By Grace Through Faith

A Sermon on Ephesians 2:8-10

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Scripture

Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV KJV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that …

Sermon Description

Salvation is the result of God’s grace alone. In this sermon on Ephesians 2:8–10 titled “ By Grace Through Faith,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches that no one is saved by anything they do or any merits they earn, but it is wholly the result of grace. For in their sin, no one is able to do anything pleasing to God nor able to even believe the good news of the gospel without the work of the Holy Spirit giving them a new heart. This is contrary to what many have believed and taught throughout the centuries. Some say that grace is good but not sufficient to save, whereas some have gone as far as saying that by the works of the law alone people can be saved and made right with God. But the apostle Paul clearly denies any such teaching in his insistence on the power of God’s grace alone. For through grace God gives people the gift of faith. It is faith that is the instrumental cause of justification and by it believers are united to Christ and receive the benefits of His life, death, and resurrection. Listen as Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains this great doctrine of justification by faith alone that is the very heart of Christianity and without it there is no true gospel.

Sermon Breakdown

We are Christians entirely and solely as a result of God's grace. Grace means unmerited, undeserved favor. Salvation comes entirely from God's side, in spite of us.
The fact that we are Christians gives us no grounds for boasting. Not of ourselves, lest any man should boast. This is the crucial test of our view of salvation.
We tend to boast of our works. But going back to works is going back under the law, which condemns us. Good works are the result of salvation, not the cause of it.
We also tend to boast of our faith. But faith is not the cause of salvation either. Faith is the instrument through which salvation comes to us by grace. We must be careful not to say that our believing saves us.
Our being Christians is entirely the result of God's work. We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. It is not our decision that makes us Christians, but God's work.
A Christian is a new creation, with the life of God in his soul. He is made after the image of Christ, meant to be like Christ.
If it were not of grace, we would all be hopeless. But because it is of grace, because we are God's workmanship, we will be made perfect. God will complete the work he has begun in us.

The Book of Ephesians

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.