The Amish Voice 5
Man deserves nothing from God except
judgment, condemnation, and punishment.
But God is love—perfect and absolute love.
Therefore, God makes it possible for man to
experience His grace, in particular the favor
and blessing of salvation which is in His
Son, Jesus Christ.
"Being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24).
2. Peace means to be bound, joined, and
weaved together with God and with every-
one else. It means to be assured, confident,
and secure in the love and care of God. It
means to have a sense, a consciousness, a
knowledge that God will...
A person can experience true peace only as
he comes to know Jesus Christ. Only Christ
can bring peace to the human heart, the kind
of peace that brings deliverance and assur-
ance to the human soul.
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I
give unto you: not as the world giveth
give I unto you. Let not your heart be
troubled, neither let it be
afraid" (John 14:27).
The point is this: not everyone in the church
was experiencing the grace and peace of
God. Some had fallen from the grace of God,
no longer trusting Christ to save them; they
depended upon their own works and good-
ness to make them acceptable to God. As a
result, they did not have peace of heart.
Some had even fallen into all forms of sin
and shame (Galatians 5:19-21). Others had
become extremely critical and divisive,
standing against Paul and any who supported
Paul. Note: Paul wished the very best for the
churches of Galatia—even for the false
teachers and critics. He wanted everyone to
experience...
the grace of God by coming to know
Jesus Christ as their personal Savior
and Lord.
the peace of God as they walked
through life confronting all its strug-
gles and trials.
APPLICATION 1:
Every minister should wish the very best for
all believers, even for his critics and ene-
mies. It might be difficult, but his very call
to the ministry is to proclaim the grace and
peace of God.
ILLUSTRATION:
The Christian believer has been issued a tre-
mendous charge to proclaim the grace and
peace of God. As we all journey through
life, the footing can become rather treacher-
ous at times. Do you help others as they
walk?
"A university professor tells of being
invited to speak at a military base one
December and there meeting an unfor-
gettable soldier named Ralph. Ralph
had been sent to meet him at the air-
port, and after they had introduced
themselves, they headed toward the
baggage claim.
"As they walked down the concourse,
Ralph kept disappearing. Once to help
an older woman whose suitcase had
fallen open. Once to lift two toddlers
up to where they could see Santa
Claus. And again to give directions to
someone who was lost. Each time he
came back with a big smile on his face.
"'Where did you learn to do that?' the
professor asked.
"'Do what?' Ralph said.
"'Where did you learn to live like that?'
"'Oh,' Ralph said, 'during the war, I
guess.' Then he told the professor
about his tour of duty in Viet Nam,
about how it was his job to clear mine
fields, and how he watched his friends
blow up before his eyes, one after an-
other.
"'I've learned to live between the steps,'
he said. 'I never knew whether the next
one would be my last, so I learned to
get everything I could out of the mo-
ment between when I picked up my foot
and when I put it down again. Every
step I took was a whole new world, and
I guess I've just been that way ever
since.'"
Do you make the most of every mo-
ment? Have you learned to show God's
grace and peace every chance you get?
APPLICATION 2:
Believers must guard against falling from
grace, guard against trusting their own works
and goodness to save them and to make them
acceptable to God.
QUESTIONS:
1. How hard is it for you to share God's
grace and peace with those who criticize
you? What can you do in order to over-
come this barrier?
2. Do you think God's peace can be a reali-
ty in your life—even when you are
walking through "a minefield" of prob-
lems? Explain your answer.
3. What things come to your mind when
you hear the word grace?
4. Why do more believers not experience
God's grace and peace on a consistent
basis? Is it possible that God wants you
to proclaim His grace and peace to these
people? Practically, what can you do?
4. HE PROCLAIMS THE WORK OF
CHRIST (v. 4-5).
This verse is one of the great summaries of
the gospel, that is, of the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Note four significant points.
1. The message of the gospel is that Christ
"gave Himself for our sins." Christ died
as our substitute. He took the place of
the sinner before God. Two things show
this.
a. The word "for" means instead of, in
place of, as our substitute, in behalf
of our sins.
b. The phrase "gave Himself" means that
He sacrificed Himself for us. He
gave His life for the sinner's life.
Jesus Christ...
offered Himself to God as the
sacrifice for our sin.
offered Himself as the sin-
offering, the offering that was
to stand as the substitute for our
sin.
accepted the judgment and con-
demnation of sin for us.
bore the punishment of God's
justice against sin for us.
Note that "our sins" are not listed or de-
scribed. This means that Christ died for
all
our sins
: big sins as well as little sins, known
sins as well as unknown sins, terrible sins as
well as mild sins, sins of the flesh as well as
sins of the spirit.
"Who gave himself for our sins,
that he might deliver us from this
present evil world, according to the
will of God and our Fa-
ther" (Galatians 1:4).
provide
guide
strengthen
Sustain
deliver
encourage
save
give life, real life,
both now and forever