Text: Ephesians 1:1-8; 2:8-9
Grace is:
- Mercy shown to unrepentant sinners by sustaining life and nudging the sinner toward God called “preventive grace” in Methodist theology.
- Undeserved favor of God bestowed upon repentant sinners that pardons sin and restores a right relationship with God.
- Power of God working in us to give victory over sin.
G – God’s
R – Riches
A – At
C- Christ’s
E- Expense
Division of the lesson
1. Preventive Grace
2. Saving Grace (Eph 2:8-9)
3. Overcoming Grace (2 Cor. 12:9)
Preventive Grace
Grants to the sinner:
- Protection – Example Cain (Gen 4:15)
- Provision (Luke 6:35)
- Moral restraint (Jer. 17:9)
God keeps us from doing all the wickedness that we are capable of doing.
Saving Grace
- Abounds to the sinner (Rom. 5:20)
No one too wicked to be saved. - Justifies the Sinner (Rom. 3:19-24)
Not the sin! - May be forfeited (Col. 5:4)
Must be appreciated (Titus 2:11 – Titus 3:4)
God’s grace is offered through the cross.
The cross exposes the horror of sin (man condemned God) and the beauty of God’s grace(John 3:16 – 19)
To understand the seriousness of my sin without understanding the grace of God leads to utter despair (Example is Judas)
A fallen woman dying at 22 yrs of age watched the falling snow out her window and penned a poem.
“Snow so pure when it falls from the sky,
To be trampled in mud by the crowd rushing by,
To be trampled and tracked by thousands of feet,
Till it blends with the horrible filth in the street.
Once I was pure as the snow – but I fell,
Fell like the snowflake – from heaven to hell,
Fell to be scoffed at, to be spit on and beat;
Pleading, cursing, dreading to die,
Selling my soul to whoever would buy,
Dealing in shame for a morsel of bread,
Hating the living and fearing the dead,
Merciful God! Have I fallen so low?
And yet I was once like the beautiful snow.”
Overcoming Grace (2 Cor. 12:9)
Results of grace
- Righteous living (Titus 2:11-14; Rom. 5:21)
- Labor for the Lord (1 Cor. 15:10)
- Strength to endure testing (2 Tim. 2:1)