The Effect of Grace

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20081116 Sermon.mp3

If you see a friend with a black eye—sporting a real shiner—your automatic reflex is to say, "What happened to you?" If you see a friend on crutches or with an arm in a sling, you say, "What happened to you?" You know something happened because you've seen the results. He or she encountered some hard object, which left visible, tangible evidence.

My first car accident: 16 years old and not too smart. Fooling around and a friend smashed into my Dad's car. Folded the trunk like an accordion. Knocked the front seats off the runners and pushed them into the back seat. I managed to drive it home that night, but there was no way I could hide the fact that there had been an accident. There had been an impact. The car was "totaled"—permanently changed. It would never be the same again. For the car, it was a life-defining moment. The car had a new shape after that event.

If your friend walks in with a goofy grin on her face, beaming from ear to ear, you know something's going on. A job promotion, perhaps. Maybe she just got a raise. Or she just found out she's pregnant—it could be any kind of happy news, and she can't keep it in. "All right," you say, "what's up?"

When a guy falls head-over-heels in love, his friends or family notice a difference. He starts acting a weird. He spends hours on the phone. His ordinary behavior gets all disoriented. He starts cleaning his room. I've seen guys pass on the chance to watch the Vikings play the Packers just so they could go for a walk with a girl! This is weird!

In the same way, when we encounter God's grace, there will be a change. There is a new shape. Things will become unalterably different. When an impact occurs, things change. There is cause-and-effect. Something must happen as a result of our encounter with grace!

When we collide with God's grace, we will be changed. There will be results. Grace has an impact. When your sins are nailed to the cross, there must be change—a transformation; a new life; a new direction!

Here's the way the apostle Paul put it...

1 Cor 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

Paul had been trying his hardest to do what was pleasing to God. He had studied and slaved to follow all the OT laws. He said he considered himself a "Hebrew of Hebrews...a Pharisee" (Phil 3:5). He claimed to be "faultless" as far as legalistic righteousness was concerned (Phil 3:6).

But then he was knocked over by the grace of God and everything changed. Grace turned his whole world upside down. Grace brought him face to face with his own sin and the futility of trying to be religious. Grace had a huge impact on him. It changed everything.

Imagine it like this. Imagine your life is like a house you've been building. All your life you've been constructing it—using the things you enjoy, the things you're interested in, your favorite activities, your sins. But when grace hits you, you cannot stay the same as you were before—no more than a beach house can survive a tsunami. There must be change. Your old ways—your sin—can be firmly established in your life—elaborately constructed over the years. But then, in an instant, grace sweeps over the sin and washes it all away. The beach is left clean.

That should not imply that you will suddenly become perfect. You will not instantly become the ideal husband your wife was dreaming of when she married you. If you started out as a frog, you're probably not going to suddenly be transformed into a prince.

But when grace comes along, you cannot remain as you were before. Christians aren't perfect, but they are forgiven! They're not perfect, but they're better than they used to be.

Grace means the frog in you is becoming better—a little more cuddly, perhaps, a bit more warm and fuzzy. You're still no prince, but you're a much better frog.

What's more, Christians should continually be improving. Getting better. Growing in grace. (2 Pet 3:18 - But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ...)

And wherever grace moves in, sin is pushed out. You'll still have habits to work on, human nature to root out, and temptations to deal with; but grace means you're better than you used to be. (Rom 12:2 - ...be transformed by the renewing of your mind.) This is a process.

When we've experienced God's grace, at least we can say the work has begun! Grace begins the process, giving us new power and purpose to live for God. Grace shapes us—transforms us, impact us—giving us a new attitude, new abilities, and new action.

The work that grace begins is a dramatic work! Grace has a powerful effect on us! It accomplishes miraculous things:

• Grace saves us from the penalty of sin. In him [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace (Eph 1:7).
• Grace frees us from the power of sin. ...sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. (Rom 6:14).
• Grace pardons us—gives us a new start. [We] are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Rom 3:24). Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Cor 5:17).
• Grace embraces us—welcomes us into God's family. ...you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father." 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. (Rom 8:15-16, NLT)
• Grace realigns us—transfers our allegiance. ...he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son (Col 1:13, NLT); ...God has brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light... (1 Pet 2:9, CEV).
• Grace empowers us—brings new life. [God] made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. (Eph 2:5).

1 Cor 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

Grace impacts our lives in at least three ways: (1) Grace gives a new identity; (2) Grace has a profound effect; (3) Grace results in works.

1. Grace gives a new identity.

Paul said, "By the grace of God I am what I am."

He wasn't what he used to be, persecuting the believers, hunting down Christians, arresting them, troubling the church.

When God's grace hit him, he became something different. Paul's identity was redefined. Before he was a "Hebrew of the Hebrews, a Pharisee." But by God's grace, Saul became Paul. The persecutor became the persecuted. The expert in the Law became the recipient of grace.

Grace is like the witness protection program. When you encounter God's grace, your history is changed. Your past is forgiven. You are no longer the same person you were before. You get a brand new start.

Paul said, "It's because of the grace of God that I am what I am."

Who are you? Is your identity defined by God's grace? When people look at you, your life, your behavior, do they see grace? When people listen to you talk, hear your attitude, do they hear grace?

Are you a self-made man? Or are you a God-made man?

Is your identity the result of your hard work, discipline, and determination? Or is your identity found in Jesus? Does your identity come because of God's gift of grace or your human effort? Who are you?

2. Grace has a profound effect.

Paul said, "His grace to me was not without effect." There was a powerful effect on Paul's life, a radical transformation that happened because of grace.

Other English versions say: His grace toward me did not prove vain (NASB); his grace toward me was not ineffective (CSB); —not without results (NLT); his grace...given to me has not been for nothing (BBE); ...his grace was not wasted on me. (NIRV).

The word in the Greek was kenós, which meant: empty, vain. You would use this word to describe an empty plate, or an empty cup—or an empty head. Paul uses it here to describe an empty soul—and he says, when God sent his grace into my life, he filled me up. He didn't leave me empty.

Grace makes a difference! Paul didn't receive grace—only to have nothing happen. Grace didn't leave him the same as he had been. Grace changed him. It filled him. It had an effect. It made an impact. Instead of putting all his energy and effort in opposing Christ, he now redoubled his efforts to introduce Jesus to others. Grace made a huge difference in his life.

Grace is like a tsunami, transforming the features of our lives. When grace slams into your beach, the old ways, the old sins, the old attitudes are washed away.

What effect has grace had on you? How are you different? How has grace impacted you? How have you been changed? Has his grace to you been "with effect" or "without effect"?

3. Grace results in works.

Paul said, "I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."

Grace did not leave Paul sitting on a church pew, flipping through a church bulletin, looking at his wristwatch, wondering when the long-winded preacher was going to finally be finished. Grace did not leave him sitting at all! Grace launched him into a whole new stratosphere, a whole new level of energy, working tirelessly for a new cause—the cause of Jesus Christ!

But Paul is careful to distinguish that it wasn't his energy or strength that enabled him to work so hard or accomplish so much. Not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

Some people think that receiving grace means avoiding work. They think that if you begin doing anything for God that somehow you've abandoned God's grace or missed what grace is all about. Actually, the opposite is true.

Grace is the only way we can truly work for God. Without grace, anything we do is limited to our own effort—doomed to futility and failure. Human effort cannot earn salvation. Good works done in the flesh have no far-reaching impact; they can help people in this world, but that's about it.

Grace is like a new set of tools. It's like taking the old, dull hand saw away from the lumberjack and putting a brand new, powerful chain saw in his hands. All of a sudden, it doesn't even feel like work for him anymore. He's loving it! And he's cutting more wood than ever before.

When grace transforms our lives, however, suddenly we are released into a whole new arena of works. Now all the verses about spiritual diligence, dedication, and hard work begin to make sense. We can work because grace makes it possible for us to work:

• ...in view of God's mercy...offer your bodies as living sacrifices...this is your spiritual act of worship. (Rom 12:1)
• ...His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness...his very great and precious promises...For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness... (2 Pet 1:2-5)
• If you love me, you will obey what I command. (John 14:15) (The emphasis is on the love, not the obedience. It's not, You can show you love me by how hard you work. No, instead it is, If you really love me, I'll see it your love displayed in the way you live.)
• ...since you are looking forward to this [new heaven, new earth], make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace... (2 Pet 3:13-14)

What are you doing? Are you working for the Lord? Are you serving him? Are you giving to his cause? Is God's grace within you coming out through good work? Is it being displayed in new ways?

Are you who you are because of grace? What effect has grace had on you?

If grace has not yet made an impact on you, will you let God touch you today?