Tough 5

"But, then, thanks be to God, by the grace of God and the working of the Holy Spirit the truth about salvation begins once again to dawn in the heart of the church. Saul of Tarsus thought he was a Christian - if I may use that language - he thought he was right with God. He then learned he was not. He came to realize that all of his religious life and activity was a false trail, taking him away from God. His discovery of that fact revolutionized his life and then the world.

And it was precisely the same 1500 years later with Martin Luther. He thought he was a Christian. The church told him he was. But he learned by his study of God's Word that he was not: that all the things he had been counting on - all the things he had been taught to count on - had nothing to do with obtaining peace with God. His discovery of the grace of God, of salvation as God's gift, revolutionized his life and, through him, revolutionized the world. He began preaching the message that Paul taught with all the zeal of a man who had found the truth and had been set free by it and countless others encountered the grace of God through his writings and, in turn, began preaching it to others."- Rev. Dr. Robert S. Rayburn

"All of this, Paul never tires of saying, means that our salvation from start to finish is God's doing, is God's gift, is God's love, is God's power, is God's decision. That is, salvation is sola gratia, by grace alone!"- Rev. Dr. Robert S. Rayburn



http://www.faithtacoma.org/sermons/Ephesians/Eph_2.1-10.Oct28.01.htm