Grace

2 Corinthians 8:1-4,9 - And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people…For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.


1 Corinthians 16:2 - On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.

Application:

· Contributing to the needs of others is made possible by God’s undeserved gifts in my life
· For my sake Christ became poor so that I might become rich
· I am to bring what I have set aside to the Lord on Sunday, a day that acknowledges the crucial importance of Christ’s resurrection

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Grace

1 Timothy 1:2 - To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 1:7 - To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jonah 4:2 - He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.

John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Conclusions:

• The basic idea of the Greek for saints is holiness
• All Christians are saints in that they are positionally set apart to God and are experientially being made increasingly holy by the Holy Spirit
• Jonah uses a fixed, confessional formula
• God is slow to anger. In contrast, Jonah became angry quickly
• “Peace…my peace” is a common Hebrew greeting, which Jesus uses in John 14:27 in an unusual way
• Peace speaks, in effect, of the salvation that Christ’s redemptive work will achieve for His disciples—total well-being and inner rest of spirit, in fellowship with God
• All true peace is Christ’s gift, which the repetition emphasizes
• In its greetings of peace the world can only express a longing or gift
• But Jesus peace is real and present.

Application:

• Are you a saint?
• Do you see God as gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love?
• Is your heart troubled? Are you afraid?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

I Thank My God

Philippians 1:2-3 - Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you.

Romans 1:7 - To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1:3-6 - We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth.

2 Thessalonians 1:3 - We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.

Conclusions:

• The basic idea of the Greek word saints is holiness
• All Christians are saints in that they are positionally set apart to God and are experientially being made increasingly holy by the Holy Spirit
• “We” in Colossians 1:3 is Paul and Timothy
• Every one of Paul’s letter, except Galatians, begins with thanks or praise
• In Colossians, thanks is an important theme
• The Bible never thanks man for his faith and love, but rather God, who is the source of these virtues
• Paul is obliged to give thanks where it is due
• Faith and love are two virtues that Paul had been pleased to acknowledge in the Thessalonian church, but that were also somewhat lacking
• “Is increasing” is the same verb Paul had used in his prayer that their love might grow
• Paul is recording an exact answer to prayer

Application:

• Are you positionally set apart to God?
• Do you thank God when you pray for people?
• Is your faith growing? Is your love increasing?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Goal of Christians

1 Thessalonians 3:11 - Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you.

Ephesians 1:18-23 - I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Philippians 1:9-11 - And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Colossians 1:9-12 - For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

1 Thessalonians 1:1 - Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.

Conclusions:

• The extraordinary divine force by which Jesus Christ was raised is the same power at work in and through believers
• Christ is not only Head of the Church, but also Head of everything
• Christian love is not mere sentiment; it is rooted in knowledge and understanding
• Christians are to approve what is morally and ethically superior
• The goal of Christians in this life is to be without any mixture of evil and not open to censure because of moral or spiritual failure
• On the day of Christ, the goal will be perfectly realized, and the Christians must give an account
• Knowledge and wisdom in the Bible are practical, having to do with godly living
• Knowledge, wisdom and understanding result in a life worthy of the Lord
• Light symbolizes holiness, truth, love, glory and life
• God and the Christian are characterized by light
• Christians have a vital union and living relationship with the Father and the Son
• The close connection between the Father and the Son points to the Trinitarian relationship

Application:

• Is the power that raised Jesus Christ at work in and through you?
• Is your love rooted in knowledge and understanding?
• Do you approve what is morally and ethically superior?
• Is your goal to be without any mixture of evil?
• Are you ready to give an account?
• Are you characterized by light?
• Do you have a vital union with both the Father and the Son?
• Do you live a godly life?

All scripture verses taken from the NIV.

Conclusions may derived from NIV study Bible comments