The Grace of God, Part 1

I am posting my notes on Pastor Tom’s teaching from Sunday, April 2nd. These are MY notes. Not a transcript. Not his notes. Any misquotes, mistakes, or mystifications are my fault (or something like that). All verses are from NASB 1995. I added some scripture references to things that Tom alluded to, but did not actually quote the scriptures. See brackets [].

The Grace of God, part 1

Prayer: Show me about Your grace. Lord, we need to find your grace afresh.

What is grace? Well, we know a definition, but what is it really? What does it mean?

GRACE: God’s riches at Christ’s expense.

God’s riches - all that He has for us.

Christ’s expense - the cross.

Grace: What is it? Where do we find it? How do I get it? How do I receive it? How does grace fit into the whole of the Bible?

In literature and other writings there is a “law “of first and last mention - What is mentioned first? First sentence tells you what the paragraph is about. The first paragraph tells you what the chapter is about, and so forth. The last paragraph/sentence summarizes the thought, the chapter, the book.

Jesus is the first and the last, the alpha and the omega.

In some of the gospels, the first thing Jesus says is “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” In Acts, just before He departs, He tells the disciples about the kingdom. The Lord’s Prayer begins and ends with “kingdom.” It must have been important to Jesus. “Kingdom” brackets everything Tom wants to say about grace.

Grace permeates the kingdom of God. Let’s take a look afresh at grace.

In the New Testament, the emphasis is on grace. In the Old Testament, the emphasis is on mercy. Mercy and grace are similar in meaning and connotation.
• Mercy means not getting what I deserve.
• Grace means getting what I do not deserve.

Luke 2:40
40 The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

John wrote both a gospel and the last book of the Bible. What does John say about grace?

John 1:1-18 (context)
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:15-17
John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ ”
16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

How does John see Jesus? How is he representing Him?

Jesus, pre-existing as the Son of God, came among us, full of grace, wrapped up in the glory of God.

Tom related a story, the gist of which is that “grace is the base.” Everything we do is by grace, modified by grace.

John 1:16. “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.”

Grace upon grace. Grace piled up into heaps of grace. Grace multiplied.

John 1:17. “ For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.”

We need the law because we would not see our need for grace. The law shows us how we need His grace and mercy.

Where everyone (Pharisees, Sadducees, and the lawyers) got skewed was they tried to follow the law perfectly, to obey every jot and tittle,. The missed that the law was also supposed to show us God’s grace.

Revelation 22:21. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

This is the last verse in the Bible. The first and last in John’s writing is about grace.

Grace is not just poetry to sing about. There is something real about grace also. Do you want to look at grace in a new and fresh way?

John 1:17. “ For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.”

Moses was the “mailman.” He delivered the law to Israel. Jesus came as the reality of grace and truth. Do I know the difference between law and grace?

Am I willing to look straight at the Lamb of God who is the embodiment of grace? Have I received His fulness? Grace upon grace?

John was the disciple whom Jesus loved, who leaned on Jesus breast. He understood grace.

At this point, Tom begins a run-through of the New Testament showing “first and last mentions” in many of the epistles. He sometimes just quoted the passages, sometimes he did more elaboration. I caught what I could.

Romans 1:5-7; 16:24.

1 Corinthians 1:3, 16:23. Corinth was a messy place. Tom reads these two passages and sees the “grace sandwich.” What is going on in Corinth? How does God’s grace change the church in Corinth between the writing of the first and second epistles to them?

Paul chose Corinth, of all the place he had ministered, to represent his apostleship, his seal [I Cor 9:2].

Re-read Corinthians to see how grace gripped them.

2 Corinthians 1:2; 13:14. Paul is bracketing what he is saying to the Corinthians by grace.

Galatians 1:3; 6:18. I want all the stuff in the Bible I hear about to work now. I want the reality now. And that reality has to be in grace, as I look to Jesus Himself.

Ephesians 1:2; 6:24. Grace is not a “heavenly ooze,” not a salve. We are not going to God to get something dispensed. Grace and reality comes as a result of loving Jesus.

Philippians 1:2; 4:23. Does the mention of grace bring a smile in any face? There is a joy in grace.

Colossians 1:2; 4:18. Paul was imprisoned. Grace in imprisonment. Grace is costly.

1 Thessalonians 1:1; 5:28.

2 Thessalonians 1:2; 3:18.

In all these letters, grace begins and ends, grace is the prevailing bent of everything Paul is writing.

Heb 2:9; 13:25.

John 1:17. “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.”

As we move towards Palm Sunday, Easter, and Pentecost, look as these events in the light of grace. Ask God to make grace real and fresh to us.

Ask God to show me “grace upon grace.” As you go, ask God, pray for these things: “grace upon grace,” “grace upon you.”