Leading The Way

Guest (Male): How does grace connect you with the God of the universe? Find out next on Leading the Way audio with Dr. Michael Youssef.

Dr. Michael Youssef: But I want to tell you, for the God of the universe to give His grace freely is truly unique. For the God of the universe to save sinners by grace alone, no strings attached, goes against every human instinct. What is this grace, and how is it given with no strings attached? When you understand this message, you'll understand the entire Christian faith from beginning to end, because that word grace summarizes the Christian faith.

Guest (Male): Okay, you've probably heard or maybe even asked the question: What must I do to be saved? Throughout generations, people have tried to discover that one thing that must be done or accomplished to satisfy God, to enter heaven. Well, that's just not how God works, as we'll hear today from Dr. Michael Youssef on this episode of Leading the Way.

You see, it is only through the awesomeness of God's grace that the gates of heaven will open for anyone. Here's Dr. Michael Youssef to begin today's episode of Leading the Way.

Dr. Michael Youssef: During a British symposium or a conference on religion, experts from around the world were gathered at Oxford University to debate the subject: What, if any, belief that was unique to the Christian faith? That was the title of the conference. And they began by eliminating all the possibilities. First, the incarnation. And many people from other religions said, "Well, we have our gods, stories of our gods appearing in human flesh." So they went down the list: miracles. Well, everybody claimed all kinds of miracles, not documented, no evidence, but they claimed miracles anyway.

At that point of the debate, C.S. Lewis wandered into the room, wondering what was going on. And he saw all these people and so his colleagues came by and said to him, "Well, we are debating and trying to discover the uniqueness of Christianity." Well, Lewis's response was very simple and to the point. He said, "That's easy. It's grace." And then he left the room. I would have loved to have been there right after that kind of statement and what they said after that. But the debate continued for a little while, and finally they concluded that grace does distinguish the Christian faith, indeed.

I want you to listen carefully because it is absolutely unique among all religions, because I do not consider Christianity to be a religion. Because I'm going to explain to you in a minute, all religions are basically trying to earn God's favor. But Christianity is where God reached down to man, not man trying to reach and please God, and that's why I don't call it a religion.

But I want to tell you, for the God of the universe to give His grace freely is truly unique. For the God of the universe to save sinners by grace alone, no strings attached, goes against every human instinct. For the God of the universe to love freely and expects nothing in return, runs contrary to every other religious system in the world.

What is this grace, and how is it given with no strings attached? When you understand this message, you'll understand the entire Christian faith from beginning to end, because that word grace summarizes the Christian faith. The Bible tells us that every human being who is born of a woman, in every continent and in every age, everywhere, was born with Adam and Eve's sin genes.

A great deal of talk about genes these days and inherited genes, and now they're trying to treat diseases with isolating those diseased genes. But believe me when I tell you the scripture tells us that there is a diseased gene that every one of us have inherited. And the doctors and the scientists cannot isolate it. Only Jesus Christ can.

Those genes are manifested in the way we're coming out of the womb declaring independence from God. Those genes in our bodies that we've inherited from Adam and Eve are manifested in our pride that runs rampant. As we saw in the last message, God's justice declared that those sin genes in our bodies, if not dealt with, the consequence is miserable life and more miserable eternal torment.

That's what the courts of heaven said. Look, I did not make the rules. You go over the speed limit, the rule says, the court says, pay the fine or go to prison. I did not make that rule. If it was up to me, I would have had it differently. That's what the courts of heaven have declared. That's what justice of God has declared.

Now, there are some people who would say, "Oh yes, yes, we agree that the sin genes have consequences." But then they say, "Well, the way to deal with this sin gene is to do a lot of good works, and the more good works you do, you help alleviate the consequences of those sin genes." That is not the way of Christ.

The problem is this: The Bible tells us that no one but no one but no one can climb into God's chamber uninvited. No one can earn God's favor no matter what they do, even if they burn their body. No one can buy his way or her way into heaven. It is an impossibility. You cannot do it. No one can. God is the one who has to come to us.

And that is what sets Christianity apart. That's what sets our faith apart. It's like that—I love the description of the little boy about an elevator, or as they say in Australia and England, lift. His description of an elevator is that he said, "I got into that little room, and the upstairs came down." I love that. I love that. That's what happened to us who are in Christ Jesus. We went into that room of grace, the upstairs came down.

Ephesians chapter two, the Apostle Paul summarizes the way in which God comes to us to rescue us from our sin genes through the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. The first ten verses of Ephesians two. Three things that you must understand to understand who you are in Jesus Christ. Three things. Here's what the Apostle Paul tells us. Those three things summarize the entire Christian faith, summarize your Christian walk, summarize who you are in Christ Jesus.

First, he said, God's grace takes away our dismal past. Secondly, he said, God's grace gives us a glorious present. Thirdly, he says, God's grace leads us into a stupendous future. How does God's grace take away our dismal past? Remember the inherited genes? Our inherited gene, said the Apostle Paul, made us to be born spiritually dead. That's the symptoms of that gene. We're born spiritually dead.

Let me tell you, this spiritual death is a very weird type of death. Yep, you heard me right, it's weird. It's absolutely weird type of death. Why? Because you're physically moving around and you are going around and you're alive physically. In fact, what you're doing all throughout your life is basically declaring your independence from God. You want to do things your way, you want to live your way, you want to go your way, and that's what you're doing with that life. But inside, you're dead.

Look at verse one and two of Ephesians two: "As for you, you were dead in your trespasses and sin, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in all of the sons of disobedience." What's the Apostle Paul saying? Here's what he's saying. He is saying that before grace came into your life, before grace came into my life, before grace came into our lives, you were a dead man walking. You were a dead woman walking. That's what he said.

You were like a zombie. A zombie is a person who's dead, actually dead, very dead, but on his feet walking around. Before God's grace came into our lives, we were not only dead men walking and dead women walking, but we were enslaved to sin. We were in the chains and the grip of sin. We had no power to overcome.

Look at verse two. Paul said we were enslaved to the world's system and to the evil spirit who controls this world's system. We thought like what unbelievers think now, we talked like they talk, we were filled with greed and hatred and lust and arrogance and self-assertion, just like the best of them. And we had no room for God.

So, our past, what was it? First, we were dead in our sins and trespasses. We were enslaved to sin, have no power over its chains. And thirdly, the Apostle Paul is saying here that actually, in our past, we were subject to the wrath of God. But wait a minute, I know God to be a loving God. I know God to be a fair God. I know God to be merciful God. I even I can accept the justice of God. But wrath? Surely that's old-fashioned religion. Surely that's old-fashioned Christianity.

Let me ask you this: Do you know why? Do you know why the average person does not take God's wrath seriously? It's because they do not take sin seriously. Do you know the reason why they hate you and kind of despise you and call you goody-goody? Because they see that you're having a relationship with God that they do not have, and they don't like it. How could they? The Bible said they are dead in trespasses and sin.

But listen carefully, please. Paul is saying to the Christian, "Christian, listen to what God said. If you have received the grace of God, if you have received the gift of eternal life from the hand of God, if you have received salvation free from the hand of God, you are no longer under wrath. You will never be under wrath again." He says, "You were."

Because if you do not understand that, your whole Christian life is so messed up. It really is. I'm going to explain that in a minute. You're going to live a miserable Christian life rather than a joyous, exciting Christian life. If you have not received the grace of God and you are seeking that with all of your heart, listen to me. The very reason why you're listening to me right now is because God wants to give you His grace. Ask Him for it today, He will give it to you.

Grace takes away our dismal past. Paul said, secondly, grace gives us a glorious present. A glorious present. Look at Ephesians 2:4, verse four: "But because of His great love for us, God who is rich in mercy made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in trespasses." It is no longer a dead man walking. It is no longer a dead woman walking. It is now an alive man walking. It is now an alive woman walking.

It is by grace that you have been saved, and God raised you up with Christ and seated you with Him in the heavenlies. Now, a lot of people stumble over this, but listen carefully. You're going to love what I'm going to tell you. Do you understand what it means for you to be sitting in the heavenly places? It blows my mind. It boggles my mind. It means that you have been set free from sin. You have been set free from the power of sin. You have been set free from the consequences and the wages of sin that the courts of heaven have already pronounced.

You have been set free. Why? Because there are no slaves in heaven. And you are seated in the heavenly places. And if you are seated in the heavenly realm, beloved friend, you are no longer enslaved to sin. Do you know, Christian, do you know what that means? It means that if you are the recipient of God's grace, you have victory over lust. You have victory over greed. You have victory over anger. You have victory over jealousy. You have victory over envy. You have victory over fear. Yes, you have victory over anxiety. You have victory over doubt. You have victory over any addiction, whether it be alcohol, pornography, or the rest of it.

In case nobody told you, let me tell you that when grace came into your life, power came with that grace. If you are enslaved of sin, beloved, let me tell you something, if you are not—possibility that you are not saved. But if you are saved and you are enslaved, then either you did not know that you have power to have victory over—you have not learned how to claim that power to have victory over sin. I'm not saying you're going to become perfect, don't misunderstand that one. I'm saying that you have power, you can look back in your life and you see things that have enslaved you, now you've been set free. And you continuously to grow in victory, continuously having more and more victory in your life. That's what it means to have the grace of God.

Some of you might be looking at verse eight of Ephesians two, probably is the most familiar verse to Christians next to John 3:16. And you probably asking, "Well, how can I be saved by grace alone, and then I'm saved by faith alone? You know, what is this?" I'm glad you asked. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that—circle "that" in your Bible. What is "that" is referring to? Faith. Is not of your own doing, it's a gift from God. That's what he's talking about.

When you exercised faith in believing and receiving God's gift of eternal life, that faith was not yours to begin with. That faith was a gift from God. He gave it to you in order that your eyes be open, the blind eyes, and the dead corpse can be alive again. He had to give you faith in order to get you to understand the enormity of your sin and your desperate need for grace. He had to do it as a gift.

I know human ego can't stand that. I know we want to feel like we've done something. You know, we just—we have a little bit of credit. You got no credit. Step on your ego. Live with it. God did it all, and you received it free. Grace takes away our dismal sin. Grace gives us a glorious present. And grace leads us into stupendous futures, in the plural. Why? Because Paul seemed to be talking about two futures here.

He is talking about an immediate future in verse 10 of Ephesians two, and then he's talking about a distant future in verse seven. Our immediate future consists of the wonderful occupation of being an ambassador representative of the King of Glory. That's the immediate future. You have already changed position. You're no longer a slave, you're an ambassador. You're not in prison anymore, you are in the embassy suite. You're no longer in prison, but you are set free because you're in the heavenlies.

And just as an ambassador of a given country is not free to say what he thinks—some of them do—or do what you want to do or act the way you want to act, but rather say, do, and live by the laws of your home country government, so is the Christian believer. As an ambassador for Jesus Christ, you are to walk and behave as one. When God adopted you and gave you His grace, now you've got to learn how to behave like a prince, how to walk like a prince.

See, he now has to begin to learn to speak like a prince. He's now got to learn how to act like a prince. He now has to learn how to work like a prince. And that's the immediate future that Paul is talking about that the grace of God brings. But in verse seven of chapter two of the book of Ephesians, Paul talks about a distant future. That in the ages to come He might show the immeasurable, incomparable—you have all kinds of words in every translation, but what it is really, we know what it means: mind-boggling. That's really the blunt translation.

The mind-boggling riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. God has given us grace now, God has been gracious to us now, but listen, He's going to show us far more grace when we see Him face to face. God has blessed us here and now, but this is nothing in comparison to the blessings that He is going to lavish upon us when we are with Him face to face. God has lavished His grace here, oh, but He is going to overwhelm us when we are with Him face to face. There is no good thing that He will ever withhold from those who are saved by His grace.

For it is by grace that you are saved by faith, which is not your faith but the gift of God. My beloved friend, you're saved for a purpose. To serve the living God. Only an ungrateful person would take all of God's grace and never say thank you. Please ask yourself that question: Are you serving with all of your heart in thankfulness to the grace of God? Are you? Some of you might be trying so hard and you want to please God, and you really want to know God, and you're seeking with all of your heart, and you're tired and you're frustrated because all of your efforts don't bring you peace. Today you can say, "God, give me your grace that brings me peace and joy, then teach me how to walk in good works."

Guest (Male): Encouragement for you to consider eternity from pastor and author Dr. Michael Youssef. Thank you for taking time in your day for Leading the Way. Got questions about life and eternity? Consider speaking with one of Leading the Way's pastors or counselors. Find and fill out a short contact form when you go to ltw.org/jesus. That's ltw.org/jesus.

Guest (Female): It was on my way to work one day, I listened to a message from Dr. Michael Youssef, and it just moved in such a way in my life. And I teach a Sunday school class, ninth grade girls, and there have been times that I have been working on a lesson and just praying for the Lord to give me the right direction, and I'll get in my car to go to work and Michael's message that morning will be exactly the way that the Lord is saying, "Kim, this is how I want you to lead, this is what I want you to do, this is what I want you to say."

I love listening to him. I know that he is a God-driven man. I know that he speaks truth from the Bible. There are so many times that I have shared his messages with different people or girls in my classroom. I just know that my faith has grown so much stronger by listening to his messages every morning on my way to work. And it just starts my day in the right way. I wake up and I'm in my Bible reading and praying, and then I get in my car and I get to listen to this man of God just speak truth into my life.

And I am so thankful. I have been on the website. I have archived messages and read them and listened to them, and his messages are so phenomenal and so filled with spirit that I have shared them with so many different people, and they now listen on the way to work too. And it's just a great topic of conversation because sometimes after we hear the message, we'll call each other and we'll say, "Did you hear that message? Wasn't it so great? Wasn't it right on point? It was exactly what I needed."

So I really believe that not so much a testimony that I wanted to give, but just to be able to say thank you for using the gift that the Lord has given you to share that with others. Thank you so much.

Guest (Male): Have you been touched by Dr. Youssef and Leading the Way? Well, if so, we'd love to hear from you. So if you'd like to participate in this, give us a call at 877-941-7934. You'll be given an opportunity to share your heart with us and with Dr. Youssef. The number again: 877-941-7934.

This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth.