Title: Salvation by Grace (Lent Day 23 Sermon)
Saved by Grace
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 By grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. 9 It is not of works, so that no one can boast.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, least anyone should boast. (NKJV)
Today's verse presents a clear concept of salvation. Salvation is entirely the sovereign work of God. This means that salvation is never something we can achieve in our own strength. We are saved by God's grace by means of faith. Salvation is entirely a gift from God.
All religions in the world other than Christianity emphasize good works. We teach that we must do many good deeds to gain salvation by accumulating our merits. Martin Luther first went to law school to become a lawyer, following his father's wishes. Then, one day, while returning home with a friend, thunder struck and a lightning bolt struck and a friend who was passing by died. This changed Luther's life. He gave up his dream of becoming a lawyer and studied theology to become a priest. He trained to be a good bride. The road to becoming a bride was a path of asceticism. When I went to Rome, I saw a lot of pilgrims who climbed the steps of that high cathedral on their knees. He himself climbed the stairs on his knees. I climbed up by enduring pain and suffering. I thought that asceticism was the process of becoming a good bride. Finally, as he went up the stairs, there were words that came to Luther's mind. “But the righteous shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17) These words came to mind. There is a saying that that experience at that time became the spark of the Reformation later.
As such, many religions in the world emphasize good works. It is said that if you do a lot of good deeds, you will be saved through your merits. So is Islam. However, we say that salvation comes through faith. However, the Bible never ignores the value of good works. It teaches that good deeds are not the condition of salvation, but the fruit of salvation. Obviously you should know. We are not saved by good works. Therefore, even if we have done good deeds, we have nothing to boast about. The only way to salvation is to be saved by grace. Grace is God's free favor. If we have done something to earn salvation, this is no longer salvation by grace. We don't get paid for doing good or righteous deeds.
Listen to the words of the Bible, Romans 4:1-8. This verse can be called “the heart of the doctrine of salvation” in the Bible.
What, then, can we say about our father, Abraham, in the flesh? Had Abraham been justified by works, he would have had something to boast about. But there is nothing to be proud of before God. What does the bible say? “Abraham believed God, and God counted him righteous.” To those who work, I don't think that wages are given as a favor, but as a natural remuneration. But whoever believes in the One who justifies the ungodly, even without any merit, his faith is justified. So David also said the following about the blessing that God considers righteous to receive even if they have done nothing. "Blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven and covered by God. (Psalm 32:1-2) Blessed is the man whom the Lord will acknowledge without sin."
The Bible clearly states that we do not gain salvation. The term “achievement” is often used when referring to high grades. If your grades go up a lot, you get an “achievement prize”. An “achievement” is something the person who puts in a lot of effort gets in return. Paul says in Romans 3:20, “Therefore, by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified”. Also Galatians 3:10 says that everyone who wants to live by the works of the law will live under a curse. Because whoever breaks God's law is under a curse. None of us can keep all of God's laws. If God does not come into our lives by grace, we all deserve punishment. That is what God has done for us.
God gives us salvation by grace. Our proper response to God's grace is faith. However, even our beliefs do not come from us. Therefore, when we say “That not of yourselves” in today’s verse, it means that grace does not come from us. Faith does not come from us either. We simply need “faith” to be saved. (We are required to believe to be saved, but since we are dead in sin we can't believe.) The natural man can never comprehend the spiritual truth. Therefore, the natural man cannot believe it. The devil of this world is hiding the minds of unbelievers from believing, and the light of the gospel is to them. (2 Corinthians 4:4) Before we were saved, we were in spiritual darkness, we were dead in our sins, we could not see the truth, we had no hope, we had no God. We are helpless, We did not have the capacity to create our own faith out of our dead hearts.
In order for us to have faith, God must first give life to our dead hearts. First, God must light our dark eyes. In order for us to have faith, God must give us enlightenment in our dark hearts. Therefore, everything that works out salvation is a miracle of God. We believe in the Gospel, and by faith we receive the Lord Jesus Christ. So we believe, and we mistakenly believe that we are receiving the Lord. It is God Himself who gives us a heart to believe and receive the Lord Jesus. None of us can boast of our faith or our salvation. Because our salvation and faith are all by the grace of God from first to last.
Finally, let me read 1 Corinthians 1:26-31. “Saints, think about what you were like when God called you. By the standards of the world, there were not many wise people, not many powerful people, and not many good-looking people. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly, despised, and nothing of the world to destroy the powerful. This was to prevent anyone from boasting before God. But you are born of this God and you are in Jesus Christ. Jesus became our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption from God. Therefore, as the Bible says, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”