Study Guide
Lesson 1
We can become so familiar with a certain passage of Scripture that we don’t really know what it says. We don’t pay attention to it anymore because it has become so common to us. Ephesians 2:8-9 has become one such passage for many believers.
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.
There are some profound truths revealed here, one of which is that we are saved by grace through faith.
The body of Christ is basically divided into two groups: those who emphasize grace (what God does) and those who emphasize faith (what we do).
The first group preaches that everything is totally up to God. They say, “It’s just the sovereignty of God. It’s whatever He chooses.” The second group teaches, “No, you have to do this and that, and this and that.” Those who preach man’s responsibility will normally say that those teaching that it’s all up to God are totally wrong. And those who preach that it’s all up to God will teach against those who say, “No, you have to do some things.”
You might phrase this same issue differently, but it all comes down to which part is God’s and which part is yours. God’s Word clearly reveals a balance between grace and faith.
Appeared to All Men
Even though the body of Christ typically divides into two camps—one emphasizing what God has to do and the other emphasizing what we have to do—Ephesians 2:8-9 says that we are saved by grace through faith. We aren’t saved only by grace nor only by faith.
Now, to be technically accurate, there is a parenthetical phrase in the last part of verse 5, which says:
(By grace ye are saved).
Ephesians 2:5
I’m not arguing that it’s wrong to say that we are saved by grace. But technically, it’s not grace alone that saves us. It’s really important that we understand this point. God has done so much for us by grace, but for us to receive what He has done, there must be a positive response on our part, which is what the Bible calls “faith.” There has to be a combination of both grace and faith.
You aren’t saved by grace alone.
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.
Titus 2:11
Grace is what God does for you. It’s His part. It is something that was done for you before you existed. Grace has nothing to do with you. By definition, it is “unmerited, unearned, undeserved favor.” If grace is something that God does and if grace alone saved people, then every person would be saved, because Titus 2:11 reveals that the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to everyone.
God’s Grace
God’s grace is the same toward everyone. God has been exactly the same toward every person who has ever lived. But you may be wondering, Then how come so and so got healed and I didn’t? Why did God touch them and not me? The problem is, you think that when you see something happen, all of a sudden God has done something or provided something for that person that He hasn’t provided for you. God’s grace is the same toward everybody, because it’s not based on, or tied to, what you do. God, by grace, has already brought salvation to every person on the face of this earth (Titus 2:11).
This is not something that is commonly understood. Most people believe that it’s their performance that earns them extra pull and favor to get the power of God operating in their lives. But the truth is, the moment you begin relating God’s blessing—the manifestation of His power in your life—to anything you’ve done, you have just voided grace, because you’ve made God’s blessing and manifestation in your life proportional to something that you’ve done. If you think that way, then you don’t understand the grace of God.
God, by grace, has already provided everything for you before you ever needed it. Take, for instance, salvation. Many people think that you have to ask God to forgive your sins and for Jesus to come into your heart to receive salvation. They will pray, “Jesus, would You please come into my life?” They tell others, “Just ask Christ to come into your life.” That’s not what salvation is.
A Non-issue
Acts 16:30-31 is a scriptural example of someone receiving salvation. Paul and Silas were in the Philippian jail, and the jailer came to them and asked,
Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Acts 16:30
They didn’t answer by saying, “Ask Jesus to come into your life” or “Repent of your sins, and quit doing this and that.” They simply responded,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.
Acts 16:31
Believe what? It’s not just believe that Jesus existed or that He came to earth.
Jesus didn’t die only for the people whom He knew would accept Him someday.
He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 John 2:2
Jesus died for every sinner who has ever lived on this earth. And He died for our sins two thousand years ago, long before we ever committed them. The Lord doesn’t wait until we ask Him “Please come into my heart” to forgive us of our sins. The radical truth is that the sins of the entire world are already forgiven.
God forgave your sins before you existed. Before you were ever born, all of your sins were forgiven. Before you had ever committed a sin, God forgave them. Your sins are forgiven. Sin is actually a non-issue with God.
Already Been Forgiven
This is not the message of the church today. The church is basically preaching that every time you sin, it’s an affront against God. They say, “You have to get that sin forgiven and under the blood before God can move in your life.” That’s not what the Scriptures teach. The Word reveals that your sins are already forgiven. You don’t have to ask God to forgive you your sins or ask Him to come into your life. What you have to do is believe the Gospel—that Jesus has already come, already died, and already forgiven the sins of the world.
Someone might say, “Well, then, if that’s true, then everybody’s saved, right?” No, because grace alone doesn’t save. God, by grace, has made the provision and paid for every person’s sins. People aren’t going to hell for sexual immorality, murder, lying, or stealing. All of those sins have been paid for. The sin that is going to send people to hell is the singular sin of rejecting Jesus as their personal Savior. This is what the Bible reveals in John 16.
When he [the Holy Spirit] is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.
John 16:8, brackets mine
Then in verse 9, Jesus explained what that sin is that the Holy Spirit would reprove the world of. It’s the sin of not believing on Jesus.
Of sin, because they believe not on me.
John 16:9
The church has been misrepresenting the Holy Spirit by saying, “He’s here to nail you every time you lie, cheat, and steal. He’ll get you every time you don’t study the Word or do this and not that.” This has made us sin conscious. It’s magnified sin. But the truth is, Jesus has already paid for that. The Holy Spirit is only dealing with this one issue: Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? If you have made Jesus your Lord, then all of your sins—past, present, and even future sins (sins you haven’t committed yet)—have already been forgiven.
Identical Toward Us All
That truth would get me kicked out of most churches. It’s why my citywide meetings are normally held in a neutral venue, like a hotel or conference center. There aren’t very many churches that will let me share these truths, because they’re just so radical.
Sin has already been dealt with by grace (Heb. 9-10). If it’s by grace, then that means it isn’t dependent on whether you’ve asked Him to forgive you or not. The truth is, God provided salvation for the entire human race by grace.
Again, Titus 2:11 says,
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.
God’s grace is exactly the same toward everybody—not only to you, but to every person on the face of the earth. Adolf Hitler had as much grace extended toward him as you and I have had extended toward us. Every person who has done terrible things in the history of the world, Jesus loved them, died for them, and paid for their sins exactly the same as He did for all of the people who have received Him, love Him, and seek Him. The grace of God is identical toward us all.
God, by grace, has already provided healing for everybody. One of my staff members who works at our citywide meetings used to be a quadriplegic. Now he’s up walking around and doing great. He was supernaturally healed. Every quadriplegic has had the same exact grace extended toward them. God isn’t different toward any of us.
Radical Truth
The moment you start saying, “Well, why did God heal him? Why did He heal her of cancer? Why did God do this for them, yet He hasn’t done it for me?” The moment you start thinking like that, you have to factor in your performance. “Well, I haven’t prayed enough. I haven’t done enough of this, or enough of that. This is why God hasn’t done it.” That’s totally wrong thinking.
The grace of God is consistent. He’s the same toward everybody. God is no respecter of persons (Rom. 2:11). He doesn’t love one person more than He loves another. He hasn’t provided more for one person than He’s provided for another. God has forgiven the sins of the entire human race. Does that mean that everybody is saved? No, because not everybody has put faith in what God did by grace. Grace is what God does for us independently of us.
Prior to you existing, before you even had the need, God had already created the supply. Before you ever get discouraged, God has already blessed you with all spiritual blessings. He’s already abounded toward you. You don’t have to ask the Lord to give you joy and peace, to heal you, prosper you, or to save you. You don’t have to ask. He’s already provided before you ever had the problem. That’s awesome!
God, by grace, has already done everything. He anticipated every need you could ever have, and He already met all of those needs through Christ. Jesus was how God intervened in the affairs of man. Jesus is how God provided everything, and that happened two thousand years ago. Jesus hasn’t died for a single person’s sins since. He hasn’t healed a single person since two thousand years ago when He took stripes on His back. Salvation, healing, and deliverance have already been provided. When people today hear the truth and believe, all of a sudden what God has already provided by grace becomes a reality to them. As they mix faith with the Word of God, what He has already done by grace begins to manifest in their lives.
You’re saved by grace through faith, not one or the other. That is a radical truth, which I’ll be teaching and explaining for the rest of this study. Understanding this foundational truth will make a huge difference in your life.
Poison
It’s like sodium and chloride. Both sodium and chloride are poisons. If you take either one of them by themselves in sufficient quantity, they’ll kill you. Yet, if you mix sodium and chloride together, it becomes salt, and you’ll die if you don’t have it.
If all you emphasize is “Well, it’s all up to God,” that’ll kill you. But on the other hand, if all you emphasize is “You have to believe and do this and that,” it’ll kill you too. True Bible faith is simply a positive response to what God has already provided by grace. Faith only appropriates what God has already provided. Faith doesn’t move God or make Him do anything.
If you don’t recognize that faith is just the way you appropriate and receive what God has already provided by grace, then the Law and legalism will kill you. That puts the entire burden on your shoulders, which isn’t good either. Faith or grace—independent of each other, not mixed together properly—will kill you.
Many people in the church emphasize, “It’s totally up to God. God is sovereign. It’s whatever He wills. Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be. It’s just up to God.” That will kill you. I can name some people who that has literally killed. They were just waiting on God to heal them, not understanding that they had a part to play too.
On the other hand, there are people who emphasize, “You have to pray, study, and believe God. You have to do something.” They get into this to such a degree that they think their works are making God move. They see their faith as a pry bar—twisting God’s arm and making Him perform. That becomes legalism, and it destroys people.
Basically, that’s the kind of background I came out of. We thought we had to do many different things in order to earn God’s blessing. I didn’t understand that the Lord had provided everything by grace. In fact, we used to have a little poem that said, “Mary had a little lamb, it would have been a sheep. But it joined our local church and died from lack of sleep.” We just worked ourselves to the bone, doing all of these things. Since then, I’ve realized that’s not the way it works. There has to be a balance between grace and faith.
