Unconditional Grace Part 2

INTRO: In message one on unconditional grace we sought to answer these two questions: 1 What is Grace? And 2 Is Grace Unconditional? I said that grace needs to be viewed from three standpoints: the one who gives something to another; the thing that is given; and the one who receives that which is given. One of our men asked after the last message; would it be right to say that grace is a vehicle, not a blanket? What he is saying is that grace is the means by which we get something. It is not a blanket that covers our sin. It is a means by which we get power to overcome sin.

Turn for a moment to Romans 11 (read 5-6). Election, the choosing of people to salvation, is by grace. All of salvation, as I see it, is by grace. And verse 6 gives us two vehicles, or two ways in which we get things: either by grace or by works. We can either receive things by working for them or by them being given to us. It cannot be both. It is one or the other.