And That Not Of Yourselves ...
And That Not Of Yourselves ...
In the book of Ephesians, the great apostle Paul wrote, "For by grace
you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the
gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). So far on this program we have examined
grace, faith, and salvation. Today, we will focus on the expression "and
that not of yourselves." There is a lot in that short phrase -- much
more than meets the eye, so stay tuned and study it with me. We'll
begin that study in just a minute or so.
In just under an hour the West End Church of Christ will begin Bible
classes and I really mean it when I say I believe they are some of the
finest classes any local church ever conducted. But, I don't ask you to
take my word for it. Find out for yourself. Come and study the Bible
with us at 9 a.m. this morning. Bring your children. Let them have the
exposure of the divine light of gospel truths shining in their hearts
today. You know this is the first day of the week -- and it is the best
way to get geared up for the remaining six. So, get ready and come on
out to our Bible classes. After Bible classes we meet for worship and
would like to have you with us then also. Tonight at 6 p.m. we meet
again, then again next Wednesday at 7 p.m. You don't have to have
anything but an earnest desire to learn something about the greatest
message of all time. Just come and visit with us. Our meeting house is
located on Old Morgantown Road and Parkside Drive, just across from
Lampkin Park and Tapp's Drive-in, formerly known as A & W Root Beer
Restaurant. Its easy to find and you'll find it a rewarding experience.
When Paul said "and that not of yourselves" he was talking to the
Ephesians about their salvation by grace through their faith. It is as
if he had said, "you didn't save yourselves." "You could not have
saved yourselves." There is a very obvious reason why they could not
save themselves. Only divine grace is saving grace. No mere mortal has
it within his power to generate such grace. I don't mean to repeat, but
go back with me to a point made on the very first broadcast we made.
Paul wrote to a young evangelist named Titus as follows: "For the grace
of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope
and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who
gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and
purify for Himself His own special people, zealous of good works."
(Titus 2:11-14) The grace of God that "brings salvation" -- that's the
kind of grace we're concerned with here. Salvation is the product of
grace and grace is that unmerited favor only God Almighty can bestow.
Grace that saves is "not of yourselves." Furthermore, the grace that
saves is a teaching grace. How does grace teach us? Paul said it was
accomplished by the information from above that calls upon man to deny
ungodliness and worldly lusts and to look anxiously for the coming of
our Lord. Ungodliness is that which is unlike God, Ungodliness goes
against everything God wants. It is for everything Satan wants. What
is it that teaches all men to deny ungodliness? It is the plain and
unadulterated gospel of Christ, the word of the Living God. Paul wrote
to the church in Thessalonica, "For they themselves declare unto us what
manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to
serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom
He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to
come" (I Thessalonians 1:9-10). It was the "entry" of the apostle Paul
and Silas into Thessalonica that brought the information which caused
these people to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and begin looking for
the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at how this harmonizes so beautifully with Titus 2. The teaching
grace is equated with the entry of inspired men like Paul and Silas.
The denial of ungodliness equates the turning to God from idols. The
looking for the glorious appearing of Christ is simply stated again in
Paul's recognition of the Christians in Thessalonica who were waiting
for the Son of God from heaven. And finally the redemption that comes
to all the saved is mentioned in both texts. This all emphasizes that
grace teaches a man what to do to be saved and what to continue doing to
keep saved -- and that not of yourselves. What man could know how to
deny ungodliness and worldly lusts all by himself? See if you can find
any group of people in any century of history who, without God Almighty,
ever accomplished anything even nearly approaching Christianity that is
morally correct and true. Find anything that lifted their spirits
above the beast of the field. Such a society cannot be found.
Since humans, unaided by divine power, are unable to provide a way of
salvation for themselves, the whole creation must turn to a higher
power. You may have heard of the humanistic movement -- that it is
man's way of saving himself -- that it is man deifying himself and
denying God. As such, humanism is the very opposite of Christianity.
Humanism stands on the platform that salvation is of man and
Christianity on the platform "and that not of yourselves." Salvation to
the humanist is a very limited salvation -- the reduction of poverty,
illiteracy, ignorance, and injustice. And that is all there is for
humanism. There is nothing that promises anything of worth beyond death
-- absolutely nothing.
Those who accept the instruction of God's grace and live accordingly,
will accomplish all that humanism proposes to address and more -- it is
the only thing that has the promise of a good life now and a much better
life later. Listen again to Paul. "For bodily exercise profits a
little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of
the life that now is and of that which is to come" (I Timothy 4:8). It
would be wisdom to trash all that humanism offers. You will not lose
anything of value to this world. The course of real wisdom is to
recognize how frail we really are and lean upon the Almighty and learn
His ways. Life is not of ourselves.
Here are some other verses to consider. The Psalmist wrote, "Lord, make
me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know
how frail I am" (Psalm 39:4). Here is another reason why salvation is
"not of yourselves?" Saving mankind is accomplished only by power --
much greater power than any group of men could muster. And the power
unleashed on the darkest sinner is the gospel of Christ. Paul said he
was not ashamed of the gospel, "for it is the power of God unto
salvation, to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16). Here's another
verse: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own
understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct
your paths" (Proverbs 3;5). Those who devise their own methods of
salvation, those ways men proclaim with no biblical basis, do not trust
the Lord; they lean on their own understanding. To parrot the
expression, "Accept Jesus as your personal Savior," says nothing at all
about obedience to His gospel. What biblical basis does it have? Until
someone shows me to the contrary, I say it has none -- absolutely no
basis at all from divine information. If by accepting Christ as
personal Savior is meant "just believe in Him and nothing more" you just
try to find that in His word. Your eyes will dim with the sunset of
life before you find it.
One final verse probably summarizes the whole thought. A great man of
the Old Testament spoke to his own people who had been seeking every
possible way of extricating themselves from peril after peril, ignoring
the one and only way of relief. It was the firm and faithful voice of
Jeremiah who said to them, "For the shepherds have become dull-hearted,
and have not sought the Lord; therefore they shall not prosper, and all
their flocks shall be scattered. Behold the noise of the report has
come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities
of Judah desolate, a den of jackals. O Lord, I know the way of man is
not in himself; if it not in man who walks to direct his steps"
(Jeremiah 10:21-23). Jeremiah was the only one in Judah, apparently,
who knew that. The Shepherds (the Pastors of Judah) had become dull-
hearted and had not sought the Lord. Maybe they were much like the
modern day "Pastor" who is more organizer, manager, promoter, and
administrator than spiritual leader or Bible teacher. When "Pastors"
are experts in organizational skills, but sadly ignorant of divine
truths, they invariably lead their flocks to be scattered. But those,
like Jeremiah, trusting only in what Jehovah God has revealed, only in
what the Lord Jesus Christ authorized, only what His special servants
(the apostles) taught, they have surrendered completely to nothing more
than the will of God. Their salvation is the only way to be saved -- it
is not of themselves.
Every human doctrine, found in all the various creeds, disciplines, and
catechisms deny that salvation is of yourselves. Those who produce
creedal dictums belie the simple statement that salvation is "not of
yourselves." However, those who commit themselves to be completely
obedient to Christ from the heart without any question at all, are
saved. Theirs is a sure salvation because they have listened carefully
to only the gospel of Christ and obeyed it.
Here's a test case: Someone tells a sinner to accept Christ. The
sinner asks simply, "How do I do that?" He is told, "All you have to do
is believe right now that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God."
"You mean, that's it?" the sinner counters. "Absolutely." "No
obedience at all, nothing to do at all, just believe?" the sinner
continues. He is assured that nothing beyond the simple act of faith is
essential. Another tells the same sinner, "You must believe in Jesus
Christ as the Son of God and obey Him, obey His commands in order to be
saved." The sinner asks, "What is involved in this obedience after I
believe." He is then told, "Well, let Jesus tell you. 'He who
believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe
will be condemned'." He is told that the verse is found in Mark 16:15.
If he believes the first answer will he be saved? No, if he is so
foolish to believe the first he will be lost. If he believes and obeys
the second answer, he will have obeyed the Christ who died for him. His
salvation will be beyond question and dispute.
I witnessed a very frightening sight several years ago. Two preachers
were discussing this very thought. One of them wrote the following two
short statements on a piece of paper. The first was, "He who believes
and is baptized shall be saved." The second was "He who believes and is
not baptized shall be saved." He asked the other preacher to mark
through the one he thought was wrong. Do you have any idea what the man
did? He marked them both out. In so doing, he actually marked out as
wrong the very words of Jesus Christ.
Will you consider that now? Salvation is "not of yourself" -- it is of
God and I want to urge you to just think carefully about your own life.
Is it right with God? How would you know how to make it right? There
is only one sure way and that is to measure it by what you can read in
the Bible in language plain enough to fully comprehend. I hope you will
do it -- do it today -- and be saved.
Now, before we close -- here's the address for receiving our paper. It
is West End Church of Christ, 1609 Parkside Drive, Bowling Green, KY.
42101. Our phone number is 842-7880. If you want the paper, just send
us a card or letter with your mailing address -- and remember we do not
accept donations for anything -- everything we offer is at our own
expense. We're not interested in making money -- only in making
disciples for Christ.
Until next Lord's Day, study your Bible daily, learn all you can, and
think about the Lord every day of your life. We'll be back again next
Sunday -- hope you will too. Till then, God bless and keep you and
yours. Will you be with us in our Bible Study today?
Radio Sermon No. 4
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Lyrics, Chords Tabs Rated
Children's NT Studies
