Since By Grace, Why Be Steadfast?

Date: April 28, 2002-Sunday Morning Adult Bible Class
Speaker: George Bailey (during a Gospel Meeting April 28 through May 1, 2002, at the Northeast church of Christ, Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Main Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-10

It’s by the grace of the Lord that we’re here to talk about grace. We’re happy that all of you have come to be with us. You might go through the passages that you call to mind in the New Testament that have to do with grace, and we hope to touch upon these during the course of our studies now through Wednesday night. And of course, the most familiar one is Ephesians 2:8-10: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, 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.”

When the Lord said, “by grace have we been saved…,” He didn’t put a “period” there. He continued to say, “through faith.” Grace is God’s part; faith is man’s part. But does man really have any part at all to play in salvation? Aren’t we told in Psalms 3, verse 8 that, “Salvation belongs to the Lord”? And isn’t Christ the only One Who can give us salvation? Yet He said, “by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast,” verses 8-9. Yet in verse 10, He said, “we are His workmanship.” Didn’t He just get through saying it’s “not of works, lest any man should boast”? And now He’s saying, “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus out of good works”? No, that’s the wrong preposition, and the wrong preposition would make the wrong proposition! Had He said we’re created “out of” good works, then He would have gone against what was said in verse 8. It wouldn’t be by grace. There is a difference in being created “out of good works” and created “unto good works.”

So you might wonder why these themes for the lessons: “Since by Grace, Why Steadfastness?”—or “Since by Grace, Why Anything Else?”—or “Since by Grace, Why Aren’t All Saved?” “Since by Grace, Why Obedience?” “Since by Grace, Why baptism?” “Since by Grace, Why the Church”—as if to say that, if it’s by grace, is there anything else? Is there anything on man’s part? In Philippians 2:12, Paul said “work out your own salvation.” He didn’t say “work for it.” That would be the wrong preposition again, and it would make the wrong proposition. But he said “work out.” There’s a difference. The next verse says, “it is God Who worketh in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” Men have learned at great expense that you never work oil “out of the ground,” unless somewhere along the way it’s been worked “into the ground.” If God hadn’t “worked in,” verse 13, you couldn’t “work out,” verse 12. You just simply “work out” what God “worked in.” He worked in the possibility, and now we work out the probability. But there has to be the possibility, or there would be no probability.

So let’s talk about steadfastness. The question is: Does it really have anything in it [steadfastness] that is contrary to grace? No—there is God’s part and that part is most important. Without that part, nothing else would matter.

Then later we’re going to talk about what grace is and what it isn’t, and what it does, and so forth, because there has been so much misunderstanding about grace. The general idea is that if it’s by grace, then that’s all there is. But today we’re going to talk about if that’s the case [saved by grace alone], then why aren’t all people saved? No, there is something on man’s part.

In Revelation 3, verses 20 and 21, “I stand at the door, and knock.” It’s interesting that doors were not a barrier to Jesus. In John 20 [verse 19], after His resurrection, the disciples were meeting behind locked doors, and He appeared. They didn’t even have to open the door, because doors were not a barrier to Him! There’s one door that he definitely respects, and that’s the heart’s door. And if that door is open, it will always be opened from within and not from without. And so He said, “I stand at the door”—not at the “window looking in”—“I stand at the door” wanting to come in. And He said, “I knock and if any man will open the door”—there’s a “condition.” So much in the New Testament has to do with “conditions.” We’ll talk about that in a moment. “If any man opens that door, then I will come in and will sup with him and he with Me.” It’s by grace that the Lord appeared at that door. It’s by grace that He made it possible that this man might open that door and the Lord would come in unto him.

No man accidentally becomes a Christian. No man accidentally lives a faithful Christian life. We don’t all of a sudden find that, without realizing it, we’re Christians, we’ve been bought with the blood, and our names are in the book of life. No, it’s not accidental that we become Christians! It’s not accidental that we remain faithful Christians. You see, “if” is the condition. There’s always an “if” in the middle of life when you spell the word, l-if-e, and also when you live it. For instance, in John 8:31-32, “if you abide in My Word,” which means there is the possibility of not abiding in that Word. But “if you abide in My Word, then”—that’s an adverb of time. When?—“When you abide in My Word”—not untilthen. “If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples and you shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free.” But I thought that the Lord said, “by grace have you been saved.”And then later He said, “not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.”But here are some conditions that would make us realize that maybe we haven’t gotten the whole picture. It’s still by the grace of God, and without that grace, there would be no salvation at all.