Gospel Grace: From Death to Life

this morning we're going to continue our look at ephesians and we're coming to chapter two and i'll encourage you to turn to ephesians chapter two it'll take us a little bit to get there but feels like i'm always among the group of people trying to rescue words trying to rescue precious words words that are biblical words that somehow get stolen away from the biblical intent and used for all kinds of other things and gospel is one of those words gospel is perhaps the most treasured term in the new testament and certainly in the hearts of all who have been saved because we believed the gospel it is the soul of christianity it is the jewel of theology because the gospel is the message that provides the only way of salvation the forgiveness of sin escaped from hell and the life in eternal heaven obviously there will be efforts to confuse the gospel to subtract from the gospel to add to the gospel the gospel is as assaulted as anything for the obvious reason that it's the singular message that saves sinners back in chapter the apostle paul wrote that we as believers have obtained an inheritance that we have been predestined according to his purpose who works all things after the counsel of his will to the end that verse 12 says we who were the first to hope in christ would be to the praise of his glory and then in verse 13 he mentions the gospel yes we have been promised an inheritance as verse 11 says yes this was predestined yes it is ours in christ but verse 13 marks out the role that the gospel plays in him you also after listening to the message of truth the gospel of your salvation having also believed you were sealed in him with the holy spirit of promise who has given us a pledge of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of god's own possession to the praise of his glory all the redemptive purposes that god ordained in the past all that he planned for the future comes to reality as verse 13 says when you listen to the message of the truth the gospel of your salvation and you believe it the gospel is a message the gospel is a word from heaven it is there called the message of truth the gospel of your salvation those are parallel statements the message of truth is the gospel of your salvation salvation is dependent upon believing the gospel which is a true message from god in colossians chapter 1 and verse 5 we read this the word of truth the gospel which has come to you again the word of truth from heaven about salvation is the message of the gospel in first thessalonians chapter 2 paul says we had the boldness to speak to you the gospel of god in verse 4 he says entrusted with the gospel so we speak and in verse 9 of that same chapter we proclaimed to you the gospel of god the gospel is truth from heaven about salvation to be spoken to be spoken if you go into the amazing book of revelation and look into the future in the time of tribulation as judgment unfolds on the earth in an act of divine love and mercy we read in revelation 14 6 this is a vision of what will come in the future i saw another angel flying in mid heaven having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people in the future time of tribulation as judgment is unleashed on the earth there will be an angel in heaven preaching the eternal gospel the gospel is always a message to be preached the term gospel is used about a hundred times in the new testament word itself you angelion incorporates the idea of a message therefore of communication announcing preaching declaring proclaiming angelion is the message and you the eu is prefixed to the word because it makes a reference to something that is good so what is the gospel it's a good message it is the good news bound up in the verb form juan galizzo is the idea of preaching a good message juan galizzo is the word from which we get evangelized or evangelical so you cannot understand the gospel unless you understand it as something to be communicated something to be declared announced preached and proclaimed and that something is good news the gospel is called the gospel of god the gospel of christ the gospel of the son the gospel of the glory of god the gospel of peace the gospel of the blessed god and then in acts 20 24 the gospel of the grace of god it's all the same good news jesus came preaching the gospel you see that in matthew mark and luke he came preaching the gospel the subject to jesus were the apostles and they were told to take the gospel into the world and so when you come into the book of acts it isn't long before they are preaching right away in chapter two by the time you get into a few chapters later in the chapter eight you have philip preaching the gospel and then you have peter and john preaching the gospel and then you have around chapter 12 of the book of acts the apostle paul begins to preach the gospel and all of them are preaching all of them are proclaiming all of them are declaring the message from heaven that is good news of salvation now because the gospel is so essential because the gospel is necessary because there is no salvation apart from hearing the gospel the apostle paul knows that the gospel will be under attack we saw this last week in second corinthians 11 paul says in verse 3 i'm afraid that as the serpent deceived eve by his craftiness or his cunning your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to christ for if one comes and preaches another jesus whom we have not preached or you receive a different spirit which you have not received or a different gospel which you have not accepted you bear this beautifully imagine a church willing to bear beautifully another different gospel this is such a problem that the apostle paul came out blazing in the book of galatians chapter 1 verse 6. i am amazed that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of christ for a different gospel which is really not another only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of christ but even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you he is to be accursed he's to be damned as we have said before so i say again now if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received he is to be accursed or damned again the gospel is something to be preached and it is so precious that anyone who preaches a different or distorted gospel is cursed now why am i saying all this because i want to make one very important point there is a statement that has been floating around for for a long time in christianity it was originally basically thought to have been written by saint francis of assisi uh the father of the franciscan order of the roman catholic church but that's not likely the case we don't know where it came from but you'll recognize it and here's the statement preach the gospel at all times if necessary use words have you heard that preach the gospel at all times if necessary use words you see it on plaques you see it on signs you see it in artwork of all kinds preach the gospel at all times if necessary use words that is a noxious toxic weed in the gospel garden that is very hard to kill because it's kind of a clever statement and it lets you off the hook if you don't feel like you want to say anything the gospel is truth communicated with words and the gospel is the most powerful reality in the world the apostle paul in romans chapter 1 says and you're familiar with these words i am not ashamed of the gospel verse 16 for it is the power of god for salvation to everyone who believes the power is in the gospel and the gospel must be communicated so that people can hear it and believe it in paul writing to the corinthians in his first letter he says this in chapter 1 verse 17 christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel not in cleverness of speech so that the cross of christ would be made void you can void the cross with clever speech you don't do that if you preach the gospel in chapter 9 of first corinthians and verse 14 paul says so the lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel paul is simply saying that we should pay the preacher that preachers should be able to be supported by their ministry then paul goes on to say but i but i'm not going to use that privilege that right i am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case i don't want your money for it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one i don't want anyone to think i'm in ministry for money here's why i preach the gospel verse 16. i preach the gospel and i have nothing to boast of for i am under compulsion for woe is me if i do not preach the gospel and down in verse 18 he says when i preach the gospel i offer the gospel without charge i don't want anybody accusing me of doing it for the money but paul says look i'm under compulsion to preach the gospel i i don't really have a choice this is a divine compulsion later on in first corinthians 15 now i make known to you brethren the gospel which i preached to you which also you received in which also you stand by which also you are saved you're only saved when you hear the gospel preached another passage that i would direct you to is romans chapter 10 and this is very important along this line and i'll i'll give you the the wrap up on why i'm going down this path but in romans chapter 10 verse 13 we read whoever will call in the name of the lord will be saved that's the free offer of salvation whoever will call on the name of the lord will be saved jew or greek how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed how will they believe in him whom they have not heard and how will they hear without a preacher how will they preach unless they are sent just as it is written how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things verse 17 faith comes from hearing and hearing by the message concerning christ all of that to make the very important point that you can't preach the gospel without words it is words it is words why am i belaboring this a little bit i just want to remind you of your commission and your responsibility in mind but i also want you to know that the gospel is being confused today in our world i heard one of the social justice pastors say this we have to say social justice is a gospel issue or people won't take it seriously really so because you have an agenda a social agenda that you want to be taken seriously you label it a gospel issue this is very very frequently being done and has been done in the life of the church through its history in in our national history there has been devastating devastating ruin of churches and denominations and institutions because the gospel was redefined in a social way we even remember the term the social gospel well we're back doing it again taking all kinds of social causes that in themselves may be good bad or indifferent and giving them a gospel label so that we can make people think they rise to the level of the absolute priority of the word of god if somebody wants a certain ethical issue to be given prominence if someone has a social idea or a moral idea or some ideology they want to label it as a gospel issue which confuses the gospel dilutes the gospel adds to the gospel and that is very very unacceptable and it's a real problem and i'll tell you why in a recent survey of quote unquote christians 50 percent of the people surveyed believe that salvation is earned by good works and this is 50 of professing christians who believe you earn your salvation by good works so they already are at the point where they think works are what earn salvation and if you give them another social agenda then you make it a supposedly gospel issue you just compound that error the survey included the question about who goes to heaven and the same percentage of people say heaven is for those people who earn it by their good works so when certain behaviors certain actions are elevated to the level of this is the gospel the true gospel is confused in the eyes of an already confused professing church the gospel is not about any behavior it is not about any activity any social cause ethical cause moral cause the gospel nowhere is something you do it is always something you believe we never read anywhere in the new testament do the gospel all we read is believe the gospel your life is a testimony your life is a testimony it is a testimony of what the gospel has accomplished in your life but your testimony will not save anyone particularly your sort of silent testimony where you're just living your life even if in a noble and righteous way because salvation is not going to come to anybody who doesn't hear the words of the gospel you have to speak the gospel the gospel is not behavior you don't do the gospel you preach the gospel and just so we know for certain what the gospel is let's go to our text in ephesians 2. now normally i confess to you i could spend a month in this section of one to ten but that's not going to happen because i wanted you to see the gospel in its full content as revealed here let me read those opening 10 verses of ephesians chapter 2 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 we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind and we're 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 have been saved and raised us up with him and 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 in kindness toward us in christ jesus for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of god not as a result of work so that no one may boast for we are his workmanship created in christ jesus for good works which god beforehand prepared so that we would walk in them now i want to break that down for you twice verse 5 and verse 8 you see the same statement by grace you have been saved into verse 5 beginning of verse 8 by grace you have been saved salvation is by grace by grace the reformers taught grace alone sola gratia why did they make such an issue out of grace alone because the roman catholic church teaches salvation by grace but what they teach is that everyone has a certain deposit of grace kind of like a pilot light of grace in them so that you have the capacity do what is the right thing to do what is the righteous thing in bringing about your salvation the roman catholic church said yes we're all enabled by grace we're kickstarted by grace the pilot light is lit by grace but the salvation depends upon works we are enabled by grace to some preliminary degree but the achieving of salvation is a matter of works well that can't possibly be true because verse 9 says it's not a result of works it couldn't be more explicit than that that negates that whole thought not as a result of works that's the negative the positive is back to verse 8 [Music] it's the gift of god and prior to that it's not of yourselves it's not of yourselves it's not of works it is the gift of god you have nothing to boast in you can't say you cooperated with some measure of grace deposited by god and brought about your own salvation to any degree that could allow you to be self-congratulatory in titus chapter 3 starting in verse 4 we read when the kindness of god our savior and his love for mankind appeared he saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness but according to his mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the holy spirit whom he poured out upon us richly through jesus christ our savior so that being justified by his grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life romans 3 says the same thing so salvation is by grace and that that reformation term solio gratia is absolutely accurate it is all by grace fully by grace and grace alone if grace is not all then grace is not grace if grace is mixed with law or some kind of works then grace is not grace grace is unmerited favor from god not a result of works it is a gift of god no one can boast in anything with regard to salvation so that's the foundation of understanding the gospel it is not of works it is a gift of god it is by grace undeserved kindness now with that as paul's sort of theme as he repeats it twice i want to break down the gospel here into the six parts that paul does and we'll do these rather rapidly gospel grace has these components it is from sin it is by love it is into life it is for glory it is through faith and it is unto good works we're going to look at soteriology from prepositional viewpoints it is from sin by love into life for glory through faith unto good works it's a magnificent treatise that paul gives us let's begin where he begins gracious salvation is from sin look at the opening three verses now 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 we too all formerly lived in the lusts 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 establishes the condition of every human being every believer once walked according to the course of the world once according to the prince of the power of the air all verse 3 formerly lived in the lust of the flesh desires of the flesh and of the mind all of us were by nature children of wrath this is the human condition so before you get to the good news you have to have the bad news which is why the good news is so good now this is not to say that people can't do some uh some moral good the apostle paul in acts 28 2 for example said that the native people showed me no small kindness so even non-believers and showed him some kindness so there are things that humanity does that are philanthropic and have some element of goodness but they do not overcome the reality of the fallen condition and the fallen condition is defined in verse 1 as being dead dead in trespasses and sins what does dead mean completely unable to respond like a corpse if you had a corpse here dead body you can touch it you can stick a pin in it you can yell at it it doesn't respond death is the inability to respond it has no capacity to respond so this is the condition of the whole human race and it's not that they're dead because of their sins and their trespasses is they're dead in their trespasses and in their sins it's the sphere in which they exist their condition is a condition of utter deadness completely unable to respond to god no life in them they are totally cut off and alienated from the life of god if you go to chapter 4 verse 18 being darkened in their understanding excluded from the life of god they're dead and that deadness means that they're unable to respond to the truth this is difficult to deal with we're called to preach the gospel and we're talking to people who can't hear who can't listen who can't understand who can't believe and we saw that didn't we in isaiah 6. and jesus repeated it in his own ministry hearing they don't hear seeing they don't see this is a formidable challenge for us to confront people who have no capacity to hear the truth and believe it and then not only do they have that because of their condition as dead in sin no capacity to respond to god manifesting itself in trespasses and sins but secondly they are walking that is the daily routine of their life is according to the course of the world they follow the zeitgeist whatever the trend is whatever the world view is whatever is popular so first of all they are dead and secondly they are therefore subject to whatever is going on in the world around them and they cannot elevate above it not only that the one ruling the system around them is the prince of the power of the air a title for satan and he not only operates the world system around them but look back at verse 2 he is now working in the sons of disobedience they are given that sort of hebraic title sons of disobedience because disobedience characterizes them so here is the the problem this is this is depravity you have a condition of absolute deadness and that deadness engulfs every human soul in a life of trespasses and sins two different words for violating the law of god unrighteousness compound that with the fact that they are subject to the world around them which is full of the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life as the apostle john says and which is under the control of satan who operates the system of the world to his own evil ends but it's not only around them at the end of verse 2 it says he is working in the sons of disobedience it isn't just that satan has surrounded them with this world of temptation that panders to their deadness it is that he operates in them and that is laid out in verse 3. they all live in the lusts of our flesh indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind and we're by nature children of wrath even as the rest not only are they characterized by disobedience so children of disobedience they're characterized by wrath so children of wrath and they're all in the same condition so when we're talking about salvation i just want to make it clear we're not talking about the lord coming to rescue you from lack of purpose in your life i'm not talking about the lord coming to rescue you from unfulfillment or loneliness or dissatisfaction or unhappiness or a bad marriage or poverty or abuse or disappointment or illness the gospel is about delivering you from sin massive depravity in which everything about you ends up in eternal wrath you cannot respond to god because you're dead you are under the control of the system around you run by satan and you are driven by desires that are evil the default position of every human being is wicked why do you think the world is drowning in a sea of pornography you don't have to fight to get into that that is that is an alluring seduction that is essential to your own fallen desires as a believer you are given power over that you don't see a culture fighting for evil fighting to try to be polluted filthy vile that's not a fight because that's their condition so this is the first reality to understand about the gospel we're not rescuing people from abuse we're not rescuing people from something done to them in this life or some other generation of life or not rescuing people from bad marriages we're not rescuing people from inequities we're not rescuing people from poverty that is not the gospel message we are rescuing them from sin at a massive and all-encompassing level so the gospel is the message the good news that you can be rescued from sin there's a second principle very important the gospel is not only from sin this is wonderful it is by love salvation is from sin by love verse 4 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 god loved us this is the amazing reality it's the word uh uh agapo or agape the most elevated word for love and it's almost like the apostle paul didn't even try to use adjectives so he just said great love which is far below what it deserves adjectivally speaking but god who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us god loved us and that's john 3 16 right god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son there is no other religion that has a god of love there is no other religion that has a god sacrificing for people all demonic devilish satanic religions have people sacrificing for god right sacrifice your children sacrifice whatever sacrifice living beings sacrifice animals sacrifice your wealth whatever the god demands the sacrifice but the true and living god gives himself as a sacrifice of love his love is great and you say well how do you measure the greatness of his love and you measure it obviously because of redemption you start measuring it because in eternity pass he chose to redeem sinners that was an act of love you you see again his act of love as he demonstrates his love toward his people through redemptive history and then his love reaches a peak at the cross does it not where he places his son to die in the place of those whom he loves the love of god is best measured by death because jesus said greater love has no one than this that a man lay down what his life for his friends and that's what god did there's no such story in any other religion so salvation the gospel is from sin and by love this great incomprehensible love of god there's a third reality in verse 5. salvation is into life and we just read it even when we were dead in our transgressions he made us alive together with christ so you were dead and he made you alive because of the richness of his mercy the greatness of his love the extensive expression of his grace he made us alive how did he do that he made us alive together with christ so he placed us into christ and in christ we died and in christ we rose we were dead in our transgressions until he placed us into christ this is an amazing thing in eternity past god knew upon whom he would set his love and when christ went to the cross god placed all the sins of all who would ever believe though they hadn't even lived he knew the path of their sin he knew the full record of their sin our sin and he placed it on christ and punished christ for it as if we were there and we died then and all you can do as a penalty for sin is die the wages of sin is death we read that this morning we died we died in christ and we rose in him to newness of life this union is a very important part of christian understanding romans 6 gives us insight into it just a few verses romans chapter 6. maybe verse 3 do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into christ christ jesus have been baptized into his death that's just amazing it's not talking about water baptism we have been immersed think of it in in the metaphoric sense we've been immersed into christ we've been immersed into his death we've been immersed into his burial verse four we've been immersed into his resurrection because he was raised from the dead through the glory of the father so that we too might walk in newness of life for if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection knowing this that our old self was crucified with him in order that our body of sin might be done away with so that we would no longer be slaves to sin for he who has died is freed from sin we have died with christ and now we live in him this is the amazing amazing reality of being united to christ in his death and resurrection and he said because i live you shall live also right salvation is from sin by love into life and number four salvation is for glory verses six and seven god who loved us god who placed us into christ is the one verse six who raised us up with him and 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 this is this is just staggering back in chapter 1 verse 20 it says that god raised christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places god raised christ and seated him at his own right hand in heaven and here it says exactly the same thing about us he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in christ he is at the right hand of the father and so are we obviously this hasn't yet happened but in the purposes of god the sovereign purpose of a timeless eternal being it is done it is done salvation is not about fixing things in this life salvation is about glory in the life to come and in the meantime enduring the difficulties of this life and counting it all joy when you have to endure them because the trusting of your faith strengthens it we were not only united to him in his death and united to him in his burial as it were united to him in his resurrection but we are now seated with him in the heavenlies it's spoken of as if it already happened though it hasn't but what god plans god does and we're as good as there we're in glory why so that he can show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in christ jesus is that that is just beyond comprehension why does the lord want to take you to heaven so that he can show you eternal kindness how much grace is that how much surpassing grace is that how much surpassingly rich grace is that that leads loving god to bring us all redeemed sinners into his presence for the sole purpose of seating us on the throne with his son making us joint heirs of all that his son possesses who is most perfectly loved by the father so that we too can be loved by the father as he loves the son and therefore forever and ever god will pour out on us unimaginable eternal kindness where the trophies of his redeeming love were the trophies of his redeeming grace and the trophy case is the throne of his son and god will forever pour out indescribably surpassing riches of grace and by the way it'll always be grace because we will never deserve to be there his grace will be on display and who will be looking at the trophies the angels the angels who look into the glory of saving grace salvation is from sin by love into life for glory number five salvation is through faith that gets us to those familiar words in verses 8 and 9. for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of god not as a result of work so that no one may boast again saved through faith well is faith a work is faith something that i exercised and therefore apprehended salvation no because we just read not of yourselves verse 8 not of works verse 9. so whatever faith is it isn't from you and it isn't your works maybe a good way to illustrate what faith is you're breathing right now but you're not thinking about it it would make life very difficult if we had to remember to take a breath but we don't because there's air pressure exerted on our lungs that causes us reflexively to breathe and as a believer faith is the breathing that comes under the pressure of sovereign saving grace breathing is not something we do on our own it's something grace produces in us so what is the gospel it is the good news of salvation from sin by love into life for glory through faith and finally unto good works that's verse 10. for we are his workmanship created in christ jesus created in christ jesus means that we were created you weren't a part of your creation were you no god is the creator so we were created like everything else that god creates making no contribution to our creation but verse 10 says four good works there is where the good works show up you're created by god in christ unto good works we are his workmanship i love that poema from which we get the word poem which is um [Music] a work of art a beautiful poem is a work of art we are god's masterpiece we're not finished yet but we are his masterpiece and what he does with his masterpiece is produce good works because that's what he prepared beforehand for us to do that's what we walk in so this is where we show our compassion our love our affection this is where we do deeds of kindness and mercy and all the righteous things all the righteous behaviors that the bible calls us to but they are not the cause of our salvation they are the result of our salvation so that's the gospel so i'll say to you this always preach the gospel and always use words let's pray your word is truth your word is life your word is wisdom your word is sanctification your word is blessing your word is joy what a treasure renew our desire to proclaim the gospel and lord protect the pure gospel from distortions and additions and subtractions may there be a clarity in the proclamation of the gospel that will rescue people who think they can be saved by doing works works of righteousness self-righteousness works of benevolence lord rescue any deceived person who wants to alter the gospel add to the gospel diminish the gospel corrupt the gospel may we always understand the gospel to be exactly what you have clearly told us the good news that you save sinners and take them to heaven so that you can pour out the surpassing riches of your kindness on them forever and in so doing display your own glory eternally help us to be able to deal with the issues of this life fallen world thank you for saving us thank you for letting us triumph over all of this in the strength of christ thank you for filling our hearts with hope eternal hope that gives us strength in every trial and lord turn us loose in this world to speak the message of salvation just as scripture lays it out and let sinners know their condition let them know the love of god the mercy of god the grace of god let them know that he wants to give them life through faith in his son and bring them to eternal glory to show them divine kindness forever may that message be always on our lips and may you use us individually wherever we are to lead others to the true gospel and in your will and purpose to salvation we thank you for such a high calling in our savior's name amen

Channel: Grace to You

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Keywords: John MacArthur, Bible, Preaching, Christianity, Expository, Exposition, Sermon, Jesus, Christ, Grace to You

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Length: 51min 49sec (3109 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 27 2021