Sermon Introduction:

"We are by nature spiritually dead, alienated from God because of sin. Ephesians 2 verse 3 says we are by nature children of wrath. Last week we considered the hope in this hopeless situation in Ephesians 2-4, but God made us alive together with Christ.

The solution to the problem is found in the grace of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, and Him dying on our behalf and our union with Him. God gives life by attaching the resurrected Jesus to what was formerly dead. So today we encounter the necessary response to the grace of God and the results that it brings about. We'll see that true faith in Jesus is the response to God's grace that results in a life of good works.

The gift of salvation has been given in Christ. The pardon from God has been received. The cure exists, but not everyone possesses it. Not everyone accepts it. Not everyone believes it. Not all people have entered into salvation. So the gospel is good news. It's the best news ever, but it's useless news if we don't actually enter into it, you see. So we'll look at the reality this morning of grace.

We'll seek to define saving faith and we'll consider the outcome of this new life in Jesus Christ. God's grace brings about wonderful fruit in our actual, in our practical lives."

~~~