Series Pt 2 – The Five Transcendent Truths
Sola Gracia
Titus 2:11-15
11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
What is Sola Gracia? Like last week it is a Latin phrase that means “Only grace or grace alone.” The definition that is so often used is that grace is “unmerited favor.” I found a very good statement about grace and I quote:
“Grace doesn’t make demands. It just gives. And from our vantage point, it always gives to the wrong person. We see this over and over in the Gospels: Jesus always giving to the wrong people-prostitutes and tax collectors. The most extravagant sinners of Jesus’s day receive His most compassionate welcome. Grace is recklessly generous, uncomfortably promiscuous. It doesn’t keep score. It’s not expensive or even cheap. It’s free. It refuses to be controlled by our innate sense of fairness, reciprocity or even-handedness. It defies logic. It’s an unconditional acceptance given to an undeserving person by an unobligated giver. It is a one-way love.” Tullian Tchividjian
I. Grace Alone to Save Us v. 11
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
a. The singularity of grace
Definition of Grace
Today, we’re going to talk about another confusing church word - GRACE. If you ask a child what grace is, you might hear him say, "Grace is what we say before we eat." And that’s true. We do call that prayer before we eat "grace." But for many, that’s about as far as the definition of grace goes.
Most of us have heard that acrostic for grace "God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense." That’s a nice way to remember the basics of what God’s grace actually is. But grace is much more than that.
Some have called it "God’s unmerited favor."
One man said that "Grace is what God does within you, without you."
Dr. J. H. Jowett defined it like this: "Grace is holy love, but it is holy love in spontaneous movement, going out in eager quest toward the unholy and the unlovely, that by the ministry of its own sacrifice it might redeem the unholy and the unlovely into its own strength and beauty."
This is really a concise definition of grace, but even Dr. Jowett realized how far short he had come in trying to define grace.
To simplify the meaning of grace, we could say that grace is God’s undeserved blessing to an undeserving people.
(From a sermon by Carl Kolb, Isn’t Grace What We Say Before We Eat? 1/3/2010)
b. The sufficiency of grace
2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Charles Wesley – “Jesus, Thou Lover of My Soul”
"Plenteous grace with Thee is found, Grace to cover all my sin; Let the healing streams abound; Make and keep me pure within."
c. The sustainability of grace
STATS ON GRACE
How many gallons of water are in the ocean?
Answer: 3.612 x 10²º gallons of sea water in the ocean. That is 3.612 x 1 with 21 zeros.
How many stars are in the known universe?
Answer: 70 sextillion (7 followed by 22 zeros) was calculated by a team of stargazers based at the Australian National University.
How many grains of sand are in the world?
Answer: 7,500,000,000,000,000,000, or seven quintillion five hundred quadrillion grains of sand.
Even if these answers are incorrect, here is my point: God’s grace is bigger than all these numbers!
II. Grace Alone to Sanctify Us v. 12
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
God does not leave where He finds us! That is the secret of the Christian life.
“The greatest adventure in life – knowing God – begins at the Cross of Christ and ends with a “Hallelujah!”
a. Powerful
Grace is active in us. It does something. In the text it “teaches” or schools us. It trains us. It is not benign.
God’s grace is an essential component for everyday life and foundational to the Christian faith. We need God’s grace to sustain us every day. Within our own strength, we will make mistakes daily. God’s grace reassures and reminds us to depend on God more. We are not alone, and receiving God’s grace provides an opportunity to glorify Him more.
Kyle Idleman, "Not a Fan" (p. 125)
GRACE AND MATTHEW
These days people don't know Matthew as a failure and embarrassment who sold his soul to the Romans for a job. We know Matthew as a follower of Jesus who wrote the first book of the New Testament. It's important to understand that the grace of God doesn't simply invite us to follow ... it teaches us to follow. Just because Matthew left his past behind and started following didn't mean he was perfect. Far from it. Even after we decide to follow Jesus, we continue to need his grace for the journey. There are plenty of days where I find myself living as a fan, but each morning I receive the same grace-filled invitation that Jesus spoke to Matthew: "Follow me."
b. Progressive
2 Peter 1:5-10 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity…
c. Purifying
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
III. Grace Alone to Sustain Us v. 13-15
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
The Christian life is more than a moment in time when we make a decision; it is a lifelong pursuit of God and His will for our lives leading to an eternity with Him.
Jonathan Edwards wrote: “Grace is but Glory begun, and Glory is but Grace perfected."
a. Endurance
Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
b. Employment
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
c. Enjoyment
Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
THAT’S GRACE
Spurgeon illustrated grace with this story in his book, All of Grace. A man visited a woman he knew to be in great financial need. He visited with a generous gift to help her with her expenses. He knocked at the door. She heard the knock, panicked and hid so no one would know she was there.
The next weekend he told her about his visit. She said, "I heard you knock, but I did not realize it was you. I thought it was my landlord collecting the rent I could not pay!"
Let that sink in for a moment. The man came desiring to give, but she mistook him for someone coming to take. So often God is mistaken as one exacting payment from people, when the fact is that he is the one giving gifts to people.
So many people and religions in the world today are geared to think, "Here is what you must do for God." In Christianity, that is turned over. Our message is, "Here is what God has done for you!" That's grace.
(Source: C. H. Spurgeon, All of Grace, Christian Heritage, 2008. From a sermon by Jeff Saltzmann, "Don’t Stray from Grace" 7/14/08, SermonCentral.com)
