Our name | Mission | Vision | Leaders Ministries | Schedule | Directions | Contact Home   Gateway Church gathers for worship Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Location: 6425 Jefferson Rd. (Hwy. 129) in Athens, Georgia. For directions, click here. Ministry of the Word: Recent sermons Our quarterly e-magazine Gateway Today For the Gateway family Pastor Jerry's Weekly E-Mail A GATEWAY SERMON SUMMARY AUDIO By grace through faith Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA March 30, 2003 Main Scripture text: Ephesians 2:1-10. Apart from God's grace, we are helplessly and hopelessly lost in sin, and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. Grace is God's favor. It is God looking at us with a smiling face. God didn't send Jesus to condemn us but to save us! Some people see the God of the Old Testament as "the God of the Law," while the God of the New Testament is "the God of grace." But God doesn't change. Indeed, the Bible is shot full of grace from beginning to end. How then is grace different under the New Covenant? I think it is a matter of degree. God has always been a God of grace, but now, because of Christ, he lavishes His grace on us, according to Ephesians 1:7-8. Even the Old Testament law was a gift of God's grace, to help people know how to live successfully in a fallen world. But people couldn't receive His grace through the law. They weren't capable of obeying the law because of the permeation of sin in the world. Now, because of Christ, we can receive the fullness of God's grace. Jesus has liberated us from our bondage to sin. He also has liberated us from our bondage to death, because the grave is not our final resting place. We are saved through death to a glorious life in the everlasting kingdom. The empty tomb is our guarantee that -- in Christ -- we have life beyond the grave. Why is the issue of salvation by grace through faith so important? Two reasons: 1) Understanding what Jesus has done for us gives us a passion for Him and His Kingdom. 2) We cannot be effective witnesses to Christ if we are uncertain of our salvation. Because of grace, we can know our salvation is certain. It is certain because our salvation doesn't depend on our righteousness or behavior, but on Christ Himself, the gift of God's grace. Supporting texts: Hebrews 9:27 | Romans 3:23 | Romans 6:23 | John 3:14-21 | Ephesians 1:7-8 | Jeremiah 31:31-34 | Ezekiel 36:24-27 | Numbers 21:4-9 | 2 Corinthians 5:21 | Luke 16:16 | Colossians 3:3 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here. (Download to a PC by right clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target As." Mac users: click, hold, and choose "Download Link to Disk." Depending on your connection speed, the file may take several minutes to download.) An audio tape of this sermon is available free of charge (U.S. requests only). Request a tape by calling or writing the Gateway Church office. Please specify tape number 030330a: By Grace Through Faith. © 2003 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us