Grapevine Ministries
Messages from the bible to uplift and encourage those that need a word from the Lord, to strengthen their faith. Ps Phillip Barker is an itinerant pastor in Perth, Western Australia.
Grapevine Ministries
Grace Beyond Measure
Grace—we sing about it, talk about it, and claim to understand it, but do we truly grasp its profound implications for our daily lives? This enlightening exploration cuts through common misconceptions to reveal the true nature of God's unmerited favour.
Drawing from pivotal passages like Ephesians 2:4-10 and Romans 6, we unpack the paradox at grace's core: while salvation is indeed God's free gift that we cannot earn, it nevertheless requires our active, obedient response. Like reaching out to accept a $20 note someone offers, we must take action to receive what God freely gives. Biblical examples from Jericho to Naaman's healing demonstrate this pattern—God's gifts always invite our participation.
The discussion tackles head-on the dangerous idea that grace functions as a spiritual "get-out-of-jail-free card." Paul's teaching is crystal clear: grace isn't permission to sin; rather, it "teaches us to say no to ungodliness" (Titus 2:12). When we're baptized into Christ, we die to our old selves and rise to walk a new path—a path of obedience flowing from gratitude, not obligation.
Perhaps most reassuring is the certainty grace provides. We need not live wondering if we're saved—Scripture assures us we can know. This confidence doesn't come from perfect performance but from faithful walking with God, studying His Word, and gathering with fellow believers.
The powerful closing questions invite deep self-reflection: What am I doing with God's grace? Is my heart focused during worship? Am I serving His church? How will God feature in my plans tomorrow? These aren't questions of earning grace but of living gratefully within it.
Join us in rediscovering the transformative power of grace—not just as theological concept, but as the daily reality that reshapes everything about how we live, love, and serve.
Good morning, good afternoon, wherever you are in the world - Welcome to Grapevine Ministries.
Today, everybody, we're going to be speaking about grace. Now, I know you know like we talk about grace. We talk about faith and all of these different things in the Bible, but sometimes I believe that it's important that we remember the importance of these things in our faith walk. So hopefully there'll be something that I'm talking about today that you may not already know. Now I'm going to give you a classic example. Everybody sings the song so many times that I think we forget to focus on what it is teaching us.
Speaker 1:The man that wrote this song seemed to have had a good understanding of just how amazing God's grace really is. So without grace from God, no one can really be saved. So this morning we're going to explore God's amazing grace. Now. In every letter that Paul writes, including the book of Hebrews, he always says something similar to grace and peace. Be with you, in both the beginning and the end of his letters.
Speaker 1:Now, grace is a word that Paul used often. But what exactly is grace? Now, if you look at the dictionary everyday normal dictionary it affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness and grace of speech. Also, you can see that it is the kindness that is of God that is bestowed upon us, gives us favour, even upon our ill-deserving, so that sinners can be pardoned for their offences, and bids them to accept an eternal salvation of God. Now so how does the Bible define it? Well, the best way to define it is to actually read the Scriptures. It's from these passages that we learn that grace is unmerited favor. That's Ephesians 2.4 through to 10. This is what is so amazing about God's free gift of grace. Even though you and I were hopelessly lost hopelessly lost and even though we may or may not have known about God, god's love he loves us enough to give us his son as a perfect sacrifice so that we could be saved. There is nothing absolute, nothing that you and I could ever do to earn or merit God's saving grace. That is why he has to give it to us. You need to make sure you put things in the right perspective.
Speaker 1:Also, romans 3.10 says, as it is written, there is no one righteous, not even one. And in Romans 3.23, it goes on and says For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So it means that we don't deserve it. Mankind desperately needs the grace of God in order to be saved, because we cannot save ourselves and under the old law, you had to keep it perfect in order to be blameless, and none of us could do that. Also in James 2.10, for whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking them all. So in other words, if you break one plate from your mum's beautiful handcrafted dinner set, then realistically the whole dinner set is worthless. So we are worthless because if we decided to stick under the law and just hypothetically we could be perfect in every way and so we could actually get there and just be that that much better at everything. And then we go, wow, we are doing so well, and then oops, one little hiccup, one stumble, and when you do that, that's it. You're all done and dusted. So why would anybody try to be perfect like Jesus was? Why would we go to that length if there's a possibility, just one small possibility, that we could make one error and then it's all totally worthless. And then it's all totally worthless.
Speaker 1:You cannot say that you are saved by faith or by grace alone, because the word God does not teach us all of that If you're reading Ephesians 2, for it is by grace that we have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not for works, so that no one can boast, for we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us. You see, in these verses we learn that there's two parts to man's salvation. First of all, there is God's grace, in which he gave his son and forgiveness of sin. Man has his part, which is faith. This is not talking about just believing, but instead it's talking about an obedient faith. In other words, god has provided the gift. In other words, god has provided the gift, but humans have to accept that gift by having an obedient faith. You notice, in verse 10 it says that we are created in Christ Jesus to do good work.
Speaker 1:All right, so let me provide a little basic example, try and make this as simple as I can. Let's say that I have a $20 bill, okay, and tell you that it's a free gift, but that you have to walk up here to get it. Now, even though the gift is free and you did not earn or deserve it, you still have to take part, because that means that you have to get up and you have to walk up to the front where I am standing and take that $20 note. So, irrespective of what it is, there is always something that you have to do. This is the same principle that God has used, and he has several examples where God offers a free gift but then demands an obedient faith.
Speaker 1:You see what I'm getting at here. Yes, it's free, but it's free that you still need to do something in relation to it. Okay, jericho was a free gift for the children of Israel. It's free that you still need to do something in relation to it. Okay, jericho was a free gift for the children of Israel, but in order to receive the gift, they had to obey God's word, to walk around seven days and then make a loud noise with the shouting and the trumpets. And it wasn't until they obeyed God that they received the free gift. You see what I'm saying. Nahum had leprosy, and Elijah sent word to him that he could be healed if he would go dip in the Jordan River seven times. It wasn't until he obeyed that he received the free gift of God. Now, the same thing is true today we do not receive God's free gift of grace until we obey his commands.
Speaker 1:The apostles understood this concept quite well, you know. In Romans 5.1,. It says through him and for his namesake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. So now let's take a look at what Paul says about grace. All right, so I'm looking at this from several angles and also different approaches to it. From several angles and also different approaches to it. You know it's the old saying is that you can have three pairs sitting in a bowl and they all look perfect, but upon closer examination you'll find that there are slight differences in each one. So therefore, although they're the same, they are also different. And since grace has appeared to everyone, that they would mean every single person, no matter what they do, would be saved. But we know that's not true. In fact, paul goes on to tell us what grace teaches us. This is what Paul says, as he notes in verse 12,. It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions and live by self-controlled, upright and godly lives. See, now Paul is clearly teaching us that God's grace and our obedience go hand in hand.
Speaker 1:I want to make this very, very clear that when we obey God's word and do things he asks us, we are on our way, earning or meriting salvation. We are simply serving God out of love. Jesus explains this the best in the story that he tells his disciples. Now, if we read through Luke 17, 7 to 10. Now, I'm not going to do that because we haven't got enough time, okay, but that's what I want you to do. When I give you scriptures, please write them down, read them and it'll bring the messages into context. All right, so that's it context. All right, so that's it. Luke 17, 10 through to 7, all right, now, here we go.
Speaker 1:Whenever we become Christians and we accept God's grace, we become his servant. And we accept God's grace, we become his servant and we are merely to do our duty. And when we obey God's word, we don't say that we are going to do this for me now. No, we say that we are unprofitable servants and we have done what was our duty to do. You know, we've got to look at the Great Commission of what we're really called to do, you know. And the thing is, the Bible is full of stories, but it's also full of instructions on what we want to do. Now we don't have to do them, right? I'll make that very, very clear right now. We do not have to do what the Bible tells us to do. We have to make a choice to do the right thing right.
Speaker 1:Many in the religious world would teach that God's grace cannot be misused, but the Bible teaches differently, because you can. In Galatians 2.21, it says this I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, christ died for nothing. Right Now, we just finished these, though, and so just think on that scripture for a moment. Right? So this is what they're saying in the book of Galatians. Okay, if we do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, christ died for nothing. 2 Corinthians 6, 1 and 2 says this as God's fellow workers, we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain, for he says in the time of many favor, I heard you, and in the day of salvation, I helped you. I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.
Speaker 1:A couple more, just so you know it's not me, I'm not making this up, it's actually scripture, and probably a lot of you don't even know this one In Jude 1-4,. This is what this says, 1 to 4. This is what this says, for certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ, an only sovereign and law. He is our only sovereign and law, but if they deny him, then they're trying to say that everything that he did during his time here on earth as man was a waste of time. And we know that is totally a lie.
Speaker 1:One more scripture Galatians 5.4. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ. You have fallen away from grace. See, this is where you've got to understand that we all have a part to play, and all throughout the scriptures, god is telling us what he wants us to do, and we must make that choice, whether we want to do it or not, because you can't just sit on your laurels and expect it to just be handed over to you on a gold platter.
Speaker 1:As you can see from the passages, we must not take the grace of God for granted. That's why Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3.18, to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ. As we grow in God's grace, we learn that we can stand and be strong in God's grace. Romans 5.1 and 2 says this. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have the peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom he has gained access by faith into his grace, in which we now stand. And finally, in 2 Timothy 2.1, it says into his grace, in which we now stand. And finally, in 2 Timothy 2.1, it says you then, my son, be strong in the grace that is Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:All right, paul also teaches that grace is not a license to sin. This is where other people go a little astray. They think, well, if I have my faith and God gives grace, then it doesn't matter what I do. Even as a born-again Christian, I've got that grace and I can get away with it. No, you can't. No, that's like taking liberties. It's basically the same way of saying that, okay, the speed limit on the road is 80 kilometres an hour, but I can do 100 kilometres an hour. I just have to make sure I don't get caught and then I can get away with it. Well, no, you can't, because you know that what you're doing is against the law, so you will be convicted yourself.
Speaker 1:Notice in the verses, the action word is walk. As Christians, we must be walking in the light, that is, striving to serve God in order to continually have our sins cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. When does a person begin to walk in the light or when do they begin enjoying the grace of God? Paul once again gives us an answer, as we read in Romans 6, and this is what he said. What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that the grace may increase? By no means we die to sin. How can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized in Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death, in the order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life, and that's what you've got to understand. There's nothing confusing about what Paul has just taught us. It is very easy to see that when a person is baptized into Christ, they baptized into the death, and just as Christ was raised from the dead, when we are raised from the watery grave of baptism, we begin to walk a newness of life. This is when we accept God's saving grace through our obedient faith in the working of God.
Speaker 1:Now that we've learnt when a person begins to walk, let's just take a quick look at some of the scriptures that tell us how we are to walk. And I love this bit here that I've done while preparing for this lesson, because that's what I desire is to be able to get up and walk and be set free from my wheelchair. But that's for another time. But these encourage me. These really encourage me. 1 John 2.6 says me.
Speaker 1:1 John 2.6 says whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. And Hebrews 5.8 and 9 says although he was a son, he learned obedience for what he suffered and once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. And we have 2 John 1.6 says this. And this is love that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard, from the beginning his command is that you walk in love. And we're talking about that today, about walking in love and the importance of love when we're at our home fellowship today, because it's so important. If you have a greater understanding of love, you can have a greater understanding of why God does what he does. Now we also can look at Ephesians 5, 15 to 16, and it says be careful then how you live, not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Speaker 1:Another important point about God's amazing grace is that we can know that we are saved. Sometimes we are Christians who simply lose sight of God's grace and we go through life thinking I hope that I am saved, that I am saved. The words God let us know is that we can know that we are saved by the grace of God. When we're looking at the scriptures, you know, 1 John 5 says this and this I write these things to you who I believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. And the scriptures just go on and on and on.
Speaker 1:So as I draw for a close today, I want you to remember that, as we reach this closing portion of this lesson, I want us to all ask ourselves this question what do I do and what I am doing with God's grace? So what are you doing with yourselves and what are you doing with God's grace? So what are you doing with the gifts that he has given you? As we discussed throughout this sermon. As we discussed throughout this sermon, god's grace is a wonderful gift available to all of us.
Speaker 1:If you are not a Christian yet, and the first thing you need to do is accept the Lord, god, as your Lord and Saviour, grace will be followed, and then it will lead you to the word and into baptism, into his son, for the forgiveness of all sins. If you are a Christian, you have already taken the first step in accepting God's grace. But what are you doing with his grace each day? Just think about these questions as you consider his grace right, these are the sort of questions you should be asking yourself Am I walking in the light and being faithful to God? If I am not, what's stopping me? What's hindering me?
Speaker 1:Also, do I put all of my trust in God each day, or just when it's convenient and I hope some of you are feeling convicted about this Do I study his word to understand his will for my life? That, I think, is a very pivotal one, because are you studying his word? Are you spending time in his word and being led from the holy spirit to different passages? You know and it's not like you're asking god what you've got to do each day. But you, the thing is, you read his word every morning, and then that guides you in the right decision making.
Speaker 1:Do you consider yourself a demonstration of God's love to others? Do you regularly gather with other believers to worship and praise God? And, if so, is your heart and your mind focused on the worship service each day? Do I give my time and resources to support God's church? Are you serving in your church?
Speaker 1:See, these are things that you should be asking yourself, and if you feel to yourself that you are not doing them, that's the time for you to say okay, this is what I must do. And the final thing you need to be asking yourself what else can I do each day to better serve god and to thank him for his amazing grace? So, what are you going to do? What is it tomorrow? When you get up in the morning, what are the first things you're going to do, apart from going to the toilet? Are you going to be looking at what it is that you've put in place to do for the day, and is God in any part of that daily activity? That's what I want to ask yourselves okay, what are you doing for the kingdom of God to deserve his love and his grace and his salvation. Amen, all right, we'll talk to you soon, god bless. For now,
