Welcome to Refinery Life Australia.
Today we continue our series titled The Doctrine of God.
Today we are talking about The Grace of God.
Prayer
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Text
1 Corinthians 15:10 AMP
10 But by the [remarkable] grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not without effect. In fact, I worked harder than all of the apostles, though it was not I, but the grace of God [His unmerited favor and blessing which was] with me.
Scripture Reading
1 Corinthians 15:1-12 AMP
1 Now brothers and sisters, let me remind you [once again] of the good news [of salvation] which I preached to you, which you welcomed and accepted and on which you stand [by faith].
2 By this faith you are saved [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose], if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain [just superficially and without complete commitment].
3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to [that which] the Scriptures [foretold],
4 and that He was buried, and that He was [bodily] raised on the third day according to [that which] the Scriptures [foretold],
5 and that He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the Twelve.
6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, but some have fallen asleep [in death].
7 Then He was seen by James, then by all the apostles,
8 and last of all, as to one untimely (prematurely, traumatically) born, He appeared to me also.
9 For I am the least [worthy] of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I [at one time] fiercely oppressed and violently persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the [remarkable] grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not without effect. In fact, I worked harder than all of the apostles, though it was not I, but the grace of God [His unmerited favor and blessing which was] with me.
11 So whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed and trusted in and relied on with confidence.
12 Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how is it that some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
Introduction
Paul was a trophy of God’s grace.
God’s grace saved his soul, disciplined his mind, enriched his life, empowered his ministry, and sustained him to the end.
Thus he could say, “by the [remarkable] grace of God I am what I am.”
Every Christian can and must say this.
What has God’s grace done for us?
Today we look at five things.
- We are saved by the grace of God.
Christianity was initiated solely by God’s grace.
He first loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
For by grace we are saved.
We did not deserve to be saved.
What we deserved would be very different.
We cannot secure salvation for ourselves.
People were not saved by works in the Old Testament, as some erroneously believe, but by grace in the New Testament.
God has always dealt with His people graciously.
Amos urged his people to repent and walk in the right way with the hope “that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious”.
Amos believed, salvation was by grace alone.
Paul’s testimony was, “by the [remarkable] grace of God I am what I am.”
When we think of what he was, a blasphemer, persecutor, destroyer of churches, and when we think of what he became, apostle to the gentiles, missionary, statesman, founder of churches, soul winner, and Christian martyr, we are bound to ask, “What made the difference?”
There can be but one answer, and that is the grace of God.
2. We are disciplined by the grace of God.
The words discipline and disciple come from the same root.
There can be no discipleship without discipline.
We cannot be saved by discipline, but our salvation cannot be effective unless disciplined.
There is no conflict between grace and discipline.
Paul put the two together like this in Titus 2:11-12, For the [remarkable, undeserved] grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to reject ungodliness and worldly (immoral) desires, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives [lives with a purpose that reflect spiritual maturity] in this present age.
Paul was saying, “God’s grace saves us. God’s grace teaches us on one hand to renounce and on the other hand to realise.”
A truly disciplined Christian emerges by the grace of God.
3. We are enriched by the grace of God.
Paul told the Corinthians, in 2 Corinthians 8:9, For you are recognizing [more clearly] the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [His astonishing kindness, His generosity, His gracious favor], that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich (abundantly blessed).
God’s grace will enrich our lives.
It will make them full and rich and free.
Paul raised a question that is devastating to our pride, 1 Corinthians 4:7, For who regards you as superior or what sets you apart as special? What do you have that you did not receive [from another]? And if in fact you received it [from God or someone else], why do you boast as if you had not received it [but had gained it by yourself]?
But grace, so conceived, is a two way st.
If we take God’s gift with a willing hand, we belong forever to the giver.
God’s grace is not cheap.
It is a very expensive gift, for if we receive the gift, we belong to the giver.
He will bind our hearts with cords of love.
Would we want to have it otherwise?
4. We are empowered by the grace of God.
Pauls told the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 12:9, but He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness.” Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ [may completely enfold me and] may dwell in me.
Paul had been given a thorn in his flesh.
He called it the messenger of satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
Three times he prayed for its removal, but God’s answer was no.
Paul did receive a promise, however, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness.”
Our forefathers called this “enabling grace.”
5. We are sustained by the grace of God.
Not only does God give us strength for each day, but His grace sustains us in every trial and from every pitfall.
He keeps us from falling.
Some people have an inadequate concept of salvation.
We are saved by the grace of God.
They see that!
But they have the idea that salvation, received by grace, God’s great gift that we could never deserve, can be lost by our poor works, our failures.
They seem to think that God saves us by His grace and then removes His hand and leaves us to hold on if we can.
Of course, we are no more able to keep ourselves saved than we are able to save ourselves in the first place.
It takes God’s wonderful grace to save us from our sins.
It takes His wonderful grace to keep us out of satan’s clutches.
By God’s grace He saves us.
By His grace He keeps us from falling.
Our Lord said in John 10:27-29, The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me; I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they will never, ever [by any means] perish; and no one will ever snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater and mightier than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
That is the grace of God.
His grace sustains us.
At all times and under all circumstances, He keeps us.
Conclusion.
We are saved, disciplined, enriched, empowered, and sustained by the grace of God.
And this is only one sermon.
If we could tell it all, John 21:25 says, “I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
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