THE GIFT OF SALVATION

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on November 6, 2022 under 2022 |

Bethany Bible Church Sermon Message; November 6, 2022 from Ephesians 2:8-9

Theme: When we understand what it means that we’ve been ‘saved by grace’, then we will appreciate our salvation all the more.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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I wonder if you’ve seen the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan.

Some have said that, depending on your viewpoint, it’s either the greatest war film ever made, or the greatest anti-war film ever made. In any case, it’s a very hard film to watch; and I would never recommend it lightly. But there’s no question that it’s a truly great American film—no matter what your viewpoint might be.

I’ve only seen it once. And though I’m very glad I saw it, I don’t believe I would be able to watch it a second time. But in the memories of many of those of us who have watched it, the scene that stands out the most is probably the closing one. The key character—Private James Ryan of the 101st Airborne Division—is an old man. He has come with his family to Normandy Cemetery; and is standing before the grave of Captain John H. Miller. Captain Miller had led a detachment to find and rescue Private Ryan during the time of the Battle of Normandy—saving him at the cost of their lives. And in this closing scene, after reflecting on the price that was paid so that he could have a post-war life, he stands with his elderly wife before the memorial stone of Captain Miller, turns to her, and says, “Tell me I’ve lived a good life. Tell me I’m a good man.”

When you are given a gift like that, how do you respond? You’d certainly want to be worthy of it; but you know that you really can’t be. All you can do is receive it thankfully, and respond to it as best you can. That closing scene felt like a picture of how all of us as Americans should respond to the price that was paid by our veterans for our freedom.

And there’s a great spiritual principle illustrated to us in this; dear brothers and sisters in Christ. I say this with all reverence and respect: Your salvation and mine were purchased at an immeasurably higher price than what was depicted in that film. Your and my ability to stand 100% accepted in the sight of a holy God was paid for with an immeasurably great cost—the life of God’s sinless Son Jesus Christ. As we’re told in 1 Peter 1:17-21

And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God (1 Peter 1:17-21).

That should inspire us to think soberly about how we should respond to the grace of God in our salvation. As we’re told in this morning’s passage—in Ephesians 2:8-9;

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Dear brothers and sisters; how really should we respond to such a declaration as this? Could we ever respond in a sufficiently worthy manner? But however it is that we can respond, it must begin by having a sufficient grasp of what was done to save us. Wouldn’t you agree that, when we understand what it means that we’ve been ‘saved by grace’, we would then appreciate our salvation all the more?

* * * * * * * * * *

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been studying together from the first portion of the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. In our study, we’ve been thinking carefully about the rich spiritual blessings that God has given us in Christ. You can tell that the great burden of the apostle’s heart had been that his readers would truly ‘know’ and deeply ‘understand’ these blessings—that the nature and reality of these eternal riches that are ours in Christ would sink in deeply and transform us.

And here, in these two verses, we’re told something astonishing about our salvation—something that we need to know, and that we could not know unless God had told us in His word. We’re told that we never earned any of it. We never made ourselves worthy of it. Instead, it was all given to us by God’s grace—as a free gift of His favor and His love. In the verses that preceded these two—in Ephesians 2:1-7—we’re shown how great God’s grace to us was in the light of how desperately helpless and needy we were:

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:1-7).

God sent His Son on a great rescue mission to save us. It was a mission in which He would lay down His life for us by taking our sins upon Himself and dying for them in our place. And we could never have been worthy of it; because, from God’s standpoint, we were spiritually dead. We couldn’t do any good works or any righteous deeds that could have “earned” the sacrifice Jesus made for us. As Paul makes clear in verse 5, “by grace you have been saved”—that is, as a completely free gift of His favor, because of His love.

If you’ll look at the first few words of these two verses, you’ll see that Paul says, “For by grace you have been saved …” And in the original language, the way that this is stated to us is in the perfect tense. The way it actually reads is, “For by grace you were ‘having been’ saved’ …” It’s a remarkable way of expressing that it is a completely ‘done’ thing. It’s not just that there’s the potential for you to be saved if you will now rise up and work hard enough at it. It’s already done. It’s complete. There’s nothing more that can be added to it. You, as a believer on Jesus, are now—by God’s grace—made as righteous in His sight as you could ever possibly be. In fact, you’ve been made as righteous in His sight as His own Son Jesus. You could not be made more righteous in His sight than that. And it has all been given to you as a gift of His grace.

And what do we do in response? We certainly should respond. But what can we do? How could we ever respond in a sufficiently worthy-enough manner? Can we now ‘live a good-enough life’ in response? Could we now be ‘good-enough people’ to have deserved such a thing? So long as we are in this fallen world, living in these frail bodies of ours, we could never respond in a way that is up to the measure of what we’ve been freely given.

But I think that there are some things that should characterize our response. For one thing, we should respond to the saving grace of God with confident assurance before Him. If—after all—it’s true that we have now been saved by God as a free gift of His grace, and if that salvation is now 100% complete in His sight, then we should never again fear that we are unacceptable to Him. We should completely cease trying to earn—by our good works, or by our religious deeds—what has already been freely given to us. We should do as it says in Hebrews 10:22; and that is to draw near to God “with a true heart in full assurance of faith”— no longer holding back or fearing that we have not made ourselves sufficiently ‘worthy’ to stand before Him. We should speak to Him now as our Father, confess our sins and faults to Him openly and fully—knowing that He already loves us and accepts us—and draw near and enjoy His love through Christ. That’s an absolutely appropriate response to His saving grace.

Another thing that should characterize our response is gratefulness. We should respond to His saving grace by thanking Him with deep, unending appreciation and gratitude. Just like the sinful woman who came to Jesus after He had forgiven her of her sins, we should be—as it were—kissing His feet, and washing them with our tears, and drying them with our hair. In Luke 7:47, Jesus said of her, “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” She showed her gratitude to Jesus in an exuberant, over-the-top expression of love; because she was so deeply aware of how forgiven she was, and how great the Lord’s grace to her had been. And like her, we should be exuberant in our thanks. What else can we really give to God for His saving grace but our deepest gratitude and thanks?

And another way we should respond is with a renewed sense of motivation. We should be eager to go on and live a truly transformed life that is characterized by good works. We can’t earn God’s favor, of course, by our good works. We can only receive His favor as a free gift. But having been saved by grace—having received that free gift—good works are now very much to be a part of the picture. Look at what it says in Ephesians 2:10;

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).

So long as we are on this earth, of course, we can’t live a perfect life. But God has placed His Holy Spirit in us to empower us, and He has given us His holy Scriptures to guide us, and He’s given us to one another to encourage us. What’s more, He has also prepared good works for us in advance. And so, we ought to now—in response to His saving grace—truly live transformed lives.

Think for a moment back to Private James Ryan. It almost seems disrespectful to imagine such a thing. But suppose that a man like that—after having sincerely reflected on the price that had been paid for his life—then responded with indifference. Suppose he didn’t care whether or not he had gone on to be a good man? Suppose he wasn’t thankful and didn’t weep tears of gratitude at the cemetery? Suppose he looked over all the memorial stones at the cemetery, shook his head, and said, “What a waste.” Just think of what a horrible dishonor that would be to the gift he’d been given—and to those who sacrificed their all to give it to him!

But dear brothers and sisters in Christ; do you and I respond in the same sort of dishonorable way to the infinitely greater gift of grace that God has given to us? Do we live with a lack of confidence before God?—constantly worrying and fretting over whether or not we had done enough ‘good deeds’ and ‘religious works’ to have earned salvation—completely ignoring the fact that He has already paid the full price for our salvation with the blood of His own Son? Do we live in ungrateful disregard to Him?—going about our lives as if He wasn’t even there—never pausing to thank Him for all that He has done for us?—never expressing sincere gratitude to Him for loving us so much that He gave His only Son for us? Do we live careless lives before Him?—watching things we shouldn’t watch, or going to places we shouldn’t go, or talking about others in a way we shouldn’t talk, or doing things we shouldn’t do?—flirting around with the very sins that Jesus died to save us from?—never leaving those sins behind?—never allowing our daily lives and practices to be transformed by His love?

If you don’t respond to the saving grace of God with confidence, thankfulness, and holy motivation, then I have to warn you: You had probably better go back and examine the condition of your soul. You may not have ever truly embraced the saving grace of God through His Son at all! You may still be dead in your trespasses and sins!

At the very least, it’d be fair to say that you haven’t yet come to understand His saving grace as you should. And it would be right to say that because, when we understand what it means that we’ve been ‘saved by grace’, we’ll genuinely appreciate our salvation all the more.

* * * * * * * * * *

So then, dear brothers and sisters; let’s take the time right now to go back to these two verses—in Ephesians 2:8-9—and understand how we have been saved.

First, we’re told that we have been saved …

1. BY GRACE.

In verse 8, Paul said, “For by grace you have been saved …” The word “grace” in the original language means “free favor”; or “a free gift”. To say that it’s a “free” gift probably isn’t—I’ll admit—the best English style. After all, what other kind of gift is there but a “free” one? But it’s probably the best way to convey the full meaning of the idea. It’s a gift that is given by God without any requirement, on our part, to do anything to earn it. It is completely free.

Many years ago, when I was in Bible college, one of my professors was Dr. John Mitchell. That’s something I’ll always brag about—with a holy bragging, I hope. He was, without question, the greatest Bible teacher I ever knew. And he used to tell us students—over and over—that we needed to spend a great deal of time studying the Book of Romans. He said that if we really knew the Book of Romans well, we’d be ‘heresy proof’. He especially encouraged us to memorize Romans 3:21-26. It’s a passage that would teach us how a man or a woman is made righteous in God’s sight.

I encourage you to savor every word of this passage! Here’s what it says;

But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:21-26).

A man or a woman is not made righteous by means of the law—by keeping the Ten Commandments. All that those commandments do is make us guilty before God. But God sent His Son to be a “propitiation”—that is, that which satisfies God’s just anger for our sins, and that takes His wrath away. And so it is by God’s grace—His free gift to us through Jesus Christ—that we are “justified” and made righteous in His sight. As it says in Romans 6:23;

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

And so, in order to respond to our salvation as we should, we need to understand that fact first of all—that salvation is not a wage that we earn. It’s a gift that we receive.

* * * * * * * * * *

And the next thing that we need to understand is how we receive this grace. As Paul goes on to show us, we are saved by God’s grace …

2. THROUGH FAITH.

As Paul put it in verse 8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith …” It’s never right to say that we are ‘saved by faith’. The act of having faith itself does not save. Rather, it’s best to say that we are saved by God’s grace through faith. It’s as if grace is the reason He threw the life preserver of salvation out to us; and our faith is the hand by which it’s grasped.

Do you remember the story of Abraham? God had called him from out of paganism, and made the promise to him that He would make him into a great nation—and that in him, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. God was promising that the Christ would be born from him—even though he was an old, childless man at the time. But he believed what God had told him. Abraham grasped the promise of God by his faith; and we’re told that Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteousness. The apostle Paul wrote about Abraham’s saving faith Romans 4; and he said;

What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.

But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin” (Romans 4:1-8).

But we need to understand this even more carefully. This doesn’t mean that we somehow have earned God’s grace by our faith. We might be tempted to say, “Well; apparently I had a part to play in it all. I heard the gospel and believed! I received God’s grace through my faith! So I get some credit, don’t I?” And the amazing answer is ‘no’—not one bit of credit—not even for your faith. And we know this because of what Paul went on to say: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God …” What is the “that” that is “not of yourselves”? What is “the gift of God”? In a general sense, it’s certainly the whole salvation that God brought about for you and me. But in the more specific sense, it’s the very “faith” that grabbed hold of it.

You see; you and I were not only drowning in the sea of sin and needed a life-preserver thrown out to us; but as it says in verse 1, we were dead in those trespasses and sins. We had no capacity to stretch out the hand of faith and grab it. We first had to be made alive; and then, we had to be given the faith to believe. That faith is itself also the gift of God’s grace. As it says in 2 Peter 1:1-2;

Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have obtained [or “received”] like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord … (2 Peter 1:1-2).

We are saved by God’s grace through faith; and even that faith is not of ourselves, but is itself the gracious gift of God! Do you believe on Jesus? Then you should know that it’s because God gave you the faith to believe on Him! And that’s something that we need to understand if we’re going to respond to our salvation as we should.

* * * * * * * * * * *

And a final thing that we need to know is we have thus been saved …

3. APART FROM WORKS.

As Paul tells us; “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” If you could earn complete righteousness in the sight of God, and a place at the right hand of God in eternal glory, by your good works—that is, your sacrificial deeds, your faithful church attendance, your religious devotion, your acts of charity and giving—then salvation would be owed to you as a debt. You’d have reason to boast. It wouldn’t be by grace.

And let’s face it!—if that were the case, you’d be getting excessively overpaid!

But the Bible makes it clear to us that it is not by works, but by grace. As the apostle Paul—a devout Jew who was devoted to the commandments of God—said in Galatians 2:16;

knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified (Galatians 2:16).

No one who will be saved and made to stand before God in glory will be able to boast of anything that they did to get there. Instead, they will be declaring,

“Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:10).

And if you want to respond to salvation in the way you should, then you need to know that.

* * * * * * * * * *

In one of the closing scenes of the movie Saving Private Ryan, Captain Miller—after suffering a fatal shot to save him—whispered the dying words to Private Ryan, “Earn this.” Those words were uttered to him after the work of saving him was done. It was a call to respond in a worthy manner to the sacrifice that was made for him—the post-war life that had been given to him as a gift.

And while you and I can’t earn the salvation that God has given us by faith in Christ, we should remember that the work has already been done—and now, we should rise up and live in proper response to it all. We should live with confidence before God, with gratitude to Him, and with sincere motivation to live in faithful obedience to Him.

When you truly understand what it means to have been ‘saved by grace’, then you’ll never take the gift of your salvation for granted. You’ll appreciate it all the more.

AE