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May you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ From the beginning with Adam’s sin, God worked with man giving him grace and mercy when he only deserved judgment. Though it does not specifically mention the word grace, there was grace toward Adam and Eve with there judgment, by BEING REMOVED FROM THE GARDEN. Later as mankind became more overtaken by their sin nature and evil became predominant, God still found a way to give grace. “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Gen. 6:8) and God had him preach, giving mankind a chance before the flood that would bring world wide destruction and death. =The Bible mentions 5 specific people grace was given to in the Old Testament, Noah (Gen. 6:8); Abraham (Gen. 18:3; 24:27); Lot (Gen. 19:19); Jacob (Gen. 32:10; 33:5); and Joseph (Gen. 39:21; 43:29). The Old Testament ends with a warning in Mal. 4:4 “Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.” Grace is mentioned approximately 20 times in the Old Testament, in the New Testament over 100 times directly. The most famous passage in the Old Testament is God and Moses in conversation, Exod. 33:12-19: Then Moses said to the LORD, "See, You say to me, 'Bring up this people.' But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, 'I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.' "Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people." And He said, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Then he said to Him, "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. "For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth." So the LORD said to Moses, "I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name." And he said, "Please, show me Your glory." Then He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." We find God showing himself strong on Moses behalf attributed to His grace and then tells Moses that He chooses whom he will put his favor toward. We find the principle explained in the New Testament "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble"(1 Peter 5:5). Israel promised to keep the laws, but they failed. Yet God still had grace; He became man, and for the first time in history God entered the human existence as a human. From the beginning of Jesus’ life on earth God introduced grace - to Mary. The New Testament Introduces us to Jesus as a youth by saying “the grace of God was upon Him” (Luke 2:40) Later on we read Jesus was the fullness of God (deity) in bodily form (Col.1:19, 2:9). He came to live under the law given through Moses to the people but now He is introduced as grace alongside the law. “The law came through Moses but GRACE and TRUTH came through Jesus Christ.” Here begins the distinction as God became incarnate and taught men the true intent of the law of Moses. As believers in the Messiah, and the new covenant everything we have is given to us by the grace of God - our salvation - our growth - and eventually our glorification. It’s all worked by His unmerited favor toward those who believe, that have exercised faith in the one sent, who have become part of the new covenant through the gospel. Nothing is done because of law, the old covenant, which when man failed in keeping would be punished when he failed. The new covenant is unconditional, and gives the recipient grace when they fail, so they can begin again. Throughout the letters of the New Testament grace always comes first before anything else. Notice the letters Paul writes grace and peace. Or Peter’s admonition “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). Grace must be first for one to receive knowledge correctly, accurately, to have peace. He begins to mention grace in
his letter to the Corinthians: Paul continued this format in the majority of his letters to both individuals and the church.1Thess 1:1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 1Thess 5:28: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” The New Testament is about God’s grace toward us and our sharing this grace with each other. Paul knew what gave him
salvation “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24). Grace was so important to Paul and to
the Christian life that it is mentioned in nearly every letter (Gal.1:3, Eph.1:2, Phi.1:2;
Col.1:2; 1Thess.1:1, As the church began we read “And
with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus. And great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33). When the
Gentiles were saved the apostle Peter wrote The
apostles were called into their ministry by grace: As the apostles did miracles to those who believed it says: “speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands” (Acts 14:3) GRACE IN THE GOSPEL The gospel contains both grace and mercy. Mercy is to be freely pardoned when one deserves judgment. Grace is a free gift, favor is given when one is non deserving. Grace finds its source in the giver, who is God, who is motivated by love and sent His only begotten Son to his death for mankind. What exactly is grace? Several words are used for grace, chesed means intense kindness and love which is related to God's covenant. ”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son.” That’s grace. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7). The gospel is our new covenant, which has replaced the old covenant. Grace is enacted by the death of Christ (Mt. 26:28),we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7). It is grace that is essential to the New Covenant. It is God’s grace that
gives us the way to Him through faith (Eph. 2:8-9). The Gospel of grace is the
only means to restore man to God’s original intent, enacted through faith in the
Son of God.Our part is to continue in faith, “He who began a good work in you
will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” God abounds in grace and is willing to give the believer his favor. What grace is not is power, the power to live the Christian life comes from the Holy Spirit. Grace is unrelated to any deed we might do. It is not withheld from God - His grace is consistent. A simple example. If you gave someone hungry a meal and then they pulled out their wallet asking what can the pay for it? This would cease being a free gift. Grace is giving what someone needs when they do not deserve it. If they want to pay for it they forfeit the free gift. After speaking of Abraham who only believed and righteousness was accounted to him, Paul explains, “Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,” He then gives us another example v.6 “just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works’ (Rom. 4:4-6) Titus 3:4-8: “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.” We find one of the most
comforting promises in the New Testament is In other words the Devil cannot condemn us because we have been translated from darkness to light, and given the power to live a life in His Spirit, all glory to his grace. In
Christ is a technical term Paul used for
the believer - meaning, they are baptized in the Spirit into His body (1 Cor.
12:13) and when we walk in the power of the one that lives in us we cannot be
condemned.
Paul understood our position toward God through the old covenant, it was hopeless. Paul says “if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” We are explicitly told we are “Not under the law,” means you are under grace, the New Covenant, The law is not connected to grace, grace is superior and that is why we are to walk in it. Paul warned the Galatian
church the result of turning to the law; it annuls your faith that is to be in
God’s work of grace It is God’s grace that gives us the way to Him through faith (Eph. 2:8-9) You can’t have the true faith without grace from God. And this can only happen when a person admits they are unable to do anything of themselves to be right with God and are willing to become dependent upon God’s work through Christ for them. Paul said he was saved and justified by grace, he makes it clear it is the same for all: We can understand that nothing can be accomplished for God without his grace working in us. “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began” (2 Tim. 1:9). We are promised In writing to the 7 churches No one believes in an angry Christ! But it says when He comes back, he is not a meek lamb sacrificed, but the conquering king; as a lion to those who have willfully rejected him and chose the false Messiah. A lion that will destroy his enemies, those who did evil, who opposed him, that did not believe that God would bring judgment as he did so many times before. John saw Jesus in heaven in His glory, holy and pure. His word will first judge the leader of this last rebellion, then his armies. Then the people will be separated (Mt.25) nothing will be hidden as we are told in Heb.4:12. II Thess 2:8 “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” The end of the book of Revelation, it says - “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen (Rev. 22:21). The whole of the Bible is about Jesus Christ and the grace hw wants us to have from him. The Bible ends with grace for the believer. Our Christian life began with grace, and will continue through eternity because of grace. We began in grace, we stand in grace, and we finish in grace. 1 Pt. 1:9-12: “receiving the end of your faith--the salvation of your souls. Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you.” As we know this day is approaching let us understand how we conduct ourselves until he comes for us. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” (2 Cor. 13:14) we can have the confidence that "the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” (Rom.16:20)
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