Grace and Peace
Salutations, Benedictions and Doxologies • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
How would you greet someone with the best greeting possible? Would you hoot and holler, coming all loud and proud? Would you just sneak in being unnoticed and just kind of hang out? Or would you make the absolute best of the moment and share with everyone the gift that God has given you?
That’s kind of what Paul did in his letters to the various churches. We see throughout the New Testament that Paul greeted those whom he was writing with sound doctrine and literally words to live by.
In your scripture writing plan for the month, you have already seen examples of how that plays out. When we define Christian character, we will probably use some of the very words found in these greetings. Grace and peace are examples of such. I think it is worth looking into a bit further.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, we see in :
Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The words that stand out to me in this passage include grace and peace. As I have studied this passage, it seems to me that there are four implications regarding grace and peace.
First implication is grace and peace are received.
Implication number one is sim
Grace and Peace are Received
Grace and Peace are Received
Notice what Paul does in verse 5: “Through Him and for His name’s sake we received grace and apostleship.” We will see later that peace is extended with grace and the implication is that peace is received with grace.
But first, how is grace received? It is through Him, which is Jesus Christ. Grace is the redemptive love in action. It reaches out to people who do not deserve it but are freely given it by God anyhow. You have heard me say that a great acronym for GRACE is God’s Redemption At Christ’s Expense. We cannot earn it. We do not deserve it. Yet it is given to us through the rich love of God.
Paul is saying boldly that this grace is given to us in a way which we receive it from Jesus. When we received it, it was given to us in a way that blows our mind and we cannot comprehend it, yet it comes and is so beautiful.
The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
It is a blessing to us.
From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
You see God does not just give a little bit of grace. Rather, He pours it on us fully.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
In Him, through Him, because Him we are able to receive God’s grace.
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
When you receive the grace of God, you will want to do what this second implication says: You will want to retain it.
Grace and Peace are Retained
Grace and Peace are Retained
Once again, as grace is realized, peace abounds. As this happens, you will want to live in it and hold fast to it. You desire to retain it.
reminds us that we receive grace and through that grace we also receive a calling. That which we receive is so valuable that we when we receive it, we have retain it and in retaining it,we respond through obedience.
Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him—
Romans 16:
You see, grace is a free gift we receive, but we are called and commissioned to share it with those that have not realized they have access to that same gift of grace.
Paul recognized it as part of his calling as an apostle. We see that calling mentioned in as well as other places like where people came to faith and priests were called and became obedient to the faith.
So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
When you receive something as beautiful as grace, you will want to retain it and at the same time, share it joyfully with others. When Paul mentions in “to call people from the Gentiles,” he is speaking about the idea of sharing one’s faith with a nonbeliever. When was the last time you associated yourself with a nonbeliever? Do you have friends that do not know Christ? Do they know what you have received and are retaining?
We are created to belong. When we retain the grace and peace of God, we are called to belong to Jesus Christ. When we belong, we are able to join together with others that belong to Jesus. The church should be greatest source of the sense of belonging that exists on earth today. If every believer retains the grace and peace the Lord has provided for each of us, we should be excited about sharing that together.
The grace which you have received retains better if it is nourished and cared for just like seed in a soil.
But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
When we are receiving and retaining this gift of grace, we are allowing it to thrive in our lives. We live and experience grace and it overflows from our lives into other lives. There is a contagious joy that we are able to share when we live out our lives the way we are called to do so. We are given grace and therefore should extend freely to others as well. As we are given it, we relish it, recognizing what we have.
We are given grace and granted peace. As we receive it, we retain it and we relish it.
Grace and Peace are Relished
Grace and Peace are Relished
When something is relished, it is enjoyed and liked. On the dinner table, when something is relished it tastes good. I am reminded in Scripture that the Psalmist used this idea when he wrote in :
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Blessed is that person that can relish in the grace and peace of our Lord.
Praise the Lord.
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who finds great delight in his commands.
Are you finding great delight in the Lord’s commands or do they leave a bitter taste in your mouth? For the person that relishes in the grace and peace of the Lord, they will experience delight and great joy.
We celebrate God’s grace and peace because we recognize that every good and perfect gift comes from Him according to .
We see this also in :
“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.
from the descendants of Heman,
Jehiel and Shimei;
from the descendants of Jeduthun,
Shemaiah and Uzziel.
Are you relishing in what the Lord has done for you? Are recognizing what He has given you? Our text for today reminds us that we are loved by God and called to be saints. This causes us to flourish!
But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God’s unfailing love
for ever and ever.
Have you ever just sat down and thought about the love of God? It is absolutely amazing.
It is a saving love.
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
Titus 3:4-
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It is a love from which we cannot be separated.
It is a love from which we cannot be separated.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It is an everlasting love.
The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness.
Oh that we would relish in that love!
It is because of His everlasting love that we can receive, retain and relish His grace and peace. There is one more thing we have an example of in this passage. We can reinvest grace and peace into others.
We Reinvest Grace and Peace into Others.
We Reinvest Grace and Peace into Others.
The second part of says “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” This is a common greeting Paul uses throughout his writings. It reminds us that the grace of God is His free love and unmerited favor to men and women imparted through Christ. The peace of God is the well-being which they enjoy through His grace. When we do this, we are giving encouragement.
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Max Lucado gives this illustration.
“You come into a relationship with a wheelbarrow full of rocks. You’re a mason, and you can stack those and cement those. Within the character of the person you can build them up. You edify them. You can stabilize them with words and encouragement. You can can build someone up.”
Don’t you think we are in a world where people are hungry to be built up? When we receive, retain, and relish grace and peace, we are able to reinvest that into people that so desaparately need to be built up. Offering grace and peace makes us just like the Lord Jesus Christ Who is doing exactly what His Father has taught Him to do and be.
Oh that our world would experience grace and peace. Oh that our government would experience grace and peace. Oh that our communities would experience grace and peace. Oh that our churches would experience grace and peace. Oh that our families would experience grace and peace. Do you know where it begins? It begins with each one of us. When we truly experience the grace and peace our Lord has to offer for us, we will change the world.
Receive grace and peace.
Retain grace and peace.
Relish in grace and peace.
And reinvest grace and peace. Try that this week and see what happens.