Ephesians 2:8-9 – Age of Grace – Bible study

Ephesians 2:8-9 Age of Grace Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast man should boast. I want to draw out just one word from that text to start with. It is the word GRACE. This morning, lets understand something about GRACE. I. The Greatest Property of the Age of Grace is Grace. A. We are presently living in the Age of Grace \#John 1:17\. John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 1. It appears that God has divided human history into stages or dispensations. 2. Each of these time periods emphasize a way that God deals with mankind. 3. This of the dispensations: a. Innocence – Before the fall b. Conscience- F all to flood c. Mans Law – Noah to Moses d. Gods Law – Moses to Jesus e. Grace (Holy Spirit) – Jesus to Rapture f. Tribulation (Supernatural judgment) – Rapture to reign g. Millennium (Christs rule) – Reign to release of Satan h. Eternity – From the judgment of Satan through forever 4. This Age of Grace started with Jesus Christ a. To some degree, grace began when Jesus was born, but grace became Gods sole bridge with man when the Holy Spirit arrived. b. Grace will be Gods contract and bridge with mankind until the church is removed off this planet. B. What is grace? 1. If we are going to talk about something, we need to define it. a. Grace is God working. b. God uses other people and things, such as preachers, the Bible, even circumstances; however, He is the One bringing these things into your life and He is the One doing the work. 2. There is another element to grace. a. You choosing. b. You have to choose to let God work through you. c. At any point that you and I refuse to let God work in and through us, grace could be stopped. (1) The Bible uses the words quenched and grieved, but it means the same things. (2) If we choose not to let God work, Gods work could stop. C. During this Age of Grace: 1. We are saved by grace. a. That is what \#Eph 2:8-9\ is telling us. b. That means the work has already been done by Jesus Christ. c. We must simply understand it and respond correctly to it. (1) Understand that Jesus did the work on the cross. (2) Our response should be twofold: (a) Believe it. (b) Surrender to God. d. Just for your knowledge, salvation has always been by grace. (1) It does not matter what dispensation you live in; if you are going to go to heaven, you had to believe in Jesus and surrender to God. (2) How is that possible? (a) Before the cross, the believer had to look ahead to what Jesus would do. (b) Since the cross, the believer has had to look back to what Jesus has done. (c) However, no matter when you live, Jesus and His work on the cross has always been what saves; and believing and surrendering to God have always been the only correct responses. 2. We walk or live by grace. a. Here is where there is a great difference in us and the people of other dispensations. b. People of all dispensations have been saved by grace, but we are the first group of people to live by grace. (1) The dispensation just before grace was Gods Law. (2) In that dispensation, there were written rules, regulations, and rituals for the people to follow on just about everything. (a) What they could and could not eat. (b) What they could and could not plant together. (c) What they could and could not wear together. (d) Things were so demanding that the New Testament called the law BONDAGE. (3) You and I are not under those rules. (4) I have more to say about, but first let me show you another area in which grace has changed our lives. 3. We worship by grace. a. Again, in the previous dispensation, the worship of the people with God was regulated and ritualistic. (1) Their worship was mostly by bringing a sacrifice. (2) It was a cold, costly, ceremonious way to worship. (3) Frankly, there was no joy or personal fellowship with God in it all. b. But because we live under grace. (1) We are free to worship when, where, and how we feel God leads us. (2) We have so much freedom under grace, that even if one chooses not to worship God, God does have the church punish you or send a ball of fire down from heaven on you. (3) That would not be grace. (4) Grace is God leading you and you choosing to surrender to Him. D. Yet, grace is not indifference. 1. Some seem to think God does not care what we do in this age. a. They seem to think everything is all right. b. "I can lie if I want, God does not care." c. "I can fornicate if I want, God does not care." 2. Know that God cares! E. God has never been more personally involved with His people than He is in this Age of Grace. 1. God has filled us with God Himself though the Holy Spirit. 2. God has given us a personal copy of the completed Word. 3. God has opened the door of access so that we can personally come to the throne of His presence in prayer. 4. He has promised to bless everything we do within His will, to answer every prayer, and to never leave us or in any way to forsake us. F. God has never done, given more, or expected more from any group of believers than to us! 1. Instead of Christians using grace as an excuse for sinful behavior, Gods desire is that we use it as the reason for doing as much as we can for His glory. a. Instead of saying, "Im under grace. I dont have to tithe." We should be saying, "Im under grace, Dont try to limit my giving to 10%. b. Instead of saying, "Im under grace. I dont have to go to church." We should be saying, "Im under grace. Dont try to limit my worship to just Sundays." c. Instead of saying, "Im under grace. The preacher will do it." We should be saying, "Im under grace. Dont tell me to let him have all the blessings." 2. Grace was not given to let us do as LITTLE as possible, but to let us do as MUCH as we wanted. 3. Grace doesnt take the brakes of sin off. Grace takes the brakes of limitations off. 4. People who love God have not been as free to serve and give to Him as they are today since the days of Moses! 5. Go help yourself to a heaping cup full of Gods grace! II. The Greatest Power of the Age of Grace is the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. A. Notice, Jesus promised power and then told us WHO the Power is, the Holy Ghost. B. This is HOW God works through us. C. He sends His Spirit. 1. The Holy Spirit does a work and then waits for us to respond correctly. 2. For example, the Holy Spirit is doing a work this morning, in this place, right now. It is a four-fold work. a. The Holy Spirit is revealing. (1) God, the Holy Spirit reveals the truth. He uses His Word and people to do that. To be honest, that is about all a preacher is good for. He is supposed to let the Holy God reveal through Him. (2) After revealing the truth, as He is doing this morning, the Holy Spirit waits for your response. Will you believe it? Will you reject it? Are you interested in it? Could you care less? (3) If you give a correct response, the Holy Spirit will do a second work. b. The Holy Spirit will draw you to the Father. (1) He will put salvation, heaven, hell, the Bible, God, eternity, and other spiritual truths into your head. (2) Then He will wait for your response. Are you interested? Will you reject it? (3) And if you respond correctly, the Holy Spirit will do a third work. c. The Holy Spirit will convict you. (1) This is where the knowledge the Spirit has revealed moves out of your head and into your heart. You will realize sin is not just a word, but a deed you have done. That you are the sinner, worthy of hell, with no way out, and that Jesus died for you. (2) Then He will wait for your response? Are you interested? Will you believe? Will you surrender? (3) And if you response correct, the Holy Spirit will do a fourth work. d. The Holy Spirit will save you. D. Salvation is just the beginning. 1. After you are saved, the Holy Spirit continues to reveal truth to you, through His Word, through the preacher, through circumstance, and so forth. 2. Each time He reveals truth to you, He waits for your response. 3. If we response correctly, God continues to work in and through our lives. 4. If we respond incorrectly, it may stop the work of grace. III. The Greatest Place in the Age of Grace is the Church. A. Bark and howl against that fact all you want. You will not change it. B. There is generally a lack of respect for the Gods church today, perhaps because of a lack of understanding about it. 1. God commands the believers to assemble together. Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. a. That is not God commanding the saints to watch a stream online or to have Christian buddies you to talk to. b. It is God commanding the believers to ASSEMBLE TOGETHER for worship and preaching. 2. And God goes further to tell us that Christ died not only for the believer but for the assembly of the believers. Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for IT; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse IT with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present IT to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. a. We make much over the fact that God died for the individual AND HE DID. b. However, the church is the collected, gathered group of believers. (1) The church mean the "called-out" assembly. (2) God is the Caller, and the church is assembly of individuals He has called together. (3) When you disrespect the church, you disrespect the God who called the assembly and the Son who died for the assembly! c. In that verse, God is also telling us what the effect God through grace has on the church. (1) It is the work of God that the saints be sanctified, cleansed, washed and left without spot or wrinkle by the church. (a) Men and ladies, let me show you the worlds largest washing machine and iron board. (b) It is the church. (2) The church is the place where Gods people come to hear the word and to be cleansed and pressed; yet the reason many Christians dont like church is because they have dont like being told they are dirty or wrinkled. (3) I suspect if a nice shirt or dress could talk, they would tell you that being bounced around inside a washing machine or flatten with an iron hurts, but dont they look nice when its finished? C. Friend, I know the church has its problems. 1. It is made up of sinners. How can it not? a. Pulpits have preachers who are sinners. b. Pews have people who are sinners. c. Why would you expect it to be a perfect place? 2. But it is not the people that we are here to respond to. 3. It is the Holy Ghost. 4. The people are here to be washed and ironed too, even the preacher. 5. If the people at one church are putting more wrinkles in you than they are getting out, go find another church; but dont quit the place of grace for this is where God does His work! IV. The Greatest Peril in the Age of Grace is Falling Away. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; A. There is much more I could say, but I am out of time. B. The church is struggling today to muster a minimum-sized army that will even take a half-hearted stand for Jesus. This is Gods Age of Grace. You can have whatever walk with Christ you desire during this age. Let me say again, GOD HAS NEVER BEEN MORE INVOLVED IN THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE AS HE IS TODAY. God wants to direct you in every decision, every more, every action you make. Being in the Age of Grace means you get to decide just how much that will happen.