Ilagan Christian Church

Grace

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Summary

This sermon returns to one of Scripture’s clearest statements of grace: we are saved by grace through faith, and this is not of ourselves – it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one can boast. Salvation is never something earned or deserved; it is given.

But grace that saves is not passive. Paul asks whether those saved by grace should go on sinning so that grace may increase, and answers, by no means – those united to Christ have died to sin and been raised to a new life. The same grace that justifies also trains believers to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age.

Essential truths

  1. Salvation is by grace through faith, and this is not our own doing – it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so no one may boast.
  2. Grace does not give license to sin; those united to Christ cannot go on living in the sin grace has freed them from.
  3. God's grace is sufficient, sustaining believers not despite their weakness but often precisely through it.
  4. Grace that saves also trains believers to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.

Encouragement and challenge

Rest in the truth that your standing before God rests on grace, not performance – and let that same grace push you toward, not away from, a holy life.

Reference verses

  • Ephesians 2:8-9
  • Romans 6:1-2
  • Titus 2:11-12
  • 2 Corinthians 12:9

About this sermon