Sermon: Trust the Way of Grace

Text: Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV) - "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."

Introduction: The Two Paths

Good morning. I want you to think for a moment about the two fundamental ways we operate in this world. The first is the way of transaction. It’s the economy we all know: you work, you get paid. You study, you get a good grade. You perform, you earn approval. This is the way of the world, and it’s not all bad—it’s how societies function.

But then there is a second way, a way that runs completely counter to our deepest instincts. It’s the way of grace. Grace is the economy of heaven. It says, "What you could never earn, I will give you. Where you have failed, I will forgive you. Who you are not, I will make you."

Our natural instinct is to trust the transaction. It feels safe, controllable. We know the rules. But God calls us to do something far more difficult, and far more liberating: to trust the way of grace.

Today, we’re going to explore what it means to truly trust this way, not just as a one-time event for salvation, but as the ongoing posture for our entire Christian lives.

1. The Problem: Our Instinct to Earn (The Law)

The story of humanity, from the Garden onward, is a story of trying to reach God on our own terms. We see this codified in the Old Testament law. The law was holy and good, given by God. But what was its primary purpose? The Apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 3:24: "So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith."

The law was a mirror. It showed us the smudges of sin on our faces, but it had no power to wash them clean. It revealed a standard of perfection—a perfect transaction—that none of us could ever fulfill. And so, the law left us in a state of constant striving, constant anxiety. "Have I done enough? Am I good enough?"

This is the way of the transaction. And it leads to one of two destinations: pride (if we think we're succeeding) or despair (when we know we're failing). It’s a brutal, exhausting path. And it’s the path our flesh naturally wants to trust.

2. The Pivot: The Gift We Couldn't Buy (The Cross)

This is where the cross of Jesus Christ becomes the great pivot of history and of our personal stories. On the cross, Jesus did what we could never do. He fulfilled the perfect transaction of the law on our behalf. He lived the sinless life we couldn't live, and He died the death for sin that we deserved.

And in that act, He tore down the economy of earning and established the economy of grace.

Look again at our main text: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Notice the language:

  • "By grace" – The source is God’s unmerited favor.

  • "Through faith" – The channel is trust, not effort.

  • "Gift of God" – The nature is a present, not a paycheck.

  • "Not by works" – The method excludes human achievement.

The cross is the ultimate declaration: "The account is settled. The debt is paid. It is finished." To trust the way of grace is to stop bringing your spiritual resume to God and to simply receive the gift He offers in Christ.

3. The Practice: Living in the Flow of Grace (The Daily Walk)

But the challenge for most of us isn't just accepting grace for salvation; it's living by grace every single day. We trust grace to save us, but then we switch back to transactions to sanctify us.

We think, "Okay, I'm saved by grace, but now I need to earn God's daily favor. I need to have a quiet time to get His blessing. I need to serve in the nursery to be a 'good Christian.'" We turn our relationship with God back into a performance review.

But the way of grace is not just the door we walk through to get saved; it’s the very air we breathe as Christians.

Consider 2 Corinthians 12:9. God says to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Paul’s response? "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me."

What does it look like to trust the way of grace on a Tuesday?

  • When you fail: You don’t hide in shame, thinking you've blown your chance. You run to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help in your time of need (Hebrews 4:16). You trust that His grace covers your sin.

  • When you are weak: You don’t fake strength. You admit your weakness and trust that His grace is the very power you need to get through. His strength is made perfect in your admitted inability.

  • When you serve: Your service isn't driven by a need to earn love, but flows from the love you have already received. It’s not "I have to," but "I get to." It’s a response, not a requirement.

Conclusion: The Invitation to Rest

So, what does it mean to trust the way of grace?

It means to stop trusting your own ability to climb the ladder to heaven and to rest in the One who came down to you.

It means to stop keeping score—with God and with others—and to live in the freedom of a forgiven and beloved child.

It means to bring your emptiness to His fullness, your weakness to His strength, your failure to His forgiveness, and to trust that what He has done is truly, completely, and eternally enough.

The way of the transaction is a wearying path of self-salvation. The way of grace is a path of rest, reliance, and revolutionary freedom.

The invitation this morning is simple: Come out of the exhausting economy of earning and step into the liberating economy of grace.

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, we confess that our default mode is to trust in our own works, our own strength, our own righteousness. We grow weary under the burden of trying to earn what you freely give. Forgive us. Today, we choose to trust the way of grace. We receive the finished work of Christ on the cross as our only hope for salvation and our only source for daily life. Help us to rest in your sufficiency, to boast in our weakness, and to live each moment in the conscious, joyful awareness of your unending, unmerited favor. In Jesus' name, Amen.