All right, well we're there in Ephesians chapter number two, and on Wednesday nights what we
do is we walk through a book of the Bible, Wednesday nights our Bible study night of
course, and we go verse by verse, chapter by chapter, through books of the Bible, and
we started the book of Ephesians towards the end of last year, and we took a break from
it because of the holidays, and of course Christmas, and New Year's, and the special
services, and all of that, but we're back into the book of Ephesians, and if you remember last
time, you may not remember last time, but if you remember last time we went through the first seven
verses of Ephesians chapter two, so tonight we're gonna pick right up right where we left off,
and I'd like you to notice that we're going to be dealing with just three verses tonight. We'll
finish the rest of chapter next week, but I thought that these three verses were important
enough that they would require their own sermon, and we're gonna be looking at some of the most
famous verses in the Bible. You probably know them by memory. Ephesians chapter two, verse eight,
nine, and ten, the Bible says this, for by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast, for we are his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in
them, and what we're gonna do tonight, we're gonna take these verses phrase by phrase, and walk
through them, and I realize some of you are thinking yourselves, good night, Ephesians two,
eight, and nine, we know this, do you need us, do you need this to be explained again, and I always
like to remind people whenever we go back to some of these basic ideas, and you don't have to turn
here, but I'll read this for you, in Philippians chapter three and verse one, Paul said this,
finally my brethren, rejoice in the Lord, to write the same thing to you, to me indeed is
not grievous, but for you it is safe, and here's the thing, preaching on Ephesians two, eight, and
nine, and ten, for me it's not grievous, but you know what, for our church family it's safe,
it's safe to be reminded about these things, to help us understand these things, and I think if
you listen up and take some notes, you might learn something tonight either way, but here's what I'd
like you to do, and I want to just begin by doing this, if you would not mind, I always encourage
you to take notes when we are studying through anything really, on the back of your course of
the week, there's a place for you to write down some notes, but if you don't mind writing in your
Bible, I'd like you to just write a few things in the margin of your Bible, there in Ephesians
chapter two and verse eight, if you wouldn't mind, and I realize some people aren't comfortable
writing their Bible, and that's fine, but if you don't, I like to take notes in my Bible,
and notes, and arrows, and all sorts of things, underlying things, and if you wouldn't mind,
next to Ephesians chapter two and verse eight, I'd like you to write the word salvation,
Ephesians chapter two and verse eight, just in the margin of your Bible, write the word salvation,
and next to Ephesians chapter two and verse ten, towards the beginning of the verse, if you don't
mind, I'd like to write this word sanctification, sanctification, so Ephesians two eight, we've got
the word salvation, at the beginning of Ephesians two and verse ten, I'd like to write this word
sanctification, and at the end of Ephesians chapter two and verse ten, if you've got some
room there, I'd like to write this word service, service, salvation, sanctification, and service,
and what I'd like to do tonight, and the title of the sermon tonight is the theology of works,
Because what I'd like to do is really give you a basic theology of works, and what we
mean by that is what is it that the Bible teaches in regards to works, and what is the
role that works plays in the life of a believer, right?
And if you're taking notes, and if you've got a place to write down some things, and
I would encourage you to do that if you don't have a baby on your lap or something like
that.
Here's point number one, and you can of course write it down, and it's this, salvation is
not of works.
Now, we know that, but it's good to say.
Salvation is not of works, Ephesians 2, 8, notice the Bible says, for by grace are you
saved through faith.
In that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should
boast.
And I'd like you to keep your place there in Ephesians 2, that's obviously our text
for tonight.
Go with me to the book of Romans if you would, if you head backwards, you've got the book
of Ephesians, Galatians, 2nd and 1st Corinthians, and Romans, Galatians, 2nd and 1st Corinthians,
and Romans.
And when you get to Romans, do me a favor and put a ribbon there or a bookmark or something
because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it, Romans chapter 4.
And look at verse number 4, the Bible is clear that salvation is not of works, and I realize
I'm preaching to the choir, and you know that, but it's good for you to be reminded, Romans
4, 4, the Bible says this, not to him that worketh, not to him that worketh.
So here Paul is giving us an example of someone who wants to work their way to heaven, and
by the way, there are only, sometimes people will ask this question, they'll say, how do
you know which one's the right religion, there's so many hundreds of religions out there or
thousands of religions out there, how do you know which one's the right religion?
The truth is this, that there's only really two religions out there, and there's two belief
systems out there, there is one that says that you earn your way to heaven by the works
that you do, and there's another one that says that salvation is a free gift, not of
works.
And really you can put any religion in any church into those two categories.
You say, what do the Romans Catholic teach?
They teach that you have to keep the seven sacraments, you have to do certain things,
you better get catechized and baptized as a baby and go to the confessional booth and
take the communion and you've got to do this and you've got to do that.
What is that?
It's works.
And what do the Mormons teach?
Get rid of your sins, live a good life, get baptized, and hopefully you'll make it into
heaven.
It's works.
What do most of these false religions teach?
They teach works.
They teach you've got to work your way to heaven.
The Bible says in Romans 4, 4, not to him not worketh is the reward.
Now the reward is referring to heaven or what you get as a result of the work, and of course
in Romans he's talking about heaven and salvation.
He said it is the reward.
Notice, not reckoned, the word reckoned means computed, calculated, the way it comes about.
He says look, to him that worketh is a reward not reckoned of grace, he says, but of debt.
Now here's why he says that.
Because if you think that you can work your way to heaven, you're going to find yourself
in debt because the amount of work that you need to do to get to heaven is not something
you can do.
You've already messed up.
You're already a sinner.
You've already not kept the whole law because that's what it takes to work your way to heaven.
You must keep the entire law perfectly without error.
There's only one person that was ever able to do that, and his aim is the Lord Jesus
Christ.
So he says, not to him that worketh is a reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
Notice verse 5, but to him that worketh not.
I want you to notice this, and I want you to clearly see what Paul says.
Paul doesn't say not to him that worketh a little bit, he doesn't say to him that worketh
somewhat.
He says to him that worketh not.
This guy did no works.
Never went to church, never got baptized, never read his Bible.
Now I don't think you should do that.
I think you should go to church.
I think you should get baptized.
I think you should read your Bible, but can you be saved and not do those things?
Well notice he says, but to him that worketh not, here's what he did do, but believeth
on him that justifieth the ungodly.
Notice his faith is counted for righteousness.
So I want you to notice that in Romans 4-5, the apostle Paul, and he's given us a hypothetical
example here, he's just saying, look, if there was somebody who was trying to work their
way to heaven, he said, not to him that worketh is a reward not reckoned of grace, but of
debt.
Then he says this, but to him that worketh not.
He said if somebody does no works, but believeth they have faith on him that justifieth the
ungodly, he says his faith is counted for righteousness.
Now in Romans 4-5, we learn this, that it is possible to have faith without works.
I mean it says to him that worketh not, but believeth.
And I want to give you a theology of works, and we're going to go to probably every major
passage regarding works in the Bible, and one that I'm just going to quickly mention
and we're not going to go there and go through it just because it would take too long, but
the one you always hear is James chapter 2, right?
Faith without works is dead.
When people try to tell you this, they'll say, well faith without works is dead.
And then they'll interpret that for you by saying, therefore you cannot have faith without
works.
Well wait a minute, that's not what Paul believed, Romans 4-5.
He believed that someone could worketh not, but believeth.
He believed that somebody could have no works and yet believe.
So therefore, you must be misinterpreting James chapter 2 in order to teach that you
can't have faith without works.
They'll say, you must have works if you're going to have faith, and they'll say, because
faith without works is dead.
But is that what that means?
I mean, does faith without works means that faith is inexistent without works?
I mean, think about the terminology, dead.
What if I was dead?
What if I died?
Does that mean I never existed?
Does that mean that I'm no longer here?
What does it mean?
It means that I'm not alive.
It means that I'm not active.
I'm still here if I drop dead right now.
I'm not just going to disappear.
Someone's going to have to pick me up and take me somewhere, put me in a box and bury
me somewhere.
Hopefully, you'll come and cry a little bit, you know?
But I'll still be here.
I just won't be preaching anymore.
I just won't be active anymore.
Faith without works is dead means that if you don't have works that comes along with
your faith, then your faith is dead.
It's inactive.
It's not alive.
It's not going to accomplish anything.
It's not going to do anything.
Does that mean that you cannot have faith without works?
Well, number one, you're adding that interpretation to that phrase.
And number two, Romans 4-5 clearly teaches, but to him that worketh not, but believeth
on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
According to the Bible, yes, you can have faith without works.
Notice verse six.
Even as David also described it, the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputed.
That word impudeth or impute means to attribute, ascribe, to give.
God gives righteousness, don't miss it, without works.
Why?
Because salvation, very plainly, is not of works.
Salvation is not something that you get through works.
Go back to Ephesians 2 and keep your place in Romans.
We're going to come back to it.
Let's just take some time and just break down these famous, well-known verses, Ephesians
2-8 and 9.
Why is it that salvation is not of works?
And the answer is found in these verses.
I want you to notice the first phrase, Ephesians 2-8, for by grace.
Salvation is not of works because salvation is by grace.
Now the word by means this, indicating the means or method by which something is achieved.
How is it that salvation is achieved?
What is the method, what is the means that God uses in order to save us?
Well, he tells us it's by grace.
The word grace means free.
It means unearned.
The theological term is unmerited, which means undeserved favor or the unmerited favor
of God.
You say, how is it, what is the means or the method for salvation?
How can you and I be saved?
Well, we are saved by grace.
We are saved by the unmerited, undeserved, unearned favor, the free favor of God.
And here's what you need to understand.
Grace and works are at odds with each other.
You cannot have grace and works.
Go to Romans chapter number 11.
I asked you to keep your place in Romans, keep your place in Ephesians.
We're going to be going back and forth tonight, Romans chapter number 11.
See, the people who want to add works to salvation, they always want to fight about faith and
works, faith and works.
Well, faith without works is dead.
Faith without works is dead.
But here's the problem.
The problem is that the Bible says that we're saved by grace.
And the Bible is clear that grace and works cannot, they are opposite of each other.
They're at enmity with each other.
You cannot have both at the same time.
And it's simply because of this.
Because grace, though we like to give it and I don't think there's anything wrong with
using terminology like unmerited, undeserved, unearned favor of God, really when it comes
down to it, all of that means it's free.
And often when we're out soul winning, I'll give the example and I'll say to somebody,
hey, the Bible says here that salvation is by grace and what that means, I'll say, you
know, here at your house, you may have, you probably have a grace period.
Maybe your rent's due on the first or your payment is due on the first and they give
you till the fifth to pay that.
What do they call that?
A grace period.
It's free time.
They don't have to give you that time.
They just give it to you as free.
That's what the word grace means.
In fact, if you just see the word grace in regards to salvation, it means free.
What does the word works mean?
Work means you earned it.
It means you went to work for it.
Now notice what the Bible says in Romans 11 and verse 6.
Romans chapter 11 and verse 6, the Bible says this, and if by grace, this is what Paul says.
He says, look, if salvation is free, right, if it's unmerited, undeserved, unearned gift,
he says, and if by grace, he says, then it is no more of works.
He says, look, if it's free, you can't earn it.
Do you understand that?
Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
He says, look, if it's free, you can't earn it.
Otherwise, it's not free, but if it be of works, he says, let's say that all the false
religions are right and you can earn it.
You do have to get baptized.
You do have to speak in tongues.
You do have to repent of your sins.
You do have to do whatever they decide you need to do.
He says, look, but if it be of works, if it's something you earn, then it is no more grace.
Otherwise, work is no more work.
Look, here's what he's saying.
It's either free or it's not.
If it's free, then you can't earn it.
Otherwise, free would not be free.
And if you earn it, then it can't be free.
Otherwise, you're not really earning it.
So he says, look, salvation, you say, why do you guys believe that salvation is not
of works?
Well, here's why.
It's by grace.
And the word by means, it's the means, the method in which salvation is achieved.
And the means and the method that salvation has achieved is grace, which is unmerited,
undeserved, unearned favor of God.
He replaced her in Romans.
Go back to Ephesians 2.
I'd like you to notice the next phrase.
Not only do we see that salvation is not of works because it is by grace, but we see also
that salvation is not of works because it is through faith, through faith.
The word through there and the illustration that I like to use, and keep your finger there.
Go back to Romans 4, if you would, Romans chapter 4 and verse 3.
Salvation is by grace, which means it's free and you can't earn it.
You can't work for it.
And then the Bible tells us it's through faith.
In Romans chapter 4 and verse 3, we see this verse, we already saw it, but let's look at
it together.
For what saith the scripture?
And I'm sorry, I don't think we saw this actually.
We didn't look at this.
When Paul begins to give this little talk about, not to him that work is the reward
not reckoned of grace, but of death, he first asked this question.
He says, now if Abraham were justified by works, he hath to wear up to glory.
We're going to look at that in a second.
But then he says, well, what saith the scripture?
He says, for what saith the scripture?
Paul sounds like a Baptist.
What does the Bible say?
The Bible's the final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
For what saith the scripture?
Here's what the scripture says, Abraham believed God.
The word believe or believe means faith.
Abraham believed God and it, what?
His belief, his faith was counted unto him for righteousness.
How did Abraham get saved?
Dispensationists today, they want to tell us, oh, well, in the Old Testament under this
other dispensation, people got saved by works, and Noah got saved by getting in the ark,
and then everybody, you know, there's this dispensation and that dispensation.
Hold on a second.
How does the Bible say that Abraham got saved?
Guess what?
He got saved the same way you and I got saved, by putting our faith, by having faith.
It says Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
That's how Abraham got saved.
If you're saved, that's how you got saved, that's how I got saved.
Why?
Through faith.
The same way that water is funneled and delivered through a hose, God's grace, which is the
means of our salvation, God's unmerited, unearned, undeserved favor, which is the only reason
that you and I will ever see the gates of heaven, is funneled and delivered to us through
faith.
We're saved by grace and we're saved through faith.
Why don't you notice, thirdly, if you go back to Ephesians 2, the Bible says, and that not
of yourselves.
Now the word of that there is referring to being saved.
He says, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves.
Now I'd like you to keep your place there, of course, and go to 2 Timothy chapter number
1.
At the end of the New Testament, you've got the T-books.
They're all clustered together.
If you're in Ephesians, you're going to go past Philippians, Colossians, and you'll have
1, 2 Thessalonians, 1, 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter number 1.
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1, 2 Thessalonians, 1, 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 1.
I want you to notice how these verses, it's not like Ephesians 2, 8, and 9 teaches that
salvation is not at work.
Every phrase in this verse teaches.
Every phrase in this verse reinforces the idea that salvation is not of works.
Why?
Because it's by grace.
Why?
Because it's through faith.
Why?
Because it's not of yourselves.
Now what does that mean?
Not of yourselves means that ourselves, yourselves, myself is not the source of our salvation.
Now we know that already because we've already learned that our salvation is grace which
is funneled to us through faith.
It didn't come from us.
The grace didn't come from us.
The faith didn't come from us.
Well, excuse me, the faith did come from us.
It's the faith.
I sound like a Calvinist now.
Good night.
I'm going to preach against that in here in a minute.
Good night.
Salvation is not something that is produced from us, not of yourself.
Now I want you to notice that in 2 Timothy 1, 9.
Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according, notice, to our works.
So look, he didn't save us according to our works, but according to his own purpose, don't
miss it, and grace, because we're saved by grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began.
So I want you to notice that he saved us and called us with a holy calling, but it's
not according to our works.
Why?
Because it's not of yourself.
You are not the source of your own salvation.
Notice Titus chapter 3 and verse 5.
If you're there in 2 Timothy, just flip one book over to Titus 3, 5.
Titus chapter 3 and verse 5.
Titus chapter 3 and verse 5, the Bible says this, not by works of righteousness which
we have done.
The word righteousness, those are printed right things, good things that we've done.
Not by works of right things, which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved
us by the washing of regeneration, renewing of the Holy Ghost.
Do you see that?
How did you and I get saved?
Well it wasn't, it was not by the works of righteousness which we have done.
It's not of yourself.
It's not according to our works, but it's by his mercy, by his mercy he saved us.
And mercy is very much like grace.
It basically means the same thing, just in an opposite way.
Grace means you get something you don't deserve.
Mercy means you don't get something you do deserve.
I deserve to go to hell, and the mercy of God makes it so that I don't get something
I deserve.
I don't deserve to go to heaven, and the grace of God makes it so that I do get something
that I don't deserve.
For by grace are you saved through faith, you say, and does this prove that salvation
is of work?
Well look, he says, and not of yourselves.
It's not something you produce.
It's not according to our works.
It's not by works of righteousness which we have done.
Go back to Ephesians 2.8 if you would.
We're just dissecting this verse.
We're talking about salvation not being of works.
How do we know it?
Well we know it because it's by grace.
By is the means by which we are saved, and the means by which we are saved is grace which
is unmerited, unearned, undeserved favor of God.
And it's through faith, meaning that it's funneled to us the way that we get God's grace
is through faith.
It's his grace, our faith.
And then he says, and that not of yourselves.
He says look, he's wanting to make sure you understand.
This is not something you produce.
This is not something you do.
This is not something you work up or you work out.
It's not of yourselves.
Then he says this.
It is the gift of God.
He says look, salvation is the gift of God.
Now we understand this.
I mean you could talk to a young child and they would understand this.
A gift by definition is free.
You don't earn it.
You don't work for it.
If you earn it and if you work for it, then it's not a gift.
And the Bible teaches clearly, in fact you don't have to go there, I'll just read these
for you.
Romans 6.23, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
The gift is free.
Look, if you go to work and you work hard, 40 hours, 50 hours, 60 hours, however much
you work, all week long, and then your boss shows up on Friday and says, I've got a surprise
for you.
I've got a special gift for you.
Merry Christmas.
Happy birthday.
And he has your paycheck.
Wouldn't you be offended?
This isn't a gift.
I worked for this.
I earned this.
See, a gift is free.
Now if you did nothing and said hey, I've got a gift for you, here you go, man, thank
you, wow, I don't deserve this, I didn't earn this.
A gift is free.
And the Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.
It is the gift of God.
Now here's where I wanted to talk about Calvinism or Calvinists.
Calvinists will teach, and they'll take this, Ephesians 2.8, and they'll teach that it's
actually the faith that's the gift.
And they'll say, no, no, see, God gives you the faith, and that's why they don't believe
that we take part in salvation, that there's any decision or choice that we make.
Because they'll say, if you have faith, it's because God gave it to you.
And they'll say, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God.
And they'll say, see, it is the gift of God.
That's referring to faith.
Now there's lots of problems with that, but let me just show you the problem just in this
verse.
Here's what I think is interesting about Calvinists.
They like to act like they're all these really smart, look at all these big books that I
read, look how smart I am.
And then they go to Ephesians 2.8 and they're like, it is the gift of God is referring to
faith.
Now wait a minute.
That doesn't make any sense if you read the Bible.
But even if you just look at this verse, Ephesians 2.8, look at what it says, four.
I want you to notice these two words, by grace.
Now that phrase, by grace, when I was in school, I went to a Christian school, and I went through
a curriculum that a lot of the homeschoolers here use, it's called ACE.
And ACE back then, it's gotten a lot better, and it's really good now, my kids use it.
But back then, ACE had its reputation, it wasn't really good.
And it's like, Rebecca was better and all these other places were better.
But one thing ACE was good for was they drilled us on dissecting sentences.
I mean, there was pace after pace after pace of dissecting sentences and dissecting sentences
and dissecting sentences.
Some of you kids are going through this in school.
I know one of my sons is going through this in school, so maybe this will sound a little
familiar to you.
But I want you to notice this phrase, by grace.
That phrase, by grace, is a prepositional phrase.
And I had to ask my wife and my son about this before the sermon, all right, just to
refresh me.
It's a prepositional phrase.
The word by is a preposition.
Now a prepositional phrase, what it does is that it modifies the object in the sentence.
Notice he says for by grace, but that's not a complete statement.
You can't just say for by grace, period.
Do you understand that?
It's a prepositional phrase that is modifying the object.
Here's the sentence, are ye saved?
Where if we were to turn it around without the prepositions, we would probably say ye
are saved.
Right?
Ye is the subject.
Are is the present tense verb.
Saved is the object that's being modified by the prepositional phrase, by grace.
Saved or are saved is by grace.
Do you understand that?
Here's another prepositional phrase, through faith.
The word through is a preposition.
Through faith is a prepositional phrase.
It is modifying the idea, the object, are saved.
Ye are the subject, are saved.
Look, ye are saved or are ye saved?
You could put a period there and it would be a complete sentence.
For by grace, prepositional phrase, that is modifying the ye are saved or are ye saved.
Through faith, prepositional phrase, that is modifying ye are saved or are ye saved.
Notice and that.
Now the word that is referring back to being saved.
That not of yourselves.
What's not of yourselves?
Being saved.
It is referring back to the that, which is referring back to the saved.
It is the gift of God.
So what is the gift of God?
It's being saved.
It's not the faith.
You say, well I don't know if that's really the right way.
Well here's the thing about prepositional phrases, is that you could actually put parentheses
around them and cross them out when you're dissecting a sentence.
You can completely just remove a prepositional phrase and still have a complete sentence.
In fact when you're dissecting sentences, they have you put parentheses around them
because a parenthetical statement can be removed from a sentence and you'll still have a complete
sentence.
You could read for are ye saved and that not of yourselves, which is a prepositional phrase,
it is the gift of God.
You could remove by grace and through faith.
So here's what's interesting about the Calvinists.
They'll tell you, oh no the gift is faith, but the word faith could be removed from this
sentence and you still have a complete sentence.
You just look at it and it's clear, unless you've got some bias, that the gift is being
saved.
It is not faith.
It's not that God gives you the faith in order to be saved because he chose you and he didn't
choose somebody else.
No look, God gives you the grace and he gives it to you through your faith.
You've got to funnel down that grace through faith and you say, well I don't buy it.
How about this, for the wages in his death but the gift of God is eternal life.
It doesn't say the gift is faith, it says the gift is eternal life.
How about this, John 4 10, Jesus answered and said unto her, if thou knewest the gift
of God and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him
and he would have given thee faith.
Is that what he said?
No.
Living water.
Which is what he's talking about.
He's using that as an example of salvation.
Then he tells them that if you drink the water, you'll never thirst again because it's everlasting.
So salvation is not of works, why?
Because it is the gift of God.
And a gift by definition is free.
Let me give you the last one, look at verse 9.
Not of works, then he says this, lest any man should boast.
How do we know that salvation is not of works?
Well we know it's not of works because it's by grace.
We know it's not of works because it's through faith.
We know it's not of works because it's not of yourselves.
We know it's not of works because it is the gift of God.
But here's how we also know it's not of works, because he says lest, he says unless any man
should boast.
Now what does the word boast mean?
It means to brag.
It means to gloat.
It means to show off, go to Romans chapter 4.
The word boast means to brag, to show off, to gloat.
There's another word in our King James Bible that's used synonymously with the word boast
and it's this word glory.
Romans 4.1.
Now the word glory can be used different ways in different contexts, but I want you to see
it here in Romans 4.1.
Remember Paul is giving us this little discussion, right?
He says, what shall we say then that Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh hath
found?
He says, look, let's talk about Abraham.
What is it that Abraham found?
Because he says, well Abraham started this whole thing called believing on the Lord Jesus
Christ, calling upon the Lord that morphed into New Testament Christianity.
He says, what is it exactly that Abraham found?
Verse 2.
For if, now look, he's not saying that this happened to Abraham, he's just using this
as a hypothetical.
He says, if Abraham were justified by works, he's not saying Abraham was justified by
works, but he's saying, let's just pretend that Abraham was justified by works.
If Abraham were justified by works, he says, he hath whereof to glory.
Here's what he's saying.
Because the word glory means to brag, to gloat, to show off, to boast.
Here's what he's saying.
If Abraham was justified by the works that he did, he would have something to boast about,
brag about, show off about, gloat about.
He would have whereof to glory, but then Paul answers our question, he says, but not before
God.
You say, why is that?
Well, Romans 3.23, you can look at it in the chapter before.
Where all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Do you know how nobody's going to get up to heaven and boast and brag and gloat before
God?
We all come short of the glory of God.
But you say, salvation's not of works, yeah, here's why.
Not only because it's by grace, not only because it's through faith, not only because it's
the gift of God, not only because it's not of yourself, it's also not of works because
the Bible says that here's how salvation works.
Once you have it, you can't boast about it.
You can't brag about it.
You can't gloat about it.
You can't show off about it.
I had a pastor who would often tell this story, he said he was out swanning.
One time he knocked on the door and this elderly, very stately, dignified lady comes to the
door and he asks her this question, he says, do you know if you were to die today, are
you on your way to heaven?
And she said, oh sure, I believe I'm on my way to heaven.
And he asked something along the lines of, well, what is it that gives you that confidence
that you're on your way to heaven?
What are you trusting in to get you to heaven?
And she began to give him this list of things and she said, well, you know, I've taught
Sunday school for 30 years and I raised good children and I live a good life and I volunteer
and I give to the church and I give to this charity and she gave him this whole list of
reasons why she thought she was on her way to heaven.
He opened up his Bible and went to Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 and he read these words for her.
He said, for by grace are you saved through faith.
And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should
boast.
And she looked at him and she said, oh, I've been boasting, haven't I?
And really that's what, look, if you are trusting in your works, oh, pastor, you know, I used
to be a drug addict and I turned away from that and that's why, look, I hope you turn
away from that, but that's not going to get you to heaven because if you could, you could
boast about it.
You could brag about it.
You could gloat about it.
What's salvation?
Salvation is this.
I was a helpless sinner on my way to hell and Jesus saved me by grace.
I didn't deserve it.
By grace, I didn't earn it.
By grace, it was unmerited.
He did all the work and all I did was believe and he saved me.
So how do we know that salvation is not of works?
Well, we know because it's by grace and we know because it's through faith and well,
because it's not of yourselves and we know because it is the gift of God.
And we know because once you have it, he says, lest any man should boast.
So here's point number one.
Salvation is not of works.
That was the longest point.
I won't go so long on the other ones, I promise.
Here's point number two.
We understand that salvation is not of works, but we do also have to understand this, that
salvation is just the first step in a new life called Christianity.
Now for some people, it may be the only step.
All they ever do is get saved and praise the Lord for it.
We'll see him in heaven.
But that's not God's will, so I want you to understand this.
Number one, salvation is not of works, but number two, sanctification is God working
on us.
Are you there in Ephesians 2?
Look at verse 10.
Now in verses eight and nine, he just gave us these great arguments for why we don't
earn salvation and salvation is not of works.
Then in verse 10, he says this, for we, we who just realize that salvation is not of
works is by grace, through faith, not of yourselves, gift of God.
He says, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
I love the fact that in the next verse, he says, now wait a minute, I just got done explaining
to you that salvation is not of works, but I want you to understand this.
Once you get saved, you didn't work to get saved, but once you're saved, God goes to
work on you.
For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus.
Go to Romans chapter eight if you would, if you kept your place in Romans, Romans chapter
eight.
Do you understand that God is working on us?
God is working on us to make us like Christ.
Romans 8, 28, the Bible says this, and we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.
Usually we go to this passage when somebody is going through a trial or a struggle or
something difficult, and that's a good verse to go to, but the reason that Paul says this
is because he's about to tell us in verse 29, he says this, for whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate, here's a good verse for Calvinists, to be saved.
Is that what it says?
No.
These people are already saved.
He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son.
What did God predestinate you?
What did he predestinate me?
He predestinated us, once we got saved, to be conformed to the image of his son.
And by the way, that's why he says in verse 28, hey, all things work together for good
because hey, Job, sometimes God allows things into our lives because he's working on us.
When we come forth, we shall come forth as gold.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
If you're there in Ephesians, if you kept your place in Ephesians, go to Philippians
chapter 1.
Philippians chapter 1.
Here's what I want you to see in Romans 8.
God is working on you to make you like Christ.
God wants you to be like Christ.
That's why we're called followers of Christ.
We're following in his footsteps.
We're disciples of Christ.
We're trying to live a disciplined life, to be like Christ.
That's why they call us Christians because we're supposed to be like Christ.
He predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his son, Philippians 1.6.
Being confident of this very thing.
From Ephesians, you've got Philippians in the next book, Ephesians, Philippians 1.6.
Being confident of this very thing that he, God, which has begun a good work in you, will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
You realize that God has begun a good work in you?
God's working on you.
You don't work to get saved, but once you're saved, there's this process called sanctification
and God goes to work on you.
God goes to work with you.
And by the way, this is also the context.
In Philippians chapter 2, we have this other verse that people like to take out of context
and try to add works to salvation.
I'll show it to you quickly.
Philippians 2.12.
People don't get it that before you get to Philippians 2.12, you should have read Philippians
1.6, which says that God has begun a good work in you and will perform it until the
day of Jesus Christ.
And in Philippians 2.12, the Bible says this, wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed,
not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence.
People love to take this verse out of context.
They'll say, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
So you see that verse says you've got to work out your own salvation.
You've got to work out your own salvation.
That proves that you've got to work your way to heaven.
Well, wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
It says work out your own salvation.
Now if it said work through your own salvation, I might see the point.
If it said work to get your own salvation, I might see your point.
Well, it says work out your own salvation.
The idea is this.
You already have it.
It's just on the inside.
And look, do you know when you got saved, it happened on the inside?
Do you know that the Holy Spirit came to live inside of you?
Do you know that the new man was created, quickened inside of you?
But God says, look, I'll save you on the inside all day long if that's what you want.
But I'd like for that salvation, I'd like for that spirituality, I'd like for that Holy
Spirit to kind of work out of you a little bit.
He says work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
He says, look, salvation happens on the inside.
You believe in your heart.
You do it in your mind.
You believe inside.
He says, but what happens on the inside?
He says, now we got to work it out.
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
You say, I think that's your spit on it.
Okay, well look at verse 13.
For it is God which worketh in you.
Isn't that exactly what we've been seeing this whole time?
God's doing a work on you.
He has begun a good work in you.
And he will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
He says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh
in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Let me tell you something.
Salvation is not of works.
Sanctification is God working on you and God going to work in you and he's going to do
it.
You say, when will you be done?
Until the day of Christ, until the rapture, until you get rid of this corruptible flesh
and put on immortality.
We won't go to all that.
You don't have to turn.
God is for you.
First John 3, one and two, if you want to jot it down, the Bible says, behold what manner
of love the Father had bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God.
Therefore the world knoweth us not because it knew him not.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but
we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is.
God will begin.
He has begun a good work in you and he will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
So I said, number one, salvation is not of works and I said, number two, sanctification
is God working in you.
Number three, we'll do this quickly, go back to Ephesians 2, service, service is us working
for God.
For salvation, did you miss the first 20 minutes of the sermon?
No.
Well, why would I work for God?
Maybe because if you deserve to die and go to hell and you were given something you didn't
deserve, you got grace, unmerited, undeserved, maybe just because you love him.
Maybe just because you're grateful.
Maybe just because you're thankful.
Service is us working for God, Ephesians 2, 10.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, that's sanctification,
which God hath before ordained to your service that we should walk in them.
That we should walk in what?
Good works.
Ephesians 4-11, you're there in Ephesians 2, just flip a couple of chapters over, we're
almost done, I promise.
We're gonna look at three passages, Ephesians 4-11.
And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors, right?
That's me.
So why are you in my life?
God gave me to you.
And teachers, why?
Here's why, here's why.
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of
the body of Christ.
Ever since I came to the Baptist church and pastor started being my pastor, I'm so busy
now.
He's got me playing instruments and cleaning and soul winning and this and that and this
ministry and that ministry and all these things.
Hey, that's why, for the work of the ministry.
See, we go and tell you, hey, God will save you, you gotta do nothing, you gotta do nothing
to be saved.
And then when you're saved, we're like, we got so much for you to do.
Why?
Because salvation is not of works.
In fact, in vacation, is God working on us?
And service is us out of a heart for God, working for him, for the work of the ministry.
Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 9, 2 Corinthians 9, are there any Ephesians?
Just go backwards, Galatians, 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 9, look at verse 8.
Ephesians, Galatians, 2 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 8, we'll look at a couple of verses,
we'll finish up.
2 Corinthians 9, 8, and God is able to make all grace abound toward you.
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, praise the Lord for that.
That ye always having all sufficiency in all things, notice, God gave you, God makes all
grace abound, God saved you, why?
That you would have sufficiency in all things, and that you may abound to every good work.
See, God did not save you to sit, he saved you to work, he said that you may abound in
every good work.
Go to 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 58, just one book over and we're
done.
1 Corinthians 15, 58, yes, I did do it, I preached 45 minutes on three verses, you're
welcome.
What are you going to say about these three verses?
1 Corinthians 15, 58, therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord.
For as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain, when we got saved, we are not
saved by works, but when God begins to do the process of sanctification and he begins
to work in us, the natural byproduct of that should be that you and I get to work.
And that is the theology of works in the Bible, that's it.
Salvation by works, no.
What's sanctification?
God working on you.
And what's Christian service?
Us working for God.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer, heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for your
word, thank you for the Bible.
And Lord, I realize that there's probably nothing said tonight that we haven't already
heard and understand and believe, but it's good to be reminded.
It's good to shore us up.
It's good to make us grateful that, wow, we really didn't deserve undeserved, unmerited.
He didn't have to, but he chose to.
And then he took an interest in me, he not only saved me, but he begins to work on me.
And help me, Lord, and help all of us out of a heart, out of a heart of just thankfulness
to get to work for him.
Help us to be able to labor together with God.
In the matchless name of Christ, we pray, amen.