Good morning.
It's good to see all of you here.
It's good to have our visitors with us.
We're grateful.
for your presence and we're grateful for the opportunity to spend time with you.
We're grateful for your interest in worshiping God with us.
We hope that you will come back and see us again at your earliest convenience and we hope if you can and are willing that you'll stay and eat with us as there's food that is
prepared almost every single Sunday here at this congregation.
We'd love for you to stay and to eat and let us learn a little bit more about you.
This morning our discussion is on the word in the Greek, charis.
It is the word for grace, for favor.
We've often termed the idea of God's grace that which is unmerited favor.
But what we're going to do this morning in our lesson is we're going to go through the book of Ephesians.
We're going to notice all of the instances of this word or variations, derivatives of this word that are found in the book of Ephesians.
Now we will move rather quickly, so hopefully the slides will help you if you're taking notes to go back and spend some more time in this.
But what I want us to do as we look at the text is I want us to see
the picture that is here in this book of God's grace and of all of the things that surround
God's grace and the things that God's grace was doing in the first century and is doing today.
And we have in the book of Ephesians a good picture of that.
We begin in chapter one in verse two.
In chapter one of the book of Ephesians and in verse two we read, to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord.
Jesus Christ.
We see first here grace as a common greeting within the church.
As Paul writes and you read the letters of Paul to the churches, you find that he begins almost all of them in some form or fashion with grace or grace and peace as uh a desire
that that be bestowed upon the church.
Now,
This was a part of culture.
This would not be uncommon in a Jewish culture for a greeting, but a very common greeting in Jewish culture was peace to you.
Paul emphasizes as he greets these churches, Jew and Gentile alike, grace and peace.
And so, we notice just as we recognize that grace is part in the first century of just a common greeting, but one that Paul used in direct reference to Christians and that which
God was doing for them and that Paul desired to have done for them.
Grace, peace, mercy, all those things included.
But then consider chapter 1 verse 6.
Something else that we see, and I would love if we had time to go through and read the entire book and get all the context out of all these passages, but we've already got 14
passages to get to, so I don't think we're going to have time to do that in the few minutes that I have.
But chapter 1 verse 6 we read,
in this passage is Paul is writing to them about their salvation that they already have.
He's writing to Christians that God's grace is praiseworthy.
It is that which we should look at in awe and in glory and give it the glory and the praise that it is due.
We do not look at grace that comes from God, that originates with God, and think, you know what, I'm so glad I have it, but frankly, I deserved it.
So it's not really all that praiseworthy, it's expected.
No.
No, Paul makes it quite clear that we ought to stand in viewing God's grace and we ought to glory and glorify God for the grace which He has given to us because if you read Romans
chapter 5 and Paul's discussion concerning the sacrifice and the blood of Christ, he offered us that sacrifice.
He offered us that salvation when we were
UN
worthy of it.
So Paul points out here that that grace is something that ought to be praised.
Consider as well that the grace, as he describes in this same verse, is that which has made us accepted by God.
One of the reasons why grace is praiseworthy, one of the reasons why we ought to glorify God for His grace is because without
it we could never stand before God in an accepted state.
oh
John will write in 1 John chapter 2 verse 1 concerning the sacrifice, the propitiation that was made by Christ on our behalf.
He emphasizes that terminology of propitiation, meaning that it was a worthy and acceptable sacrifice because everything up until that point, all the blood of bulls and
goats, wasn't.
It wasn't sufficient for salvation.
It wasn't sufficient for forgiveness.
And even our own sacrifices, all that we could do would never have made us accepted before God without His grace.
So grace is that which has made us accepted.
But then also you consider verse seven.
Paul continues and says, him we have redemption through his blood, speaking of Christ, in him, Christ, we have redemption through his Christ blood, the forgiveness of sins.
according to the riches of His God's grace." As you consider what Paul is writing to them about their salvation, he reminds them that they have salvation nowhere else except in
Christ.
There is salvation that is found nowhere else except in the sacrifice of the blood of Christ.
But it was through that sacrifice that God
richly bestowed His grace to us.
Imagine.
if you were living in a place of famine.
You don't have to go very far.
You can look at some of the pictures and some of the news coming out of Gaza and imagine what it would be like to have lived day in and day out with no food.
And then you hear the word spreading amongst the people.
There's trucks coming in with food.
What do you think you do?
Just go, well, you know what, I'm sure there's plenty for everybody.
We'll just patiently all just slowly progress, stand in line, all be calm and perfectly, perfectly orderly because there's an abundance of food.
No.
You know, in that scenario that we see on the news on regular basis, there is not only not an abundance, there is a pressing and an urgency to get what little there is that can be
had.
Now imagine a world inundated like our world with sin, and imagine if God's grace was in limited supply.
that God only had enough grace to forgive just 100 or 200 people out of the few billion.
Paul says that's not the case with God.
His grace is not lacking in resources.
His grace has been provided to us richly, abundantly to all those who are in Christ.
I am grateful that every single week we don't arrive here vying for who gets grace this week because there's not enough to go around.
But rather, Paul says, that it is made available to us according to the riches, the abundance of His grace, but also that it saves us.
do not miss before we ever get into the remainder of the book of Ephesians that Paul has already said in the text that we've already read, there is no salvation anywhere except in
Christ.
That there is no access to the salvation that is in Christ without the blood of Christ.
And that the grace of Christ only saves us as those who are in contact with the blood of Christ.
Now John says the same thing.
1 John chapter 7.
He says, you walk in the light, as he is in the light, the blood of Jesus Christ continually, the text there indicates through the Greek, continually cleanses you of all
sin.
But the point is clear in John's writing, as the point is clear in Paul's writing, that there is no salvation found by God's grace outside of Christ.
So before we ever get into a discussion about all of the benefits and all of the things that God talks about in His grace, we must understand.
that we do not have access to the grace of God outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ and we only have that relationship through His blood, the sacrifice of Christ, and we come
in contact with that blood and we are put into Christ, we put on Christ in Baptism Galatians chapter 3 verse 27.
You do not have access to grace outside of immersion into water, dying to sin, being born again and resurrected with Christ, Romans chapter 6.
Now, as we'll see through the text, you will still, even outside of Christ, experience the benefits to some degree of grace.
We're going to see how that happens.
But what you won't have is the saving power of grace outside of Christ.
Paul says in verse 7, in him we have redemption through his blood.
What is it?
The forgiveness of sins.
According to what?
Through what power?
according to the riches of his grace.
But then consider verse eight, sorry, verse eight, verse eight's in chapter two.
We're gonna get to chapter two, verse eight in a minute.
I'm getting confused.
All right, chapter two, verse seven.
Chapter 2 verse 7, Paul writes, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace.
He's already talked about the riches of his grace, the abundance of his grace, but he says that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus.
As Paul again directs their attention to the fact that God didn't save them because they earned it, God didn't save them because they were worthy of it,
God rather has saved them through His unmerit-
favor, that he has saved them through the work and the function of Jesus Christ.
He demonstrates that God is not only showing this to this generation, he's not only showing it to the generation that walked with Jesus, but through his exceeding riches in
his grace, he is showing it to generation after generation.
that in Christ grace is found.
He has shown us the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ.
You cannot get grace outside of a relationship with Christ.
It is only found in one place.
As a matter of fact, John will write in John chapter 1, as he writes concerning the coming of the Messiah, as he identifies the one who was with God and who was God in John chapter
1 verse 1, he says that grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
You're not going to have grace separated from Christ.
But then chapter two in verse eight, he says, for by grace you have been saved through faith that dine of yourselves.
It is the gift of God.
As Paul writes about the grace of God, he says that grace saves us.
We already talked about that.
We read that in verse seven of chapter one.
But he also tells us now here in this text that grace saves us through
oh faith.
God does not bestow His saving grace to a population of people uninterested in Him and unwilling to obey Him.
Rather, grace works through faith.
Paul will write over in Romans chapter 10, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, grace does not work apart from the Word of God, because faith is a necessary part
of grace.
Now, Paul says to those Ephesian brethren, don't misunderstand me, you're not working your way to heaven.
God does not owe you anything.
Your works of faithfulness, your faith lived out in your life is not going to cause you to merit, earn, or God to owe you salvation.
It is His gift.
But it does not work apart from faith.
But then consider in chapter three, verses seven and eight, that it is extended through his servants.
As you notice, chapter three, Paul writes, oh
I'm going go back to verse so we can get just the context here.
He says that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ through the gospel.
Paul's saying God's intention all along was that the Gentiles be part of the saving gospel and the saving work of Jesus.
That God had intended from the very beginning that the gospel be
brought to the Gentiles of which, by the way, the church in Ephesus was.
Paul says you're not an afterthought.
You're not a separation from the Jewish church.
You are part of the body of Christ.
And yet he says, "...of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of his power to me who am less than the least of
all saints.
This grace was given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Paul makes it clear that he threw God's grace.
had been given a commission to extend God's grace to a group of people that had yet not heard the gospel.
And that the extending of that grace didn't come by God just waking up one morning and deciding, I'm going to save the Gentiles and they're saved.
It didn't occur because the Holy Spirit decided to suddenly pour Himself out on the Gentiles.
It occurred because God put an instrument in place whereby the Gospel would arise.
at the Gentiles and God's grace was extended to the Gentiles.
Through what means?
Through the gospel, through the preaching of it.
So Paul will write in Titus chapter 2 and verse 11 that God's grace has appeared to all men.
teaching us the denying ungodliness.
We should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.
What?
Grace is a teacher?
Yes.
Because grace is extended through the gospel.
It is accessed through obedience to the gospel.
It comes when someone hears the gospel and will obey it, and through faith it works.
God's grace is extended through His servants.
to those who are outside the body of Christ by presenting the gospel to them so they can go from being outside to in Christ.
And yet, it is extended through us.
Consider also here in verse seven that grace is an exhibition of God's power.
Grace is not
recognition by God that he somehow lost control of the world, that Satan overcame him, usurped his authority, and now God's got to do something about it.
No.
Grace is not a settlement by God.
Grace is not an ignoring of sin.
As a matter of fact, Paul will tell those in Mars Hill in Acts chapter 17 that for all these generations, God overlooked these things, but now commands all men everywhere to
repent.
Grace is not the overlooking of sin because of the weakness of God or the weakness of God's judgment.
Grace is rather the exhibition of God's power.
Notice verse 7 one more time of chapter 3, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.
Over in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, Paul will write about the crucifixion, that the cross and the message of the cross seems to be foolishness to the Gentile in his wisdom and a
stumbling block to the Jew in his knowledge of the Scriptures.
And yet it is neither.
It is the power of God unto salvation, Romans chapter 1, verses 15 and 16.
You see, grace is a demonstration of the power of God.
But then also verse 8, grace is that which is received by the unworthy.
Paul writes in verse 8, me, who am less than the least of all saints, this grace was given.
Paul says, when I look at myself, when I look at my past, when I look at my present, when I look at my sin, when I look at all the things that I've done wrong, and if you think
that Paul had really kind of reached the plateau of Christianity where he no longer really did anything that was wrong, he was kind of just the perfect Christian going about all the
time, flawless and sinless in every way, you should go read Romans chapter 7.
Paul says, I am the least of all saints, and yet this favor, this grace has been given to me so that the Gentiles might be saved.
It's received as grace by those who do not merit it and are unworthy of it.
There has never been a faithful body of Christ, a congregation of the Lord's church that had attained such spiritual perfection.
They had finally earned God's grace.
It's never occurred and it never will.
It is that which is given to the unworthy, not the worthy.
It is that which is extended as a gift to those who without Christ could never, ever have achieved it.
But then consider verse 7 of chapter 4.
In chapter 4 and in verse 7 we read, but to each one of us grace was given.
Paul says, wasn't just given to me.
It wasn't just granted to me.
Rather, he says, but to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.
Now you'll notice in the first century that Paul is drawing out in this discussion, because he's about to discuss elders and preachers and apostles and prophets and teachers
and the work in the first century church that the work that they had going on through the
miraculous gifts was enabled by the grace of God.
Not only did they not receive the grace of God having earned it, they did not receive the miraculous gifts that the church needed to grow to maturity because they earned it.
It demonstrates, as Paul uses this example and shows to us, that God's grace is active in the body of Christ.
It continues to work in the body of Christ.
Now in the first century in this context, Paul says it's going to work in the church, building up the church to maturity in Christ through the revelation of God.
In that context, in the first century, it was through the miraculous revelation of God in the apostles, the prophets, the elders, the teachers, and the evangelists in the church.
And yet...
As we've already noticed, grace doesn't work apart from the gospel.
Grace doesn't work apart from faithfulness.
Grace doesn't work apart from the message.
Rather, it works through those things.
And so today, God's grace is enabling us to reach maturity through the written revelation, which also, by the way, was enabled by the miraculous gifts.
Paul is telling us God's grace is active.
It was active in the first century in the miraculous gifts, bringing about the maturity of the body of Christ, and it's still active today through what was produced by those gifts
in the written word.
That grace, as Paul wrote to Titus, might teach us
that we ought to depart from worldliness and put on righteousness.
So then consider as well.
Chapter 4 verse 29, Paul says, let no corrupt communication or word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the
hearers.
Paul says to the church at Ephesus, you've got to watch your mouth.
You've got to examine your speech.
You have to test your words and you have to evaluate and make sure that no corrupt communication comes out of your mouth.
Paul, how are we going to measure that?
He says your first measurement is this.
You need to measure it to figure out whether or not what you're about to say is good for necessary edification.
He says, I want you to measure whether or not your words are going to build up the body and if they're appropriate.
But he further says that also it may impart grace to the hearers.
Sometimes when we look at the words that we speak, we look at the things that we teach, we look at the gospel and the doctrine, we think, oh great, every bit of this aligns with the
word of God.
All right, well it's accurate, therefore it's appropriate, therefore it's edifying others.
And Paul says, mmm, maybe not.
Sometimes what we can find is we've got the letter of the law down and we've got the letter of the law perfectly put into our teaching.
And all we've managed to do is convince everyone that they could never live up to the standards of God, so they should quit trying.
And if so, we've used the truth incorrectly.
We've not used the truth to convince them that God loves them, that God desires them to be saved, that God's grace extends to them, and that God is not the one sitting up in the
clouds waiting for them to make one mistake so he can send them to hell.
But rather, he is the one who sent his son because he loves the world, desires for it to be saved.
And to be certain, we never change the truth.
We never change the truth.
May I say it again, we never change the truth.
But we should convey the truth with the grace of God so that we can build up those in Christ who are faithful to Him and not destroy what someone else paid for, which was their
soul.
Consider that grace is imparted by words, but it also requires hearing.
If you notice there in chapter 4 and in verse 29, he says,
It's not enough to say, oh, God's grace is abundantly available.
oh
for it is available to those who will hear.
It is available for those who will hearing it, receive it, and obey it, having believed it, will become obedient to it.
God's grace was available through the words of Jesus Christ.
And yet Jesus said it quite plainly in Matthew chapter 7, the one who hears these sayings of mine and does them,
is the one that I will liken to a wise man who builds his house upon a rock.
What's that?
That's grace and truth that came by Jesus Christ that created a scenario where a wise man could stand.
Because he heard it, and having heard it, he obeyed it.
But grace heard by someone who rejects it?
Jesus said, I will liken that man to an individual who having heard these sayings of mine goes and does not do them.
And him I will liken to a foolish man who builds his house upon the sand and when the winds come and the rains come and the storms come, they beat upon that house and it will
fall.
What was the missing ingredient?
It wasn't built on the rock.
What was the missing ingredient?
It wasn't built with the grace of God in the house.
And as a result, Jesus said, not only did it fall, but great will be the fall of it.
So then consider chapter 6 verse 24.
that Paul makes it very clear that grace is available to all.
As Paul writes, as he closes out the words of this epistle, Paul says, grace be with all those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.
When we think about grace, let us consider that yes, it is a gift of God that saves us.
Yes, we will never, never merit that grace.
No, we cannot work our way to heaven.
And there are no works sufficient to pay the price for our sins, but there was a substitute for our sacrifice, for our death, for our penalty, and it was Jesus Christ.
And that He shed His blood and paid for our atonement, that we could stand before God accepted.
But he didn't just pay the price.
He paid the price and then established the church, his body, to go out and declare the message of salvation so that people could actually receive the grace, having heard the
message, the gospel.
that they would be willing to be able to believe that message.
They would be able and be willing to hear and believe and obey that message that they might be baptized into Christ, that they might put on Christ, that they might have access
to the blood of Christ, that they might have the grace of God that continually cleanses their sin through the power of the blood of Christ.
but that grace wouldn't stop there, that that message wouldn't stop there, that the work of the church wouldn't stop there.
Just having them saved wasn't enough.
Christ established the church and the message of the gospel so that they could be built up, so they would no longer be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, but rather
through the work of grace, they could come to perfection.
They could be a complete and mature person in Christ.
Paul would write to Timothy as he discussed the work of grace, and he would say, scripture is given by the inspiration of God.
It's all God breathed.
Why, Paul?
To build us up to a perfect man in Christ.
If you're here and you're outside the body of Christ,
God's grace has been extended to you in the gospel, in the message of Jesus Christ and the cross.
And in that message is the power of salvation through grace, the gift of God.
And in that message is the hope of eternity through grace in Christ.
And in that message is all that is needed to build you up
into that which is accepted before God.
If you're here this morning and you have need of the grace of God, why not come forward now as we stand and as we sing.