SAVED BY GRACE
Ephesians 2: 8, 9
Sermon by:
Rev. A. Stehouwer
Published by the
PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE
OF THE
FREE REFORMED CHURCHES OF NORTH AMERICA
(October 2001)
LITURGY:
Votum and Salutation
Psalter:
Law of God
Psalter:
Scripture: Ephesians 2: 1 - 14a
Text: Ephesians 2: 8, 9
Congregational Prayer
Offerings
Psalter:
Sermon: SAVED BY GRACE
Points 1. Salvation by Grace 2. Through Faith 3. To the Glory of God
Psalter: 280
Prayer
Psalter: 152: 3, 5
Benediction
Doxology: 196
Beloved congregation, the verses that we read together, from Ephesians 2, and also the words of the text, are familiar words. And we have here a very basic Biblical doctrine. And so what does the apostle do, young people? Well, he gives us here, as it were, a picture of ALL men by nature. And what has man become because of sin? Well, you read it at the beginning, “He is dead,….spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. Then you read in verse 4, the tremendous change, “But God.” Did you hear it? Young people…….boys and girls? “But God.” Two words! In these two words you have the “whole” gospel. For WHO is this God? Well, you read it in verse 4, He is rich in mercy and that because of Christ Jesus, there is spoken of His great love, wherewith He loved people who are DEAD in sins and trespasses. And so what does the apostle do in these verses? He again and again speaks of the free and sovereign grace of God! There you have it…, children of disobedience. Now boys and girls, are you sometimes disobedient? But you know it is not a matter of whether you are disobedient once in a while, the Bible tells us, “we ARE children of disobedience and therefore children of wrath!” And the message is for such people, old or young. They can be saved by grace through faith.
Now these are familiar words aren’t they? If you do not agree that these are familiar words, just let me know!! But these are familiar words and we have here well known doctrine. Young people who are faithfully coming to church and who attend catechism classes and take serious the instruction that they receive should be able to know these things. Yes, we have heard it and we have heard of it before. And you know,…. it is not only that you KNOW these things BUT that you may also experience and be able to speak of these things. Of course, I do not know you that well but from the time that I was in North America and from the years that we have now been in The Netherlands, my impression is that, that which is familiar and that which is very basic Biblical doctrine, is becoming unknown more and more. That is the reason, congregation, why it should not just be said ONCE but it should be said and proclaimed to you as a congregation, again and again.
At Calvin we had a professor in English and she would say to us, “now listen boys…….listen boys,” (that is how she spoke) “good learning is repeating.” Good learning is repeating. Have you heard it? Good learning is repeating. You know that is what we need in the preaching too! It must be said and it must be repeated again and again! And the “Word” must be explained so that it not only comes to our ears, but that through the Spirit it is brought into our hearts into our inner most being and that as it were, opens up to us, so that you say, “I am spiritually dead in trespasses in sins.” That is my last word. There you have the turning point, “BUT GOD who is rich in mercy.” You see then, you come to church and you are speechless and your heart is filled with wonderment, “what do with do with such a God?” This is what the text says. 1. Salvation by Grace 2. Through Faith, 3. To the Glory of God.
Now, look at the text: “You ARE Saved” and when you look at verse 5 at the end, there you find the very same words again! So, we have here, indeed, a very basic doctrine. And when you turn, for a moment, to Romans 5, the verses 9 and 10, you find the very same thing there, “We ARE saved through the blood and the death of Christ and being redeemed through His death, we shall be saved from wrath to come.” And so that wrath to come looks to the future. Since we are saved through the death of Christ, much more, says the apostle, much more we are saved because He lives. Oh, you know, Jesus died and He rose again but I’d like to ask you, “What is He for you? Is He your living Lord and Savior?” And I hope you can say, “when I read that word and when I come to church and when I am at catechism or at school, then He comes to me and He looks to me and He has a message for me. You, whether boy or girl, man or women, you can be SAVED and there is only one way in which a sinner can be saved; it is by GRACE. And Christ who saves us through His blood, through His death, as the living Lord, also preserves us. And so, we may know and be assured ONLY because it is HIS work. Congregation, that is why it is SO SURE. The work is not of us, but the WORK of Christ through His Spirit will bring us through death and the final judgment. And so, by this salvation, you are saved in the past, and this salvation is still with us today and it will be complete and perfect in the future.
And so, the text begins by saying “FOR” we are saved.” And “for” is a word that points to what is preceding in these verses. The Bible speaks of those to whom the apostle writes in the books of Ephesians. And what does he say at the very beginning? You know but it is forgotten many times. “You has He quickened.” Meaning, You has He made alive from your spiritual death. Then you see the picture of man! Dead….. spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. It is something, right? You know, people will say, “Yes, I am unconverted pastor. What they are really saying is, “I am spiritually dead?” You know you walk in sins and trespasses. That is what the apostles says here. That life, that unconverted life by nature, is the life of the children of disobedience. That is how they are characterized here. An unconverted person is a disobedient person!! That is what determines his origin and also his destination. And so, congregation, take it to heart! Ponder it prayerfully. “I am by nature a child of disobedience and a child of wrath!” So, while these people lived on earth and moved all about, they were dead in sins and trespasses!
Look at what follows. “They were estranged from the life of God.” You know, that it is not only said of the Gentile Ephesians, but the apostle says, not “YOU” but he says “WE.” He includes himself. You see, the apostle learned, by the grace of God, before his conversion, as a Pharisee and a religious and pious person, that his life in the sight of God was spiritual death. Why the religious Paul? Why was he spiritually dead? BECAUSE he lived NOT with God. And you know, I must say that honestly, when you are not living with God….then you do not live in the deep Biblical sense of the word. And that is true of ALL man by nature. And you know what is so sad today, but not only today but also in the past?? That people appose and resist this Biblical truth. Not only outside of the church but also within the church! You know, we can be very religious and we can be serious and we can be strict, but if Christ through His spirit has NOT quickened us; made us alive, then we are spiritually dead. Then seriously consider this! You may have lived like that and you may have walked liked that for many, many years.
Now, what if I had no more to say and said, “Congregation, we close,” and you had to go home like that? But you know there is more to follow. The miracle!! Because such people as the apostle portrays here, can be saved BY GRACE! And because it is by GRACE nothing points to us but ALL is pointed and directed to God who is rich in mercy!
And then, there is spoken, and you know I can only stammer of it, of that great love wherewith He has loved me while I was dead in trespasses and sins…. and that He came to me and that out of the fullness of His grace, I received one grace after another. And I am quickened and I am made alive, by grace, through Christ Jesus so the children of disobedience are by the spirit of Christ and of God, regenerated into children of obedience and children of wrath become the adopted children of God, through Christ. He redeems. He delivers from sin. So, you see, Christ saves His people. Yes! And what does He save His people from? He saves His people from that spiritual death, from sin, and gives them new life “with and for” the Lord. So, that is the point.
It says in Ephesians 2, “you has He quickened.” Now the question is, “are you a quickened man, woman, a boy, a girl, who is made alive? What does it mean? Well, there you are, with your sins, and now God comes and for the sake of Christ (it is ONLY for the sake of Christ), He says never the less, “I love you the way you are.” I do not read in my Bible that the Lord says, now, for you it is NOT possible!! And for YOU NOT, and for YOU NOT! The Lord never turns a soul down who comes unto Him, congregation! You know who says that it is NOT for you? That is the devil…, the opponent of Christ, AND your own sinful heart! You see, it is of grace and because it is of grace, it is possible for each and every one.
What does “GRACE” mean? It means, I deserve eternal death and the Lord gives to a man who deserves eternal death, eternal life. You know, children of wrath, the fire of the holy wrath of God should consume me and now the Lord comes and quickens! And that is what Paul says in Ephesians 2! “I was an outsider and He says come in, come in, and I will give you a place in My big family, at My table. It is ALL because of His grace! All of HIS mercy and of HIS love! “FOR” by grace are ye saved!! And God is a gracious GOD, congregation. He IS gracious and He shows His graciousness also to us. Grace, abundant for an unworthy and undeserving people!! And then it says, very literally, (it is not evil to put that in the translation), “the grace.” The particular grace! And by that is meant, the grace as it is in Christ Jesus. That is what we read in the verse. “While we were dead in Christ Jesus, He raised us up with Him. By grace ye are saved.” It is all in Christ! And so, that is important, that you learn to know the PERSON of Christ and that you learn to know the WORK of Christ AND what He has done to restore us in the fellowship with God!
And congregation, we sat here in church many years ago, 35 years ago. And it has been told to you AGAIN, and AGAIN, and AGAIN! You can be saved BUT it is only by GRACE. I count it a great privilege that I may say it unto you all again! And what is now the purpose? Well, that we begin to see that whoever you are, even YOU can be SAVED! But know you can only be saved BY GRACE! The grace as it is in Christ Jesus! He has merited it, it is revealed to us, and through His Spirit it is imparted to us. And the salvation of which is spoken here, you cannot receive apart from Christ and His atoning, His saving work. And you know, young boys and girls, here I stand, right? You look at me and here I stand. I have to deal with God and Oh, Lord I can not stand in Thy holy presence! And Christ comes and He takes my place. The place of one dead in trespasses and sins and the judgment of God and the wrath of God has been upon Him, TOTALLY, FINALLY, COMPLETELY!! For at Calvary, on the cross, the heat of God’s wrath was extinguished and so we can be reconciled to God….through the sacrifice, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, out of grace.
Now, who is there here? You look in yourself and find good things and you come with full hands…NO!!! It is not of YOU! Not of works! It is GRACE and GRACE alone. That is the old gospel. A few more days and it will be Reformation Day, in memory of Martin Luther. Do you think it was difficult for Luther to learn that he, as a pious monk, could be saved by GRACE alone? For what had he done? He tried to earn it, tried to merit it, to receive it in the way that the church of Rome had taught him.
And you know Luther had to learn what you and I have to learn. NOT because of our doing but of God’s doing, in Christ Jesus and through His Spirit. And that is why I find it such a beautiful word in our English translation, “Christ the great undertaker.” Here, I can do it. But then you do not sit down with your arms together. No, you say, I need the surety and you go to Him and He says, “yes, give all: yourself and the things that there are in your hand and I will atone and appease God through My sacrifice, also for you.”
Have you ever known the great distance that there is between God and the sinner? And how can that distance be bridged? WE are not able to do it but Christ is! “And He,” says the apostle, “has made us and saved by grace! He has delivered us from guilt and sin and death and the judgment.” Then He comes with His pierced hands, imparting the blessing and restoring children of disobedience to the dear children of God. “Nothing in my hands I bring.” Yes, as a sinner, “simply to Thy cross I cling.” The salvation that Christ merited is imparted unto us. And how does the Lord teach His people? Oh, they look in their pockets, you know and they want to come with full hands. So, the Lord takes it out of their hands. You become a poorer and a poorer sinner all the time. So, you come finally with EMPTY hands to receive OUT of the Lord’s hand. Out of that abundant grace abounding of our God. Congregation, He shows it to us but, God forbid that you only LOOK at it and that you go home after church, the same person! But the meaning is, that you say now, “I have heard it and I understand, “I can be saved.” NO matter how black my life will be…..I can be saved, by grace, through Christ Jesus!