“Grace and peace be yours in abundance” (1 Peter 1:2).
Good sermon notes are difficult to keep track of when written on random papers, so I like to write notes in my Bible. During my devotional time recently, it was a particularly nice surprise to find comments obviously gleaned from a well-researched and in-depth sermon on grace. I would love to give credit to the minister who delivered such an up close and personal look into what it means to experience God’s boundless gift of grace, but I have no recollection of when or where I was blessed by this sermon, but its “highlights” blessed me again. May these thoughts bless you too.
I Peter 5:10 refers to “the God of all grace.” First, He provides saving grace: “...it is by grace you have been saved (Eph.2:5-6). But sometimes, to our dismay, being saved does not spare us from pain in this life, so God gives us suffering grace: “And the God of all grace who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you...(1 Peter 5:10). Struggles then lead to seasoning grace: “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt...” (Col. 4:6).
Paul and Silas proved that in the worst of times, we can have singing grace: “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God...” (Acts 16:25). Christ followers are able to remain standing firm because of anointing grace: “... it is God [Who] anointed us” (2Cor.1:21-22). Believing grace keeps us moving forward, being: “...justified freely by His grace...” (Rom.3:23-24). As though ascending Jacob’s ladder, maturing in our walk with God finds us nurtured by increasing grace (2 Peter 3:18), abounding grace (2Cor. 9:8), surpassing grace (Eph.2:7), sufficient grace (2 Cor. 12:9), and finally, glorious grace: “...set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Christ is revealed” (1Peter 1:13).
GRACE! What would we do, where would we be without it? And should we not show grace to others in light of how much grace God gives to us? Peter ends his epistle by saying, “...I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it” (I Peter 5:12). May that be our commitment throughout the year.