Text: Ephesians 2:4-9
(4) But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, (5) Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (6) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (7) That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. (8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Luke 19:5-6, “(5) And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. (6) And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.”
Grace that Saves[1]
Series Overview – Letters from Prison:
Paul penned Ephesians and Philippians from prison to minister to the church. These two short books contain principles that give you power to live godly, in an ungodly world.
Grace, Simple Grace[2]
James Wilhoit shared the story of the birth of his second daughter and her battle with jaundice during her early days. For treatment, the doctor prescribed sunlight.
Thinking there was most likely a complex and difficult treatment to cure his newborn, he asked the doctor what could be done.
The doctor patiently explained that jaundice is caused by too much bilirubin [billy-rubin] in a newborn’s red blood cells, and light helps break down the excess bilirubin into waste products the kidneys can eliminate.
The cure really was as simple as sunlight, and all that the parents had to do was just sit their newborn in the sun.
And that’s exactly what they did: they placed her their daughter on a pallet of blankets in her diaper in front of the living room windows that welcomed large amounts of sunlight.
As the day would progress, her attentive and loving parents adjusted her position to keep her in full view of the sun.
As James Wihoit later wrote, “The cure did not depend on her but on her being kept in the light.”
Simple Grace – Grace that Saves
A year and a half earlier, James and his wife were walking through their neighborhood and crossed paths with another couple strolling with their firstborn baby girl.
On the sunny but cool March day, their neighbor’s child lay in a stroller covered by a canopy while snugly wrapped head to toe with only a small portion of her face showing. The other couple explained she had jaundice and according to her doctors should be out in the sun. Yet here she was outdoors, but not in the sunlight.
James now watching his newborn lay on their living room floor in full view of the sun realized:
“So often I come to God only revealing the tiniest patch of skin for his healing light. For me, the clothing that blocks the healing light of Jesus most often is my pride, seen in the form of denial—I deny that I need cleansing.”[3]
The cure does not depend on you, but on you keeping yourself in the light of God’s grace.
Rather than deny and refuse—or worse, try to manufacture—our healing, we can simply receive it.
God’s Grace is Offered to You
God has made His grace available to you even though you “had your conversation [conduct] in times past in the lusts of your flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.”[4]
Paul was clear, “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” but all who come to Jesus in faith and obedience are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”[5]
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”[6]
Free – Undeserved – Unmerited Grace will save you from living a life governed by sin and a servant to satan.
God Grace is Extended to You Because of His Love
Paul told the Ephesians that Jesus has authority over “all principality, and power, and might, and dominion,”[7]
There is power in this world that exerts itself over you and draws you into an corrupt state, and while you have no natural power to defeat the devil and sin,
God does.
Because of “his great love wherewith he loved you,” He gives you the undeserved, unearned blessing (simple definition of grace) of His authority and power over the dominion of sin and the devil.
Grace that Saves is Free – Undeserved – Unmerited
God’s Grace Saves You
Because He loves you, He offers to rescue you and redeem you:
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;).”[8]
You may be hopeless and bound, but He offers you hope and freedom.
By yourself you are outmatched and incapable of conquering sin, the kingdom of darkness, and death.
Your religious activities can’t save you, and you don’t earn salvation by your good deeds.
Salvation is not extended to you because of how many hours you have prayed, meals you have fasted, money you have contributed.
Salvation is not achieved because of how many times you’ve read the Bible through, or how often you attend the church services.
These spiritual disciplines are indicators of a transforming disciple, but only God’s grace saves you.
Perhaps you have the mistaken notion that “I must do this particular spiritual activity to get God to love me.”
This type of mentality can turn God’s grace into something to be earned, yet this is entirely opposite of what grace means.
Grace is undeserved, unmerited and unearned.
Grace that Saves is a gift you receive.
It is simple grace, like setting a jaundiced baby in the sunlight so that she can receive the light.
Receive God’s Grace
The way to receive by faith the Grace that Saves is through the principle of humility.
1 Peter 5:5-7, “(5) Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. (6) Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: (7) Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
There is a link between grace and humility:
- Humility acknowledges, “I am not perfect.”
- Humility understands your need for growth and improvement.
- Humility allows you to accept grace because humility allows you to truly repent.
Zacchaeus Received God’s Grace (Luke 19:1-10)
Luke alone of the Gospel writers records God’s grace extended to “a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich . . . and . . . little of stature” (Luke 19:2–3).
We quickly see how others around him knew him:
- Zacchaeus most likely “presided over other tax-gatherers, received their collections and transmitted them to the Roman government.”[9]
- Zacchaeus, a Jew, was not liked by other Jews because he chose to for the Romans.
- As a publican he was treated as a traitor to his people.
- Not only that, but it seems he had charged his fellow Jewish citizens extra on their taxes to profit from the surplus. He was getting rich off them.
- Zacchaeus was not well liked in Jericho.
- When the people saw that Jesus was going into Zacchaeus’s home, “they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner” (Luke 19:7).
- Zacchaeus fit the description of an individual walking “according to the course of this world…fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.”[10]
- Zacchaeus had risen to the top of the ranks of swindling tax collectors, and he abused his authority by getting rich off the hard-earned money of others.
- They labeled him, scorned him and rejected him.[11]
Jesus Spent Time with Zacchaeus
The crowd was not wrong in their assessment of Zacchaeus; the earthly labels were certainly true of him, but they were not the truest thing about him.
From a purely physical and tangible perspective, he was indeed a sinner.
Thankfully, God’s view of you is not from an earthly perspective; He sees your truest identity—God created you in His image, for His purpose, by His design.[12]
God’s actions toward you are not motivated by label you or others apply, but by His love.
The crowd responded to Zacchaeus through the lens of earthly labels, leading them to hatred and rejection.
Their view of Zacchaeus kept them from associating with him, accepting him, loving him, and acting in grace toward him.
Jesus chose a different way. He chose to view Zacchaeus from a heavenly perspective.
Jesus graciously invited Zacchaeus into a loving relationship.
Jesus chose to accept him, not reject him.
He chose Grace that Saves motivated by His great love.
When you receive God’s Grace you will cherish your time with Him:
- Zacchaeus received Jesus joyfully into his home.
- Here was someone who looked beyond his faults and earthly labels to truly see him and he certainly cherished this life altering moment.
- Put yourself in Zacchaeus’s shoes for a moment:
- You know what your life is like.
- Your selfish ambition has produced misguided efforts.
- You have made decisions you wish you could remake.
- You long for a change, for healing, for reconciliation, for a chance to make things right.
- You feel ashamed because you are guilty.
- And now, walking into your living room, Jesus willingly chooses to look beyond all of that.
- He accepts you, treats you with kindness, respect, and dignity, and offers you an invitation to repent so He can forgive you.
- His grace is undeserved, you don’t deserve this, but here He is spending time with you anyway.[13]
Jesus offers you that same grace-filled invitation he offered to Zacchaeus.
He is inviting each of you into a deeper relationship with Him.
Daily He presents you with an invitation to spend time with Him.
He sees you through the lens of love and grace.
He sees your wholeness, despite your brokenness.
Such actions from Him are undeserved and unearned, but here He is inviting us anyway.
That’s Grace that Saves!
How do you respond to Grace? REPENT.
Zacchaeus climbed a tree in order to see Jesus, which was an outward demonstration of his willingness to do whatever it took to see Jesus.
Although he was living a life he may not have been proud of, he was willing to lay aside his pride, and humble himself, in a beautiful step toward repentance.[14]
“And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold” (Luke 19:8).
Zacchaeus’s statement was evidence of deep sorrow and a desire for change in his life and he was choosing to live life with a different attitude and mindset.
This deep inner change led to generosity instead of selfishness and restitution to the people he had wronged. For Zacchaeus, and often for us, true repentance requires restitution. The actions and behaviors that follow our repentance indicate we are now living differently.[15]
After Zach repented Jesus said, “This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham”[16]
Jesus knew he was the chief among the publicans and his exploitation of the poor had made him rich, but he repented and then Jesus identified Zacchaeus as a son of Abraham.
Zacchaeus, and the people watching, were reminded that God sees past your earthly defining labels. They do not define you.
Only God defines you, and He sees you through the lens of His grace.
Grace that Saves
[1]Source: God’s Word for Life. (Lesson 1.1) Series 1: Letters from Prison – By Grace Ye Are Saved. PPH. 3/2/2025.
[2] Ibid. (James Wilhoit. Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered).
[3] Ibid.
[4] Eph. 2:3. Personalized.
[5] Rom. 3:22-23.
[6] Titus 2:11-14.
[7] Ephesians 1:21.
[8] Ephesians 2:4–5.
[9] Albert Barnes Notes on the Bible. Luke 19:2.
[10] Eph. 2:2-3.
[11] Source: God’s Word for Life. (Lesson 1.1) Series 1: Letters from Prison – By Grace Ye Are Saved. PPH. 3/2/2025.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Luke 19:9.
The Pillar and Ground of Truth 