Sermon: Don't Take It For Granted
Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9
ICE BREAKER: In your life so far, what is the one thing you have earned that you are most afraid of losing?
REVIEW:
This week we followed up on baptisms with a sermon to help us get clear on how we think about salvation. For most people, they have bought into an element of "WORKS-BASED SALVATION." This is the idea that your salvation is something you have to earn through doing enough good works and avoiding enough bad works. It is also the belief that you can LOSE your salvation if you do not keep up good works once you are saved.
This idea is easy for us to fall into since this is typically the way the world functions. If you want something, you have to earn it. Once you earn something, you have to avoid losing it.
However, this is not what scripture teaches!
Ephesians 2
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast.
Instead of a works-based salvation, Jesus offers a FAITH-BASED Salvation! Jesus did all of the work for us! So, how do we receive this free gift of grace? Jesus answered that question in John's gospel:
John 3
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Far too many believers have fallen prey to a works-based mentality. When this happens they add to a scripture like John 3:16. They make it say "so that everyone who believes AND...." Then they fill in the blank with works:
-Everyone who believes and lives a moral life
-Everyone who believes and gives enough to charity
-Everyone who believes and immediately quits every bad habit
The danger in this line of unbiblical thinking, is that it cheapens the gift that Jesus so freely gave us.
Works-Based Salvation Says:
DON’T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED!
FAITH-Based Salvation Says:
DO TAKE IT AS GRANTED!
In the book of Galatians Paul writes that "God has GRANTED" the promise of salvation to us based solely upon our faith in him. Once you are free of the burden of works-based salvation, you can finally live in the freedom that Jesus desires for you!
APPLY:
Have you ever dealt with feelings that you need to earn or keep your salvation?
What emotions did that cause inside of you?
Do you find it hard to accept God's grace as a completely free gift?
What would it look like if you found freedom through trusting in a faith-based salvation?
PRAY:
Ask the Holy Spirit to show you any areas of your life where you are still approaching your salvation through a works-based lens and ask Jesus to give you freedom and confidence in that area!
