Embracing God's Mercy: Salvation Through Grace

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For it is not by the works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the holy spirit, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our savior, that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. [00:04:57]

Ungodliness is not having a right relationship with God. When God gave the law, there were two tables of stone upon which God engraved the ten commandments. The first table of stone had four commandments. These commandments dealt with man's relationship with God, and to violate one of these four commandments constituted ungodliness. [00:06:38]

The second table of stone had six commandments that dealt with our relationship with each other, with fellow man, and to break one of these commandments constituted unrighteousness. I am not right with you as God would have me to be. I'm not doing the right things in my relationship to you if I am violating one of these six commandments of the second table of the law. [00:07:25]

The wrath of God is coming upon the world because of the ungodliness and the unrighteousness of man. But Paul speaks in Romans 5:9 of being saved from wrath. When John the Baptist was baptizing at the Jordan River and multitudes came out, he said unto them, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? [00:16:48]

Paul tells Titus that we are saved by his mercy, that is, we are saved from this day of God's wrath that will come against the ungodliness and the unrighteousness of men. We are saved from the eternal consequences of our sin. Sin separates a person from God, and to die in sin is to be eternally separated from God. [00:21:34]

Justice is getting what I deserve. Mercy is not getting what I deserve. David, when he had sinned against God with that adulterous affair with Bathsheba, tried to cover it with murder. And when the prophet came and faced David with his guilt, David prayed, have mercy upon me, O God, according to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. [00:28:21]

Saved by mercy, but we are justified by grace. Now justification is one step beyond. It is more than just the forgiveness of your sins. That's mercy. Through mercy, God forgives you of your sins, but by grace, he justifies you, and that means he has dismissed the charges. He has wiped the slate clean. [00:29:09]

There is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. And so all of the charges against you have been dismissed. So where justice is getting what I deserve, and mercy is not getting what I deserve, grace is getting what I don't deserve. I don't deserve God's love. I don't deserve the total blotting out of my sins. [00:29:50]

Finally, here in our text in verse 7, that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. So the third benefit of being justified by his grace is that I am now a child of God, and as a child of God, I become an heir of God. [00:36:50]

To reject his love is the greatest sin that a man can commit. To spurn the love of God, there's no worse sin. Today God is offering to you his love, his mercy, his grace, and you either accept it or you reject it. [00:38:40]

Saved by his mercy from the wrath to come, justified by his grace to the hope of eternal life. Mercy and grace of God, it's yours today for the asking. To reject is to seal your own fate. You can never blame God if you are lost. You'll never be able to blame God. [00:40:47]

Some of you today conscious of your sin, the guilt you've been carrying, that heavy load, God wants to erase it today. He wants to dismiss the charges, but it's up to you. Will you receive his mercy and grace? You can be a whole new person. You can begin to walk in the joy and fellowship of God. [00:41:27]

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