Saved by Grace – Part 1

SPEAKER 02 : 0:01

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Wednesday, March 19th. Every unbeliever lives under God’s wrath, no matter how good they seem. Stay with us to learn why only God’s grace can save us.

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Why is it that so many people who trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior spend their entire Christian life struggling and feeling defeated in their Christian life? Well, probably one of the reasons is they don’t understand what happened when they were saved. In fact, if you were to ask them, what is a Christian… And how do you become one? Many people who claim to be one couldn’t even answer that question adequately, even to their own sense of satisfaction. Because somewhere along the way, even though they trusted Christ as their Savior, nobody sat down and explained to them exactly, here’s what took place, here’s what you can expect. Now, this is the way you can live according to God’s Word and the promises of His Word. And so, as a result of that, they lived their life struggling, trying to figure out, am I doing the right thing? Am I doing the wrong thing? Am I pleasing God? Am I not pleasing God? Am I saved? Am I still saved? Am I not saved? And so, all kinds of confusion and all kind of things we hear about people struggling with their Christian life because somewhere along the way, they never understood what it was all about. So, I want you to turn to Ephesians chapter 2, if you will. And let’s read those first 10 verses. And you may be a Christian this morning, and I certainly hope you are. But I want you to listen carefully because I want to ask you the question. If somebody said to you, what is a Christian? Could you give them a clear definition? And secondly, if they said, what is salvation? Could you answer that? If they ask you, what is the grace of God all about, could you answer that question? Because if you and I are going to be the lights and the salt that God speaks of in the Scripture, then we have to have some very clear answers to people who are looking for clear answers about life. And that is people who are troubled, going through difficulty and hardship, they don’t want some phasy kind of answer. They want, what is the truth? Give me some clear understanding so I can know what to expect if I place my life in the hands of God. So look in this second chapter of Ephesians, and Paul begins by saying… And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them, too, we all also formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” But God, being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you’ve been saved, raised us up with him, seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” For by grace you’ve been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works so that no one may boast, but we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Now that is a big mouthful from the Apostle Paul. Here it is in all one big section. And what did he mean by being lifted up of the Lord Jesus and so forth? So I want us to understand clearly this morning, you may be saved, but I want you to be able to say to someone else, this is what it means. And this is how it happens. Because there’s only one way that it can happen, and it can only mean one thing. So look what Paul says. He begins here by giving us a viewpoint, God’s viewpoint of a person who is unsaved. And oftentimes you’ll talk to people and they’ll give you all of their excuses and they’ll give you their defense for the way they’re living and say, well, I know that I’m not all that I ought to be, but I’m sure that God understands. No, this is exactly God’s viewpoint of a person who’s never trusted Christ as their savior. Listen to what he says. He says, first of all, their life is a life of death. Notice what he says here. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins. that makes it very clear that three kinds of death there is physical death separation of the body from the spirit there is spiritual death which is separation of the spirit from god and then there of course is eternal death which is death eternally separation from god and so when he says We were walking in death. We were in death. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. He means exactly that. Now, if you think about it, a person says, well, how can I be dead and still look at me? I’m alive. Because they do not understand spiritual things. And until the Spirit of God comes into a person’s heart, you can’t expect them to understand things from God’s viewpoint. What we’re getting is God’s viewpoint of a person who’s lost. And he says, first of all, they’re dead. A second thing he says here, they are walking in trespasses and sin. Notice he says, and you were dead in your trespasses and sins. That is, that’s their way of life. Doing what they choose to do, being disobedient to God, rebelling against God, living against the principles of Scripture. And so he says, walking what? in trespasses and sins after the course of this world. That is, what is the world’s lifestyle? The world’s lifestyle is living in the flesh. What is the flesh? Living after our natural tendencies. That is, those things that are natural, our humanness. That’s the way the world lives. Why? Because that’s the only way they know how to live. That’s the only power they have to live is to live with the flesh. And so he says, you describe them simply as walking, listen, after the course of this world, as he says, and what? Under the power of Satan, a person who’s lost is what? Living under the power of the devil. They can’t do any better. They don’t have God’s spirit within them to enable them. So they’re walking under Satan’s power. They’re walking after the cause of the world. They watch what everybody else is doing. They see what they’re doing. And what happens? They just follow in line. And so to them, it’s all natural and normal because it appears that’s what the majority of people are doing. Therefore, it must be all right. And so they walk under the power of Satan. They walk according to the course of this world. And he says they walk in disobedience. And listen to how he says it. You were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked, how? According to the course of this world, that is the world system. According to the prince of the power of the air, that is under Satan’s power. And he says, that is now working in the sons of disobedience. That is, that’s the way people walk who are without Christ. That’s God’s viewpoint. But they’ll tell us how good they are and how good their works are, but what they need to ask is this. How does God see me? And oftentimes we can quickly rationalize what’s God’s viewpoint. The only thing that really matters is what is God’s viewpoint. So, they’re walking in death, they’re walking in trespasses and sins, and they’re living a life, they’re spending their life, listen, with the disobedient of the world. But notice how he says it. He says, among them we too all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh. indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. That is, we’re living, living dead. You say, well, how in the world can somebody be alive and be dead at the same time? Well, if you’ll turn to 1 Timothy chapter 5, because Paul states it very clearly right here. He says, spiritually speaking, he says in verse 6, but she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives. So if you’ll think about it, lost people are walking dead people. They’re walking dead people. Now, if you tell one of them that… That might not be very popular in their eyes because they’ll say to you that they’re just as much alive as you are, but the truth is they’re not. If you are spiritually alive, you’re more alive than the person who has never trusted Jesus Christ as Savior because the most important part of you, which is your spirit, is alive under the things of God. Now, the lost person doesn’t understand it because they look around and they say, well, what’s different? You just think you’re better than I am. No, we’re talking about God’s viewpoint of, listen, spending your life in death, spending your life in trespasses and sins, spending your life in disobedience, and spending your life, what, under the wrath of God. Because this is what he says. He says, not only that, he says, we were children of wrath even as the rest. And you’ll recall that in John chapter 3, When Jesus gives us that account with Nicodemus, you’ll recall when he comes to the end of that third chapter, what he says in the 36th verse. He says, he who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son of God will not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him. What is the wrath of God? It’s God’s hostility towards sinfulness and rebellion and disobedience to him. And so a person who is living without Christ, this is God’s viewpoint. God’s viewpoint is they’re dead spiritually. God’s viewpoint is that they’re walking in trespasses and sins. God’s viewpoint is that they’re living under the power of Satan. And God’s viewpoint is that they’re living under the wrath of God, His hostility toward disobedience and rebellion. God’s wrath is the punishment which He meets out justly to those who refuse Him. And when they know the truth, for example, Paul said in Romans chapter 1, if you’ll remember, he said, beginning in verse 18, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who, listen, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. That is, people who hear it and suppress it, people who hear it and refuse it and reject the Lord Jesus Christ, they deliberately place themselves in a position of living under the wrath of God. Why? They’re living in disobedience, living according to the course of this world, living under the power of Satan, and they’re living in death. That’s God’s viewpoint of a lost person. Now, on the basis of that, Let’s look to see what the Apostle Paul says here. He says, this is God’s viewpoint of a lost person, no matter who they are and what they may see about themselves. So the question is, what’s God’s motivation? That is, certainly God does not want anyone to live that way. So what’s God’s motivation for changing us? So listen to what he says. In the beginning in verse 4. God says this is the way man is without him. But God, being rich in mercy because of his great love of which he loved us, even when we were dead and had transgressions, dead, living under Satan and under wrath, he made us alive together with Christ by grace you’ve been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now think about this. Man in his sinful, awful condition, dead, separated, rebellion, and under the wrath of God. But God did what? God motivated by what? By His mercy. Now, two things are necessary to have mercy. One of them is to be able to see the need, and the second one is to be able to meet that need. God seeing man as he is, helpless, hopeless, under the power of Satan, spiritually dead. And what I want you to see in this passage is that it’s all of God. Dead men can’t make themselves alive. Rebellious people can’t change themselves apart from the power of God. And people under the wrath of God cannot remove themselves by their own efforts from the wrath of God. It takes something else. And so what Paul is simply saying, here’s this. Here’s God’s viewpoint. And God’s viewpoint is this is the desperate condition of every single person without Christ. But God, in His great mercy, so loved us with a sacrificial love that is totally beyond our comprehension to understand it all, I’m sure. He says, with His great love, He loved us. And so what Paul is simply saying here is this. Man’s sinful condition leaves him helpless and hopelessly lost. And what is the only thing that can change him? God’s mercy and God’s great love. And sometimes you and I forget that. And sometimes we think, well, somehow, surely we’ve done enough to deserve a little bit of God’s love. Like what? Because you take God out of our lives, and none of us will be fit to live with. And sometimes we may look at what we are doing or think about how well we may do, and the truth is, apart from God, what can we do that’s good? Because we all are tempted to be selfish and to be lustful and to want this and want that and all the things that the rest of the world is tempted with and oftentimes just indulges themselves. We have to deal with the same things. Only the difference is we have a different relationship with our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ. And therefore, He’s changed our desires. He’s changed the things that satisfy us, complete us, and cause us to have a sense of contentment and joy in our life. What happened? We responded to this mercy. We responded to this love that was so great. It was sacrificial love that caused him to send his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, into this world and to pay our sin debt in full on the cross. And when he paid our sin debt in full on the cross, what that did, it made it possible for every single person to do what? By the grace and the goodness of God, to step out of the pit of miry clay, as he says in the psalmist, places on a whole different level, gives us a whole new pathway, a whole new destiny, a whole new change of life, transforms us absolutely and completely, and gives us the Holy Spirit to empower us to live above the power of sin in our life. Transformed by the grace of God. That’s what we were. And he says, because of his grace and goodness and mercy, here’s what happened to us. Now, here’s a section that oftentimes people overlook. They come to this passage and they’ll read the first few verses we read. And then they come to this part and they skip this. Even when we’re dead in our trespasses, He made us alive together with Christ, by grace you’ve been saved. And then we skip down to four, by grace you’re saved through faith. But what I want you to notice here is what happens. That is, what’s God’s purpose? Think about this. What is God’s purpose for saving anybody? Somebody says, well, He doesn’t want them to go to hell. Well, He doesn’t, but that’s not His ultimate purpose. Well, somebody says, well, He wants us to have joy in our life. Well, He certainly does, but that’s not His ultimate purpose. Well, He doesn’t want us to ruin our life. He certainly doesn’t, but that’s not His ultimate purpose. What’s God’s ultimate purpose for saving you and me? Well, you say, well, He saw some good in us. Wait a minute. Look at what we just read. Dead in trespasses and sins, walking according to the course of this world under the power of Satan and in the wrath of God. Now, what’s good about that? There’s not anything good in those first three verses. So you can’t look at the first three verses and say, well, God. Well, God what? God says we are condemned because of our rebellion against him. Look at the way we’ve lived. Now listen to what he says. Even when we were dead in our transgressions, he made us alive together with Christ. What in the world does that mean? Here’s what it means. He says, even though you were dead, he’s made us alive together with Christ, which means he gave us life. What kind of life? He gave us the gift of eternal life, the grace of God. Listen, the result of the grace of God, which is his goodness and kindness toward us, without regard to any merit on our part, or anything we deserve. That is, in fact, in spite of what we deserve. That is His goodness and kindness toward us, and His graciousness toward us, without regard to any merit or worth on our part, and in spite of what we deserve. And what is salvation? It is the act of God, whereby He delivers us from, what? Eternal death, and gives us the gift of eternal life. That’s what salvation is all about. When you place your trust in Him as your Savior, He gives you the gift of eternal life. And that begins when He regenerates your spirit. When you and I receive Jesus Christ as the one who paid our sin debt in full at the cross, and we accept Him as our Savior. We received Jesus Christ. We received the gift of eternal life. Now we have spiritual life. Now we can relate to God. So listen to what he says. We were dead in our transgressions, but he made us alive together with Christ. And he raised us up with him. What in the world does he mean by that? Simply this. We were, listen, in transgressions and death and sin, and he raised us up. What did he do? He lifted us above that. He has taken us above the life that we have lived here before. Now we’re on a whole different level. He raised us up with Him. Jesus already sees you and me from His perspective, listen to this now, as His resurrected children. So when it comes to this whole matter of eternal security, which we’re going to come to later. This whole issue, the issue is how does God see us? And what Paul is telling us in this passage is you want to see God’s viewpoint? Watch this. This is God’s viewpoint. This is who you were before you were saved. Now that you are saved, this is who you are. You have a brand new life. You have the life of Christ within you. Not only that, he has, as Jesus Christ was resurrected, the city of the Father’s right hand, in God’s mind and heart, you and I, it’s a done thing with him. It’s a done deal with God. It’s a completed action, and that is he has also resurrected us. He certainly lifted us out of our sins, and he gives us the promise of a bodily resurrection. The mind of God, it’s as good as done. That is, we’re seeing it from God’s viewpoint. He’s not going to leave us partially saved. What part of us is He going to save? Every bit of us. Body, soul, and spirit. That’s why there’s a resurrection of this body to be transformed in the likeness of the body of Christ. There’s not going to be anything about us left. You see, Jesus is not going to be defeated by the devil about anything. You’re saved, your body’s going to be transformed, the twinkling of an eye. Your soul is transformed, your spirit’s made anew. Everything about us is going to be absolutely new because we’re going to live in heaven for all eternity.

SPEAKER 02 : 18:59

Thank you for listening to Saved by Grace. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station. And if you’d like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.