Price of Grace Sermon

Grace is not a side thing in the Christian life. Ephesians 2:8-9 says salvation comes by grace through faith, not from human effort, so nobody gets to brag. Grace is God’s divine favor, his mercy and goodness toward people who do not deserve it. Grace sustains every breath, every day, and every chance to turn back when life has gone off track.

God’s grace does not ignore sin or pretend rebellion is no big deal. Ephesians 2 says people were dead in sin, following the ways of the world, and deserving wrath. But God, rich in mercy and full of great love, made dead people alive with Christ. Grace means God did not leave people where sin took them. Grace calls them back, forgives them, and gives them a future.

Ephesians 1 gives struggling hearts a different list to look at. God says his people are blessed, chosen, predestined, accepted, redeemed, forgiven, and loved. God lavishes grace on them. Satan may keep bringing up old charges, old failures, and old shame, but Christ has dropped the charges. The record has been erased. None of those mistakes are bigger than the blood of Christ.

The price of grace, however, was not cheap. Second Corinthians 5:21 says God made Jesus, who had no sin, to become sin for sinners, so that sinners could become the righteousness of God in him. Christ left heaven on purpose, knowing the cross was ahead, and came on the greatest rescue mission of all time. The sinless died for the sinful. The righteous took the place of the unrighteous. Every drop of Christ’s blood shows what grace cost.

Grace also does not give anybody permission to keep playing around with sin. God’s grace sets people free from sin, guilt, and shame, not free to keep piling it up. God wants the heart. Ezekiel 36 promises that God removes the heart of stone, gives a heart of flesh, and puts his Spirit within his people to motivate them to follow his decrees.

Gratitude grows when grace becomes real. God’s plan matters more than personal comfort, personal plans, or hanging onto old hurt. Confession brings healing, because grace gives people room to admit the truth without hiding. God keeps making his people new, and his lavish grace keeps calling them forward.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Grace is God’s undeserved favor. Grace is not earned by behaving better or doing enough religious things. Grace is God’s mercy and goodness toward people who have flaws, failures, and a long list of mistakes. Gratitude begins growing when salvation is received as a gift rather than treated as a wage. [06:31]
• 2. Christ paid grace’s full price. Grace comes freely to the believer, but it was never cheap. Jesus, the one without sin, took sin’s place so sinners could stand righteous before God. The cross shuts down every claim that forgiveness is casual or that God does not take sin seriously. [15:42]
• 3. God lavishes grace on failures. God does not merely give enough grace to barely get somebody through. God lavishes grace on those he has chosen, redeemed, and forgiven in Christ. Satan may remember the old record, but Christ’s blood is bigger than every failure on it. [10:37]
• 4. Grace changes the heart’s direction. God’s grace does not leave a heart of stone in charge. God replaces hardened, angry, hurt-filled hearts with hearts of flesh and puts his Spirit within his people. Growth begins when a person stops defending the old heart and asks God to perform heart surgery. [20:29]
• 5. Confession opens the way to healing. Grace makes honesty possible because sin no longer has to be hidden behind excuses. God calls his people to confess, not merely to feel bad, but to be healed and follow him more closely. A forgiven person can admit the need for help without falling into shame.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [03:06] - Saved by Grace Through Faith
• [04:32] - What Grace Means
• [06:31] - Grace Sustains Every Moment
• [08:01] - Blessed, Chosen, Redeemed, Forgiven
• [11:28] - Dead in Sin, Made Alive in Christ
• [14:58] - The Price of Grace
• [16:22] - Jesus and the Greatest Rescue Mission
• [18:45] - Grace Is Not Cheap
• [20:04] - God Replaces the Heart of Stone
• [22:01] - Gratitude Grows Through Grace
• [24:05] - Confession and Healing
• [25:34] - Lavish Grace for a Life in Process

Bible Reading

Ephesians 2:8-9
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” [02:55]

Ephesians 2:1-10
“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 flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving 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 transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 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. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” [11:37]

2 Corinthians 5:21
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” [15:30]

Ephesians 1:3-8
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.” [08:11]

Ezekiel 36:26
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” [20:20]

Observation questions

1. In Ephesians 2:1-3, what words describe people’s condition before God made them alive with Christ? What desires or influences were they following?
2. What changes in Ephesians 2:4-10 after the words, “But because of his great love for us”? Notice what God does and what people receive.
3. What are some of the descriptions of believers found in Ephesians 1:3-8, including what they have “in him”? [10:16]
4. According to Ezekiel 36:26, what two things does God promise to remove or give? How is a heart of stone described in the message? [20:29]

Interpretation questions

1. Ephesians 2 says salvation is God’s gift and not the result of works, yet verse 10 says believers are created to do good works. How can a person live out both truths without trying to earn God’s acceptance? [13:48]
2. Second Corinthians 5:21 says Jesus had no sin but became sin for sinners. What does this show about both the seriousness of sin and the depth of God’s grace? [16:04]
3. Ephesians 1 says God lavishes grace, redemption, and forgiveness on his people. How might those truths answer a believer who feels permanently disqualified by an old failure? [11:07]
4. God promises a new heart and a new spirit in Ezekiel 36. Why is grace not permission to keep choosing sin, but power and motivation to walk in a new direction? [19:13]

Application questions

1. When shame, regret, or old memories tell you that God cannot use you, which truth from Ephesians 1 would you most need to speak over yourself: chosen, accepted, redeemed, forgiven, or loved? Why? [10:37]
2. Is there an area where you have been trying to prove yourself to God through effort, religious activity, or being “good enough”? What would it look like this week to receive salvation and God’s love as a gift instead of a wage? [03:04]
3. Grace calls people back when they get off track. Is there a specific place in your life where you sense God calling you back—not with condemnation, but with mercy? What is one honest next step you could take? [12:15]
4. Jesus paid a costly price so that forgiveness could be freely given. How does remembering the cross change the way you look at a sin you may be tempted to treat lightly? [15:18]
5. Where has hurt, anger, resentment, or a judgmental attitude started to harden your heart? What might it look like to ask God for a heart of flesh in that situation? [22:42]
6. Is there something you need to confess to God or wisely share with a trusted believer so that healing can begin? What makes honesty difficult, and how does grace make it safer to tell the truth? [24:17]
7. God’s plan for growth can matter more than personal comfort or personal plans. In what part of your life might God be asking you to lay down your plan and follow his instead? [23:49]