“Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Galatians 1:3-5).
Man’s greatest need is to be cleansed from sin and restored to a right relationship with God. Yet the wickedness of man’s heart always leads him to seek his own remedy for sin, or even deny that he needs any such remedy. The man without the Spirit of God will always seek his own path rather than submit to the only way God has ordained for the salvation of sinners (Acts 4:12; John 14:6). This demonstrates the depth of man’s depravity and his desperate need for the saving grace of God. And God’s grace is the only reason any man is saved from the guilt, penalty and consequences of sin. Because God is gracious, loving, and merciful, Jesus Christ came into this world and took upon Himself the nature of man and “gave himself for our sins.” This Good News is something the natural man stumbles over and considers foolish. “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness…” (1 Cor 1:23). Nevertheless, the Apostle Paul teaches in our text that Jesus Christ gave himself to save sinners from the penalty of sin. “Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ…” Grace and peace are two of the most precious words that we can ever hear. Grace changes our relationship with God. Grace moves us out of the sphere of darkness, death, rebellion and sin and into the realms of light, life, righteousness and grace. Simply stated, Jesus Christ is the grace of God. The Apostle Paul tells every redeemed sinner that God “delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col 1:13-14), and this is solely and simply by God’s amazing grace in Christ Jesus! And it’s through Christ that we have peace with God (Rom. 5). What about you? Have you received the grace of God? Has Christ translated you out of the sphere of darkness into the sphere of His marvelous light? If so your words and works will be very different from the unbelieving world. You will think differently and therefore you will live differently (Rom. 12:1-2) since out of the heart are the issues of life (Prov. 4:23). When your heart is cleansed your life will follow. Jesus said when the inside of the cup and dish is clean then the outside becomes clean also (Matt. 23:26). Has the grace of God transformed your soul? If so then you are God’s “own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…” (1 Peter 2:9). Therefore, continuously “Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name” (Psalm 30:4).
-Rev. Scott Henry
