I.

THE GRACE OF GOD BRINGS SALVATION 11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. What is your nature? What is my nature? What are you naturally inclined to do? For preachers: Talk! ILL.- Oprah Winfreys nature is to talk. Thats the way I see her. Dr. Phils nature is to talk, to dish out advice as if he knew everything. And he is pretty smart. Hes smart enough to make millions of dollars by talking. I read that he makes around $43 Million dollars a year. Not bad for just talking. Thats his nature. What about Gods nature? Whats the thing He does best? GIVE to people? LOVE people? BLESS people? FORGIVE people? YES, all these, no doubt. God is love and He is a giver of good gifts and He is quick to forgive when we believe Him. His nature is that of grace. He is a gracious God. He is a grace giving God. And His grace brings salvation and has appeared to all men. I would say that His grace has appeared in the person of Jesus. The nature of God is that He wants all men to be saved in Jesus. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish.... Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost. John 1:29 Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." The problem with our society, however, is that they dont even know they are lost. They dont even know they are perishing. Most people dont know they are heading to the 2nd death, which is separation from God. Ephesians 2:1-5 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressionsit is by grace you have been saved. Dead in transgressions and sins. Many people are dead and dont even know it. They are dead because of their sins. For all practical purposes, they are dead to God and Christ because sin has taken over their lives. ILL.- Billionaire, Donald Trump was asked one time, What about death? the writer asked. Dont you worry about dying? Trump said, No. Im fatalistic and I protect myself as well as anybody can. I prepare for things. This time, however, as Trump started walking up the stairs to have dinner with his family, he hesitated for a moment. No, he said finally, I dont believe in reincarnation, heaven or hellbut we go someplace. Again a pause, Do you know, he added, I cannot, for the life of me, figure out where. Donald Trump is just like many people of our world except that they dont have the money he has! Hes lost and doesnt know it. Hes lost in sin and doesnt realize it because hes having the time of his life. People dont like to admit this, because we all would like to think were in control of our lives, but in reality, either sin controls us or the Lord controls us. Were either walking with the Lord or with the evil one and most people dont even know the evil one exists! 11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. What did God do? First, He sent Jesus to save us. Then He sent messages throughout all of life: On TV, through the news, through people, through the Internet, through the church, through preaching, etc. And the offer still stands, however. God continues to use people, places, and things in order to reach people for Christ so they can be saved. OUR GOD OF GRACE HAS BROUGHT SALVATION TO ALL MEN.

II. THE GRACE OF GOD TEACHES GOODNESS 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. Gods grace doesnt just save us. Gods grace does many good things for us in life and one of them is that His grace teaches us how to live, that is, how to live better lives. How to overcome worldly passions and live a godly life. ILL.- I read that actor Charlie Sheen who has had a terrible drug and drinking problem said, I heal really quickly, but I also unravel pretty quickly. I think he unravels quicker than he heals. In fact, I think hes a long way from healing from his drug dependency. And there is only one way to get completely healed and by one person! ILL.- Two or three years before the death of John Newton (former slave ship captain and eventual author of the song, Amazing Grace), when his sight was so dim that he was no longer able to read, a friend and brother in the ministry called to have breakfast with him. Newton said, I am not what I ought to be! How imperfect and deficient I am! I am not what I wish to be, although I abhor that which is evil and would cleave to what is good! I am not what I hope to be, but soon I shall be out of mortality, and with it all sin and imperfection. Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor yet what I hope to be, I can truly say I am not what I once was: a slave to sin and Satan. I can heartily join with the apostle and acknowledge that by the grace of God I am what I am! What a great testimony to the one who wrote Amazing Grace. He knew well what the grace of God could do for a person. Gods grace can not only save us but also teach us how to live right in this world of sin. ILL.- Louis Cassels wrote: If God wants you to do something, hell make it possible for you to do it, but the grace he provides comes only with the task and cannot be stockpiled beforehand. We are dependent on him from hour to hour, and the greater our awareness of this fact, the less likely we are to faint or fail in a crisis. We are dependent on Him from hour to hour. I believe this. We cant live without Gods grace and we most certainly live a godly life without His grace. 2 Corinthians 12:9 "But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christs power may rest on me." It is only through weakness that we receive Gods grace for daily living. Its only when we go down that we go up and receive His grace. Its only when we humble ourselves before Him and admit how sinful we truly are that we receive His grace to become better people. I Peter 5:5 God opposes the proud but He gives grace to the humble. How does Gods grace teach us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions and give us self-control and upright living? One way is through His Word which teaches us about right living. And another way is through His Holy Spirit who lives within us and empowers us for right living. And the Spirit and the Word go together. Whatever the word says, the Spirit does. Whatever the Spirit says, the Word explains. The Spirit is the author of scripture. Gods grace is given through His Word and through His Spirit to enlighten us as to how to live right or righteously in this world and the Spirit gives us the strength to do right and live right. II Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Scripture convinces, convicts and equips us. Galatians 5:22-26 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. The grace of God teaches us or trains us in right living. He produces His fruit in us and helps us to overcome the sinful nature.

Saving Grace We are saved from sin by His love for a glorious life through faith for good works.
Text: 1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when
you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace,expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this 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 workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:1-10

Topic: Saving Grace Thesis: How I have been saved. Points:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins v. 1-2 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Rm. 3:23 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Gn. 2:15-17 . . .we were by nature objects of wrath. v.3 o For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rm. 6:23 o So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." Gn. 3:14-19 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. . . v. 4-7 o For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn. 3:16 o and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Rm. 3:24 o For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rm. 6:23

Conclusion:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. v. 8-9 o For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn. 3:16 Application: for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Rm. 10:13 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 Jn. 1:9

Prayer of acceptance: Prayer of salvation: Ending:

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. v. 10
o o We are Gods masterpiece, lived in Christ to do good works. God had works in mind for us before we were even born.

We are saved from sin by His love for a glorious life through faith for good works. You are Gods Workmanship!!! To God be the glory. Amen.