently. They had a big conference. You see it in The Acts, Chapter 15, in Jerusalem. That was a big deal. I mean, do you have to be a “Jewish Christian”, or can you just be a “Christian”? That has happened throughout the ages. “It's too good to be true. Just faith in Christ means that you go to Heaven? It means that you are forgiven of your sins? Isn't there something else you have to do?” A lot of say, “Well, I want some 'brownie points'. I want to earn it. I want to earn my way. I don't want to be that dependent.” Martin Luther came along at a time when he made a commitment to God in a thunder storm. He went in a monastery. He tried to be the best monk he could be… do some things like, do a pilgrimage. He would go up these cathedral steps on his knees. He would do all this kinds of self-imposed pain, thinking it would bring him closer to God. He about killed himself; until he began to translate the scriptures into the common language and teach them; then he realized that so much of what the Church was saying, especially at that time, was, “Hey, it's not enough. You have to do this work.” And then, you can never be quite sure whether you've done enough. You realize, “Well, that's hogwash.” If you read Martin Luther's writings, that's mild, compared to how blunt he could be. And when he began to decipher that, it really is grace by faith, his life was changed, and other peoples' lives were changed. In fact, there were some monks that were put to death when they began to preach this, and he worried, and he began to back away from it. But then God gave him the strength that, “No, this is the truth….By grace, through faith, we have been saved.” And how do we receive it? We receive it by faith. But, what difference does it make? What difference does it make? In Ephesians, Chapter 2, verse 10 it says: For we are God's workmanship, (a work of art) created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. What is God's purpose for your life? What are those good works that he has called you to, that he has gifted you for, in the lives that he wants you to be touching...with his love. In the Book of James- which had difficulty getting into the New Testament at the times, but I believe it needs to be in there-you had the other side. Sometimes people think, “In Christ, that is enough.” But the Book of James tells us that, if we have become a Christian, it should show. We should put our faith into action. For James writes in Chapter 2: What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. One of the things I am grateful for in our Methodist heritage is this, I believe, an excellent balance between faith in Christ and good works. John Wesley certainly understood about good works. He grew up the son of an Anglican priest, and was very rigid, very works conscious with the Holy Club at Oxford, along with George Whitfield and Charles Wesley. They visited the poor, visited the prisons. Even, instead of taking his father's pulpit at Epworth, he became a missionary to Georgia...was a failure all the way around. He did not relate well to the Native Americans or, as he wanted them to relate to him, pretty much. He had a failed romance and her dad was mad at him, and basically, he had to come back here with his tail between his legs. It was not a pretty time for him. But when he went to Aldersgate Street and he began searching for what genuine faith in Christ can do, and “his heart was warmed”, he realized that he didn't have to do anything else the rest of his life to be right with God. Because of Jesus Christ and his faith in him now, he had this saving grace. Boy, after that, when it took...talk about the good works coming forward! This man set off a Wesleyan revival that many have said had changed England in such a way that they didn't have a revolution like France did, because of the Wesleys. Wesley was truly concerned with the “whole person”. He was one of the leaders in child labor laws. Saloon business was terrible when Wesley came to town. He was concerned about the whole community, and every small group that met, they not only would read the scriptures and pray, but also would be active putting their faith into action. How can we make a difference? How can we really know what God has created us to do? I believe it is important to see the big picture, and God can help us in the specifics. What is the big picture? Again, Rick Warren, who wrote that book, The Purpose Driven Church, talks about their purpose being the Great Commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. What is the Great Commandment? A great commandment for all Christians and for the Church is.. to love one another. As the name tag says. In Matthew, chapter 25, Jesus told a parable about putting our faith into practice: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' …..It is also a great commitment to the Great Commission. I want you to think about that. How would God have you fulfill the Great Commandment right now, through a great commitment to a Great Commission? Jesus said this before he ascended: Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." That is the Great Commission. The early disciples certainly understood that very well. They were willing to do whatever it took to share Christ: imprisonment, beatings, even death as a martyr. Again, in the book, Living Faith, Jimmy Carter had another faith testing. He believed God had called him to run for governor of Georgia. He ran. The first time he got beat and he was very upset and devastated. He felt that the Spirit God had let him down. His sister Ruth, who was evangelistic, at times, said, “Jimmy, God is not through with you.” She kept trying to encourage him, and finally said to him, “You need to go on a mission.” “What kind of a mission?” Then she suggested one. The Southern Baptist had a witnessing mission to Pennsylvania, nothing fancy. They would do a lot of phone calling surveys and find out who was actually interested in talking about spiritual things, and if they were, and if they said it was OK to come, then, two-by-two they would go out and see them. Go from Georgia up to Pennsylvania. Well, Mr. Carter had never done that very much, and he was a little afraid; but his friend, Bob, who was an older man said, “That's fine. You just go with me. Just watch me and you listen to me, and you'll be fine.” So they would go to homes up there in Pennsylvania, and Jimmy watched him and Bob, who wasn't real elegant, would just be friendly, share his faith. Bob would tell people about how to become a Christian. He had some good responses, some not so good. Some showed him the door. He shared about one time when they had a hard time finding one home. It was a little upstairs apartment in a pretty rough section of town. He told people the name, I think it may have been Perrin, and they said, “Oh, you don't want to go there.” I'm not sure if they even knew her name, but they knew who she was. Well, they went in, and found that the ladies in there were ladies of the street. They were harlots. That's the kind of place that Jesus would go though, isn't it? So they went in and shared their faith. The ladies were sarcastic, made fun of them. They listened, too. Raised all kinds of objections, but showed them the door. They wanted to know if they could come back. “Maybe.” So they came back a couple of days later. Perrin was very adamant about, “God couldn't possibly love me with all I have done.” Then she began to share why she was in this lifestyle. About the problems with her family and why she hadn't talked with them, and why she had entered this lifestyle, period. They tried to get her to call her family. “Let them know where you are.” She did call home. She didn't get an answer. She finally told them to get out. But, you know, Jimmy Carter always prayed that she did reach home and her life was changed. Often times that's the way it is with the Great Commission. We share. We do what God calls us to do. We don't always know the results. But what God was doing in Jimmy's life was letting him know that, “I have a bigger picture than being governor of Georgia. I have called you to be a witness for Jesus Christ.” That is the big picture: He has called all of us to be a witness for Him. Let me close with this story. One of my heroes in Faith is my Uncle Jim. He grew up in a big family. His father died when he was just a boy. His father had seven children, and he had a livestock business. He remarried the first grade school teacher there in Monroe, my grandmother. Had three more children; the first was my father. Uncle Jim had his father's business savvy, and he was a very good business man until God began to show him a different course, and called him to preach. He struggled, but he and his wife, Lucy, got on their knees and prayed that, if that is what God wanted, that's what they would be willing to do; and so they did. They served churches for years. Since he was an especially good business man, they put him over at Lake Junaluska to run that for awhile, and also he worked with Methodist colleges. When you look back on his life, many would look at his church work. I still think that one of the greatest, if not the greatest, work that he did was at the end of his life. His wife, the last ten years of her life, had Alzheimer's. It just got progressively worse, though it did get to a certain stage where you could talk; two minutes later she would tell you the same thing. But that's OK. But I always remember visiting them and they wrote letters to each other. That's one of the ways they would work on her memory. Goodness, that was real special to me. You see, these are two people who spent a lot of time one summer helping point me in the right direction. And now, here they are, towards the end of their lives. And it is a powerful witness, and, you know, they don't even realize it. They are just doing what God called them to do. They are just doing what they have been doing all their lives. That's the way it is when we realize this Saving Grace. When we are saved by grace, through faith, it is not of our own doing. It is a gift of God. For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Let us pray. Our Lord, we thank you that you have called us to lives of meaning and purpose. And our Lord, we do give you thanks today for your Saving Grace. And we pray that you would, as you knock on doors, be invited in, especially to become a Christian. We pray, especially, today that we would also hear the knocking to enter into faith service...to truly experience the joy of the Master, as we do those works that you have called us to, that you have gifted us to. Thank you for the opportunities for service that you have blessed us with. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. |