The Significance And Meaning Of Peace
Definition of Peace
The word for peace is eirhnh. It apparently comes from eirw which means to join. It means a state of untroubled tranquillity, a state without war or dividing factions or enmity. It refers to a state of harmony and well being. However, in the use of this word in Scripture, there are several aspects of peace which God’s grace gives according to the varied contexts.
DescriptionThe Kinds of Peace
The Peace of Reconciliation, Peace with God
Peace with God refers to the peace of salvation wherein the barriers, like mans sin and Gods holiness, which separate man from God are removed through faith in Gods gracious work in Christ. In Ephesians 2, Christ is seen as the Peacemaker.
Ephesians 2:14-18 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near 18 for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
Romans 5:1 Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
The Peace of Fellowship, the Peace of a Conscience Void of Offense
The Peace of State, Public Peace
But He Said To Me My Grace Is Sufficient For You For My Power Is Made Perfect In Weakness Therefore I Will Boast All The More Gladly About My Weaknesses So That Christs Power May Rest On Me 2 Corinthians 1: 9
We were not made to be independent beings.
We were all created with unique strengths and weaknesses, meaning we simply cant be the best at everything.
There was only one perfect man to ever live and He died on the cross.
Those pesky weaknesses that we try so hard to get rid of remind us that we need a Savior.
Christs grace is sufficient. His power is made perfect in weakness.
What a beautiful thing it is.
Why We Should Extend Grace To Others
There are so many reasons why we should extend grace to others.
First of all, Gods love for us as sinners is so great and so mighty that He sent His son to die for a world that neither cared for nor loved Him back. Gods love and grace are able to penetrate our hearts, as cold as it might be. Gods grace never quits.
Every good thing that we have ever received in this life that we live here on earth is only because of Gods grace. All our accomplishments, in school and at work, are only by His grace.
Because of who God is, and all that He wants to accomplish within us, God wants us to extend grace to others. He wants us to forgive them, to love them and to be kind to them even if they make it really hard to justify doing so.
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In Closing On Is Gods Grace Really For Everyone
Friends, can I Encourage you, to think of the ways, God has shown YOU his Grace in your life? It is so hard for ME to fathom, the Grace that God shows ME, on a daily basis! It leads ME to Tears!
If you dont know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior dont push away the hope in Christ for salvation today sweet friend because you need to consider your eternity. Its one of two places there is NO in-betweenHeaven or Hell.
I have a whole section dedicated to Christian living if you want to read more on Gods grace and love for you!
Fully Rely On God’s Grace
If you find yourself relying on yourself, remind yourself of Paul. Even though many Christians talk about his accomplishments and how he shaped the faith and the history of the church, he always points back at God. One of the most famous Christians of all time boasted in his weakness, because he knew he couldnt take a step without Gods help.
In your own life, try to find areas where you may be relying on something else apart from God. Even when God gives us a spiritual gift, we can end up worshipping it instead of Him. Find those areas and ask God to help you remove those idols and turn to His grace alone.
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Gods Grace Trains Us Who Are Saved To Be Zealous For Good Deeds
Good deeds refer to deeds that are done out of sincere love for God and others in obedience to His Word. Zealous is a word that Paul used to describe his fanatical zeal for Judaism prior to his conversion . It was also used to describe the fanatical Jewish sect that was devoted to ridding Israel of Roman domination. The Zealots were totally devoted to their cause, even to the point of risking their own lives to achieve their goals. You would not call them lukewarm!
Could you rightly describe yourself as a fanatic for good deeds? It seems to me that the vast majority of Christians dabble at good deeds when it is convenient, when they dont have anything else that theyd rather do. But if we have been bought out of the slave market of sin by the blood of our great God and Savior, we should be fanatics for good deeds. We ought to be totally devoted to serving our new Master.
Why Do We Need The Grace Of God
God, through His grace, gives us the blessing of having our sins forgiven and eventually receiving eternal life. But what do we have to do? Are there conditions to receiving Gods grace?
In the New Testament, a primary act of Gods grace is pardon for sin. Lets explore why we need this aspect of Gods grace.
First, we have to realize that sin is something that we all are guilty of. The apostle Paul wrote that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God .
But what exactly is sin? The Bible defines it in 1 John 3:4: Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. In other words, sin is breaking Gods law.
Sinning carries a penalty. That penalty is revealed in Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death. So every time we break Gods law and sin, we bring upon ourselves the penalty of death, and yet, God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance . Not willing means God does not wish, desire or want anyone to perish.
This is where grace comes in. God the Father, through His Son, loves us so much that He has made it possible for us to have this penalty removed. He did this by sending Jesus Christ to pay that penalty for us through His sacrifice.
Ephesians 1:5-6 shows that it was Gods plan all along to be gracious to mankind in forgiving our sins and eventually giving us an opportunity to have everlasting life in His eternal family .
To learn more about Gods forgiveness, read What Is Forgiveness?
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Experience Gods Grace To Give Yourself Grace
So why do we punish ourselves, if God doesnt?
Although I grew up in church, I didnt always understand what grace meant for my daily life. As a preteen, if I went a few days without reading my Bible, I felt guilty because I thought God was angry at me. So I would hang my head in shame and beat myself up before coming back to Him, because I thought that was the only way He would forgive me.
But what I didnt understand then, and what took me years of my life to really grasp, was this:
We are in Christ when we put our faith in Him, so now God no longer condemns us. In Christ we are completely forgiven, accepted, loved, and secure.
If we think that God wants us to feel ashamed and punish ourselves when weve sinned or made a mistake, we have the wrong idea of God. Thinking like that might be something weve learned from human interaction.
We all hurt other people from time to time, and realize what we did was wrong. So we think that maybe if we hang our heads in remorse, the person we hurt will be more inclined to forgive us. It boils down to self-protection, because were afraid of the consequences. We punish ourselves first so that the other person will let up.
What Does It Mean To Have Grace
God shows us grace when He extends us love, forgiveness, and eternal life in spite of our wrongs and shortcomings. While we cannot offer eternal life to another, in honor of the grace we have experienced, God expects us to show love, mercy, compassion, and kindness to those around useven to our enemies, as my daughter did with her frenemy, Brianne.
As Jesus instructs his disciples, Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy and Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven . And as the apostle Paul urges early Christians in Ephesus, Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you .
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What Does The Bible Say About Grace
Grace is the unmerited favor of God. God pours out His favor upon sinners like us who deserve the worst. The Father gave His Son the punishment that we deserve. Grace can be summed up as Gods Riches At Christs Expense.
You cant run away from the grace of God. Gods grace cant be stopped. Gods love for the ungodly cannot be contained. His grace penetrates our hearts until we say, enough! If I dont get to the cross today Ill never get to it. Gods grace never quits.
Every good thing in this life is by Gods grace. All our accomplishments are by His grace alone. People say, you cant do Gods work without the grace of God. I say, you can do nothing without the grace of God. Without His grace you wouldnt be able to breath!
Grace gives no stipulations. Jesus ripped your contract in half. Youre free! Colossians 2:14 tells us when Christ died on the cross He took away our debt. By the blood of Christ there is no more legal debt. Grace has won the battle against sin.
Grace As Undeserved Favor
So, to answer her question, lets just limit ourselves to Paul, whom she quoted, and to the two uses of grace that she saw. On the one hand, grace is called and I think its an absolutely wonderful phrase undeserved favor.
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Romans 3:24: are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Grace is what inclines God to give gifts that are free and undeserved by sinners.
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Romans 5:15: If many died through one mans trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. So, grace is that quality in God that produces free gifts for guilty sinners in salvation.
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Romans 11:56: At the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works otherwise grace would no longer be grace. So, you cant work to earn grace. It is free and undeserved.
Now, thats what most of us have in our minds when we say God is a God of grace. And thats true. Its wonderful. Our eternal lives depend on it. None of us would be saved if grace were not undeserved favor, and were not a quality in the mind of God, in the heart of God, in the nature of God.
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Grace: A Gift Eternal
Romans 3:20-24 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
Romans 4:15-17 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspringnot only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, I have made you the father of many nations in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
What Is The Definition Of Grace
Grace is the unmerited, loving favor and graciousness our Creator God shows to us. His grace is driven by His character of perfect love and concern toward us. Gods grace is so powerful and valuable that theres nothing we could ever do to earn it.
David Johnson, a minister in the Church of God, a Worldwide Association and instructor at Foundation Institute, summarized grace as a gift given out of the goodness of the giver without regard for the worthiness of the recipient. The focus of the word is upon the goodness of the giver with little focus on the gift itself or on the recipient.
Gods grace directs our attention to Gods innate and intrinsic goodness and love for us.
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How To Give Grace To Others: With Our Words
Our words are incredibly powerful and what we say to and about others can completely change their life, believe it or not.
In the bible, Proverbs 15:4 tells us that Gentle words bring life and health a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. In the book of Matthew, Jesus also reminds us that the words we speak to others are actually the overflow of our hearts.
People might not always remember what you say to them but they will remember how those words made them feel. So make it an intention to always leave someone feeling better than they were before they spoke to you.
I might never remember everyones names that I have met in my life, but I almost always remember those people who made me feel inadequate, unloved and unwanted.
When someone does something to hurt us, our human nature almost always wants to bite back and put that person in their place. God tells us to do otherwise. He asks us to turn the other cheek and to uplift even when it hurts because, in the end, you might be the only bible that person will ever read.
Strive to use your speech to encourage and uplift others.
Lesson : How Grace Works
Our subject for today, the grace of God and how it works in our lives, is arguably the most important concept for you to understand and live by in the battle to be godly. Because it is so important, the enemy of our souls has created much confusion and controversy on this topic. But if you can fight your way clear in understanding and applying Gods grace, you will experience a close relationship with God and consistent victory over sin .
Gods grace permeated Pauls thinking. One scholar writes, Paul could not think of Christian truth and conduct apart from Gods grace . Another writes, The expression, the grace of God, may fairly be said to be the key word of Pauls theology. He cannot think of Christian salvation apart from the grace of God .
The classic definition is the best: Gods grace is His unmerited favor. Grace means that God showered favor and blessing on those who did not in any way deserve or earn it. They deserved His judgment and wrath. But He showed them favor.
Our text corrects both of these serious misconceptions of Gods grace. Paul shows that
Gods grace first saves and then trains His peoplefor godliness and good deeds.
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Will God Forgive Someone Who Has Had An Abortion
Those who have had an abortion can receive Gods forgiveness. If they now accept Gods view of life, they do not need to be overwhelmed with guilt. Jehovah is merciful and compassionate . . . As far off as the sunrise is from the sunset, so far off from us he has put our transgressions. * Jehovah will forgive all who sincerely repent of their past sins, including abortion.Psalm 86:5.