SAVED BY GRACE ALONE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY MARCH 20, 2022. 

SUBJECT : SAVED BY GRACE ALONE!

Memory verse: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2 vs 10.)

READ: Ephesians 2 vs 1 - 10:

2:1: And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,

2:2: in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in sons of disobedience,

2:3: among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

2:4: But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

2:5: even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

2:6: and raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

2:7: that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His toward us in Christ Jesus.

2:8: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

2:9: not of works, lest anyone should boast.

INTIMATION:

It is not possible for one to live without sin. All have sinned (Romans 3 vs 9, 10 & 23). The wages of sin is spiritual death (Romans 4 vs 18, 6 vs 23), for sin separates one from God (Isaiah 59 vs 1 - 2). One is not born a sinner (Ezekiel 18 vs 20). He free-morally chooses to sin against God when he reaches the age of accountability, that is, the age at which one can make a rational free-moral decision concerning right or wrong in reference to God’s law. Therefore, one becomes dead in trespasses and sins as a result of choices that conflict with God’s law.

Before the coming of Christ, man had lived in the state of rebellion by following after the desires of this world. Man lived as though the present world was all there was. They had no feeling of accountability before God in reference to their behavior. They allowed the desires of the flesh to be satisfied without feeling consciously guilty of the sin against God. Their conscience was not controlled by belief in God before whom they would have to give account for their behavior. Satan is the ruler of those who have given themselves over to follow after the lusts of the world. Those who make decisions, and live without considering the will of God, are often living and making decisions according to the will of Satan. 

The problem of being human is the fact that we cannot live in a manner that is sinless before God. Therefore, we cannot live in a manner that would merit the mercy of God. The justice of God stands on the fact that He has extended mercy to those who have sought Him by faith. God’s mercy has been extended toward man because of His great love for all men. Those who sin against God will reap the consequences of their sin if they do not respond to the love of God. Mercy is not given out of debt, but out of love and grace. Man can be saved from condemnation in sin only by the grace of God wherein God reaches forth with mercy to redeem those who cannot legally justify themselves through perfect keeping of law or meritorious deeds. 

The dictionary definition of grace is; beauty, kindness, good-will, mercy, reprieve, and pardon. God's grace will then be His beauty; kindness; good-will; mercy; reprieve; and pardon for sinful humanity. These attributes of God are freely, and undeservedly given to sinful humanity. Grace therefore, is the free, and unmerited power of God available to sinful humanity to meet our needs without any costs to us. it is received by believing rather than through any human efforts. 

The simple and uncomplicated nature of God's grace, and being a free gift, make many people to miss it. There is nothing more powerful than grace. In fact, everything in the Bible—salvation, the infilling of the Holy Spirit, fellowship with God, and victory in our daily lives—is based upon the grace of God. Without grace, we are nothing, we have nothing, and can do nothing. If it were not for the grace of God, we would all be miserable and hopeless. 

In our memory verse, the apostle Paul tells us that everything we are and do and have is by the grace of God. You and I are one hundred percent helpless without the grace of God. The writer of Hebrews tells us that our works were prepared for us by God and finished from the foundation of the world (Hebrews 4 vs 3).

We should start each day by saying, "Here I am, Lord, ready for whatever You have for me to do. I empty myself, as much as I know how, to allow Your grace to flow in my life, to cause me to be able to do whatever it is that You desire for me. I cast myself totally upon You. I can be only what You allow me to be, I can have only what You will for me to have, I can do only what You empower me to do, and each victory is to Your glory, not mine."

Prayer: Abba Father, I thank You, most precious Redeemer, for Your grace made available to me. There is nothing I can do to pay for what You did, and is doing for me. Give me the grace to lead a life inherent in good works, and total dedication to You, in Jesus' Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!