Nothing God ever does is cheap or irrelevant, every thing God does is extravagant and for a purpose. God’s grace is the same way. It is neither cheap because it was purchased and secured by the sacrifice of Jesus and it is not irrelevant because mankind’s eternal destination is based upon it. Join me on a journey to discover just how marvelous and abundant God’s grace really is!
SERIES TEXT
Ephesians 2:8-10, “8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith— and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
GRACE DEFINED
GRACE is God’s undeserved favor, love, help and enablement made available through Jesus Christ and given to believers by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Because of God’s grace, we can experience his mercy, forgiveness and the power to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives. (Fire Study Bible).
SERMON TEXT
Romans 5:20-6:1-4 (NLT), “20 God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. 21 So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
6:1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”
SEVEN LIES GOD’S ABUNDANT GRACE EXPOSES
- Man can be good without being born again so as long as he keeps God’s laws, Romans 5:20.
- The more sins a person commits, the more God runs away from them, Romans 5:20.
- Christianity is a self-help and self-improvement religion, Romans 5:21.
- After a person is saved, they can sin as much as they want, Romans 6:1-2.
- A person has to wait until they die to be joined with Christ, Romans Romans 6:3.
- Baptism is just something you do to join a church, Romans 6:4.
- Once you’re born a sinner, you will always be a sinner, Romans 6:4.
Our sins didn’t catch God by surprise, rather our sinfulness gave God the perfect opportunity to display His wonderful and abundant grace. So that we could be saved and live a new life!
