First Baptist Church
Fairbanks, Alaska
805 Sixth Avenue
(907) 456-4923
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Fairbanks, Alaska 805 Sixth Avenue (907) 456-4923 |
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“Grace” Deuteronomy 9 Mark Howdeshell (26 August 2007) Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men Introduction “GRACE”---- What do you think of when I say that word? It doesn’t matter if we are believers or not, we can picture something in our heads when you hear the word “grace.” · What do you picture when I say grace? · I picture: o A young mother wiping the tears off of her young daughter’s tear-filled face with a glass of spilled milk all over the floor. o A 100 year old oak tree swaying back and forth in the breeze. o A family bowed together in prayer around the dinner table. o A father giving away his daughter as a bride. Heart of the Matter Grace is one of those indescribable qualities that is more easily pictured with examples than explained with words. We’ve all experienced grace from our parents, our spouse, our children and grandchildren, and even our coworkers at some point. We give it away and freely receive it. It is the source of joy, humbleness, and even our salvation. Praise be to God for His ever-present grace! Review of Last Message Last week we talked about the “Word of the Lord.” We discovered the importance and source of the Word of the Lord. We also touched on the true power of the Word and even how Jesus used the Word of the Lord to defeat Satan’s temptations. The Meat of the Message 1. God has displayed grace on his people since the beginning. Let’s read about how grace from the Old Testament. We’ll discover that it really isn’t any different than the grace from the New Testament! Note that the people deserved to be destroyed…not the Promised Land!!! Deut 9:1-14
4 After the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, "The LORD has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness." No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is going to drive them out before you. 5 It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 6 Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.
7 Remember this and never forget how you provoked the LORD your God to anger in the desert. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious against the LORD. 8 At Horeb you aroused the LORD's wrath so that he was angry enough to destroy you. 9 When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water. 10 The LORD gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God. On them were all the commandments the LORD proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.
11 At the end of the forty days and forty nights, the LORD gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 12 Then the LORD told me, "Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have turned away quickly from what I commanded them and have made a cast idol for themselves."
13 And the LORD said to me, "I have seen this people, and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! 14 Let me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they." 2. God’s grace, which is abundant and free, is different from God’s love and mercy. Ephesians 2:4-5 states: 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. These verses show that it takes all 3 to get us where we are today. Mercy can be defined as the compassion of God that moved Him to provide a Savior for the unsaved. If God could have saved one person because of His sovereign mercy or His unending love, then all could have been saved by His love and mercy and Jesus’ death on the cross would have not been necessary. His love and mercy set in motion His plan of redemption through the blood of Jesus that is necessary because of the seriousness of our sin punishable by death. God’s grace is able to “operate” once we have faith in Jesus, which satisfies our payment for sin. 3. How do we earn His grace? WE CAN’T!!! Human merit plays no part in grace. We don’t deserve His grace. We cannot influence His grace. We can only accept it. 2 Tim 1:8-11 8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us to a holy life — not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace . This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 4. “How important is grace in my life or your life?” Rom 3:21-26 21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. We are justified fully and completely because of His free grace. Justification is not the forgiveness of a man without righteousness, but a declaration that he possesses a righteousness which perfectly and forever satisfies the law, namely, Christ's righteousness. Rom 4:4-8 4 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."
Titus 2:11-14 11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. The Bottom Line The grace of God is sufficient for each and every one of us. It is available now. It is exercised in each of our lives every day. Thanks be to God for His unending grace and the love and mercy extended to each of us. |
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