Ask a stranger this question and you'll likely hear a common response. What's the key to earning your way into heaven? Many will say it's the result of loving others and avoiding moral mistakes.
Well, today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl shatters the myth that salvation is something you can earn through your own efforts. Here's the shocking truth. we can't work our way to God. And we don't have to. God's grace is a free gift.
It's freedom from the exhausting treadmill of trying to be good enough. Chuck titled his message, Unwrapping the gift of grace.
Now let me read for you, please, Romans chapter 3, beginning at verse 21. through 31 before this morning's prayer. prayer and offering. Romans 3.21, but now apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been made manifested. Being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith.
in Jesus Christ for all those who believe. For there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. being justified As a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation.
The word means satisfaction. in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness because, in the forbearance, of God, He passed over the sins previously committed. For the demonstration, I say, of his righteousness at the present time.
So that he would be just. And the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where then is boasting? But it is excluded. By what kind of law?
Of works? No. but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from. Works of the law.
Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes. of Gentiles also. Since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.
Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be. On the contrary, we establish. The law. You're listening to Insight for Living.
To dig deeper into the book of Romans on your own, be sure to purchase our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study workbook by going to insight.org/slash offer. Chuck titled today's message, Unwrapping the Gift of Grace. Public surveys and on-the-street interviews often yield surprising answers. This occurred years ago when I was a minister up in New England serving a church in Massachusetts. I had a friend who was a high school teacher at a prep school where he was teaching some of the brightest of.
The brightest in high school years, planning on their years in college and on into graduate work, many of them. He decided one year that he would teach a course he entitled The Bible as Literature. He thought, since I'm going to be teaching this course, To these students in this secular school, it would be helpful to know. How much do they know about the Bible? And then I can sort of shape my course starting where they are and take.
take it from there.
So we handed out a survey. That had a number of questions on it, none of them trick questions, just civil questions about facts and people and events in the Bible. He got back.
Well, let's use the word surprising answers. He learned from the survey that Sodom and Gomorrah were lovers. That Jezebel was Ahab's donkey. That the four horsemen of Revelation appeared on the Acropolis. That the New Testament Gospels are written by Matthew, Mark, Luther, and John.
Someone said that Eve was created by an apple. And Jesus was baptized by Moses. He was most surprised with an answer that came to the question. What was Golgotha? Golgotha was the name of the giant who slew the Apostle David.
was the answer. I thought the funniest answer was the one that came in answer to the question: what were the epistles? One student said in all seriousness, the wives of the apostles. That's a pretty creative answer. As wrong as it can be, but it's a creative answer.
And when I heard that answer, I thought that is hilarious. And so I shared that at our congregation the following Sunday. It didn't fit the sermon. I just jammed it in. After it was over, one of our members came up and said, in all seriousness, if they weren't the wives of the apostles, whose wives were they?
On the street interviews are just as surprising. In fact, they are very revealing. Most don't have a clue who Jesus Christ is. Most, if they were asked, how does a person get to heaven? would answer if they even Took a stab at the answer with words like: We get salvation the old-fashioned way, we earn it.
We work hard for it. And they would say that in all seriousness because every religion I'm familiar with says you get there by working hard. By giving up something. By adding something to your life. by doing more and more and more.
It'll be a works-based salvation. What's interesting is that every year there's a Top 10 hymns. Favorite hymns of America. Put into print, and it always makes me smile because in the top ten, if it isn't the top of the ten, it's near the top, invariably is the song Amazing Grace. Isn't that interesting?
A world that believes in a work-based salvation loves. Amazing grace. And the song, the hymn, doesn't even tie in with what they believe.
So I've written a hymn for those who believe in works. You won't find it in today's hymnal, but Here it is. I've titled it Excessive Works. Excessive works, how sweaty the sound, that came from someone as sincere as me. I once was incompetent, now I'm admired thanks to what I've accomplished.
It's all about me. Twas works that earned my favor with God, and works that made him smile. How hard I labored, how long I toiled, how often that second mile. When we've been there 10,000 years, proud of our efforts under the sun, we've no less days to sing our own praise. And remember the great things.
We have done. Can you imagine a heaven filled with people? Like that. I mean, I worked 60 years to get here. My granddad was a preacher, and my dad was a preacher, and I was a missionary.
And so I got here because I earned my way here. Another one says, I gave up. Coffee. Cigarettes. Food.
I sacrificed, so I got here because of how good I was and how pure I became. And another one, and another one, and another one. Please, please, where do you throw up? What kind of heaven would that be? It's grace.
That taught my heart to fear and grace. my fears relieved. How wondrous did that grace appear the hour I first Believed. Yeah. There was nothing I could do to find my ornament, gain my way in.
You see, a person who believes they work their way to heaven. believes that because they think there's something good down inside they can build on. Because there is something good down in there, I can just make those building blocks of good works grow and grow and sacrifice and grow, and more and more I become all the more to God.
However, You and I know from the teaching of Romans chapters 1, 2, and the better part of chapter 3 that, well, as we read in Romans 3:10, please turn, there is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands, verse 11 says, There is none who seeks. For God, will you please believe that? Will you please rearrange your thinking, regardless of the religious background from which you come? Will you please remind yourself that verse 12 is true, all have turned aside, you're in the group.
I'm in the group. Together, we have become useless. There is none who does good. There is not. Even One.
Not one. Not in God's eyes. Have you noticed when you fly, you get up about 30,000, 40,000 feet in elevation. You look down, everything looks the same level, doesn't it? Interesting.
But the elevation on earth can be differences of 10, 12, 15,000 feet. Above sea level. or even a few thousand below sea level. But it all looks the same from above. That's how God views humanity.
Through God's eyes, through his lenses, if you will, as he looks at humanity, he evaluates that all. Or Sinful. None deserve or can ever earn their way into the holy. Absolutely pristine, pure presence of God. In matter of fact, if you look ahead to Romans 7 and verse 18.
You'll not only see a preview of coming attractions, you'll see a verse that states in a few words what I've been saying. 7.18, I know that nothing good dwells in me That is in my flesh. Nothing good. Nothing good. Nothing in my hands I bring.
Says the old hymn writer. And I never will be. Good enough. To bring God's favor. That's the bad news of our nature.
of our lives. That's why you never have to teach your child to do wrong. Isn't it interesting?
Now, son, let me tell you what disobedience is all about. It's a joke. You teach them obedience. Why? Because the nature is to do wrong.
Why? Because they are by birth, by choice, and by nature. Wrong with God. We are. They get it from us.
We got it from our folks. All the way back, we all got it from Adam. As in Adam, Oh. Die. Yeah.
If I stopped here, it is a very, very... Dark. Story. But there is a There is a continental divide. In the first two words of verse 21, of romance.
But now. Isn't that great? This is one of those great butts found in the Bible. There are several of them. This is one of them.
But Now. It's all been dark, it's all been depraved, it's all been sinful. Even religious pride and legalism, all of the moralism of doing good and working hard, all of that. But now. Since there's nothing we can bring.
Now I'm ready to give you the good news. Is this great? And in the verses that follow, he tells us four things about the gospel. About the good news of Jesus Christ. First, it is a transfer of righteousness.
God's righteousness is never inherited from our parents or grandparents or even farther back. There's no inheritance of righteousness. There's got to be a transfer of righteousness from God to us. The second thing about the gospel, it is a gift of grace. And that makes it fair.
That means the little kid who exists in the ghetto of South Chicago. Or in the slums of New York, or some dark part of our own city or your city. Has just as big an opportunity or chance to come to Christ as the one who is in six-digit figures in his salary. Very well healed. Very self-sustaining.
We all come the same way. It's a gift. It's a gift. It's a gift of grace. The third thing it tells about the gospel is it's a display of love.
God shows His love to us in giving us the gift of salvation. And then fourth and finally, it is a declaration of faith. We enter into it by faith. And that's the only way we can know. This life of God.
and have the righteousness of Christ within us. Let's unpack that, shall we? Verse 21.
Now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been displayed. Rendered here manifested, the righteousness of God has been displayed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God. True faith. Notice three things about this.
It has nothing to do with the law, this righteousness. It says it's apart from the law. Second, it is not new. It was. witnessed It was declared, it was written by the law and the prophets.
They knew of this righteousness, and it is all a part of God's redemptive plan that began all the way back at Adam. It's nothing new. Third, it's not from within ourselves. It is based on our faith in Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, when we turn to ourselves, verse 23 tells it all.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Now, when some hear that, they think, well, I know some people who were Pretty righteous. I know some folks that have worked. Hard all their lives, and they live purer lives than I do.
Well, I decided I need to have an illustration that will help you remember. How none of that works in God's eyes.
So I brought along this. Scale, okay? Let's say that you know somebody who has about a foot of righteousness. They've been working 15 years of their lives to get to heaven, and they've given up this, they've given up that, they've handed out tracts on street corners, they've been busy about the work of religion, so they got about a foot of righteousness. But you know, somebody else.
who has been working long enough to get two feet. They've been at it 35 years. And they got a righteousness that is, you know, they got all of those things that hang off your chest for never missing a day in Sunday school. And they got, oh, they got Bibles that look like they've been carrying them behind their car and dragging them along. They've been reading the Bible and they've been praying all the time.
And then you know some of them that are preachers and they're lost, but they. They got three feet of righteousness. Stay with me now. They got three feet of righteousness. They're lost as a lizard, but they're preachers.
And so. They got righteousness because they've been preaching a good book. And then you got some who become Missionaries.
So they're four feet of righteousness. And in God's eyes, none of it works. There it is. Absolutely worth less. Why?
Because we've all sinned. We all fall short of the glory of God. We all fall short of His standard. Have you ever worked hard enough to be as righteous as God is? You can't.
Ever sacrificed enough to really earn your way into heaven like the sacrifice of Jesus? You can't. How about really gutting it up in hard times and really standing firm? Is that enough? It's never enough.
It's never enough. You talk to any religion and ask the crucial question: how much is enough? They can never answer the question. Why? Because works never get you there.
You never know when you've done enough. You ask a person who bases his salvation or her salvation on works, and they're near death, and you say, Are you sure now you're going to go to heaven? I hope so. Oh. Oh, I really I hope so.
I've just been working so hard. God bless them. They don't know. You ask a person who's taken a gift. They die with a smile on her face.
There's nothing to fear. There's no worry. Because they don't get there on their own. Is Jesus in God's heaven? If I'm in Jesus, do I get in God's heaven with Him?
Absolutely, absolutely.
So we have a transfer of righteousness. Look at how he puts it. It's so clear in verse 24. Being justified as a gift. The Greek has just one word, it's the term for freely.
Being justified. Really? Freely. Is that a good word? Jesus said on one occasion, they hated me without a cause.
Same Greek word as here. being justified without a cause. Without one thing that we had in ourselves. then it's by his grace. Through the redemption in Christ Jesus.
Oh, we've got to understand the word redemption. That's a great, great word. Back years ago, slaves were put on blocks. and they stood up above the crowd to be sold to the market. It was called, in cities like Rome, a slave market.
Slave owners would show up and they would bid for the slave. The highest bidder would get the property. a slave in chains, occasionally a A slave owner would have a change of heart and would cut the chains free and let the slave go free. We would say he has redeemed. The slave.
It means to liberate by the paying of a price. to set free By the paying of a price. You and I do not pay one cent. for our eternal home. The one who gives $20 million a year is no closer to heaven than the person who gives $10 a year.
It's not a matter of money. You and I had nothing in ourselves to earn salvation. The person who 40 years on the mission field lives a sacrificial life is no closer to heaven than the individual who never gets out of his own backyard. You don't earn this. You and I could not possibly work hard enough.
to win God's favor. Look across the page at chapter 4. Verse 4. This is as clear as it can be. Romans 4:4.
Now to the one. Who works? That refers to the menu. your employment. That word talks about your job to the one who works.
His wage is not credited as a favor. But it's what is due.
Now that's true, isn't it? At the end of your pay period, you receive an envelope from your employer. When the envelope is given to you on your desk or handed to you in your hand, you take the envelope and you never say, thank you for this gift. Your boss would look at you like, you know, you're from Mars. Gift.
You earned that. You say, good, let's see if it's the right amount. It's your wage. You earned it! Look at the next verse.
But There's another one of those great butts. But to the one who does not work. but believes in him who justifies the ungodly Why his faith is credited as righteousness. That is so good, I want to shout. Let me tell you why.
Here I am, lost. Absolutely sinful, depraved. Nothing in myself to please God. Nothing. And Christ comes in my place.
Christ dies to pay the penalty of sin on my behalf. And as I believe in Jesus Christ and his death for me, where he paid the complete price. Payment for sins. I am now. In Christ.
And I am seen as righteous as God's own Son is righteous. Is that good or what? Nearer, still nearer, nearer I cannot be. For in the person of his son, I am as near as he. Isn't that great?
If the Son of God is in the presence of God, And I am in the Son of God by faith. having received the gift. Hmm. I couldn't be nearer. I couldn't have a relationship more.
connected. or secure. Than that.
Now, back to the verse. Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, verse 25. Whom That's Referring back to Christ Jesus. Whom God publicly displayed, As a satisfaction in his blood through faith. What does that mean?
All right, now listen carefully. Listen carefully. When Adam sinned Exactly as God told him, Adam died. He instantly died spiritually. He began to die physically.
So, when it comes to the sins of the whole world, which we have inherited from Adam. How can we possibly pay that kind of payment? We can't because sinful sacrifices don't work in God's eyes. It takes assemblists. sacrifice.
And the sinless Lamb of God was sacrificed. And the sacrifice of his death satisfied the demands of the Father on sin. How great is that?
Well, that sure is great. You're listening to Insight for Living and the Bible teaching of Chuck Swindahl. Chuck titled this study in Romans chapter three, Unwrapping the Gift of Grace. There's a lot more teaching ahead, and if you're ready to learn more about Paul's letter to the Romans, Insight for Living has a great collection of study tools for this series. The first is Volume one of our Searching the Scriptures Bible study for Romans.
Next, Chuck's entire commentary on Romans from the Living Insights Commentary Collection. and third, the audio files for every single sermon in the study of Romans. To check out this special bundle of resources, just go to insight.org/slash offer. or call 800-772-8888. But that's not all.
If you're looking for a new book for the fall and something that fills your mind with soul-satisfying truth, We highly recommend a brand new book from Chuck Swindahl. It's called looking in all the right directions. This book, available only through Insight for Living, features the final five sermons Chuck delivered last year to the congregation that he shepherded for more than 25 years. In these emotion-filled messages, Chuck shares his heart on matters common to all of us. getting through seasons of unwanted hardship.
standing firm for the truth in a world that rejects the truth. and using your God-given gifts to bring meaning and purpose to your life. To purchase a copy of Looking in All the Right Directions by Chuck Swindahl, call us at 800-772-8888 or go to insight.org slash offer. Finally, if you'd like to write to us with comments or questions or to make a contribution to support Insight for Living, here's our address. It's Insight for Living.
Post Office Box 5000. Frisco, Texas, 75034. Your gift will empower us to provide these programs so men and women all around the world will hear about God's amazing grace. Again, you can write to us at Post Office Box5000. Frisco, Texas, 75034.
I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindahl continues his uplifting message called Unwrapping the Gift of Grace. Thursday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Unwrapping the Gift of Grace, was copyrighted in 2006, 2010, and 2025, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindahl, Incorporated.
All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
