8. A Life of Love By Grace through Faith

Ephesians 2 v 8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of

yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast”.

Key Verses: Romans 5 v 1-2, v 6-7 Ephesians 2 v 6-7, v 8-9,

Every Christian should know about grace. Grace is God’s unmerited favor and love towards us. God showed His grace by manifesting himself in a body, so the body could die for our sins. This action was done because of love, even though we did not deserve it.

Read: Romans 5 v 6-8

Mankind was dying because of sin. Do you know because of Adam’s transgression we all have the most deadliest disease? It is called SIN. God knew man could not reach Him, so God decides to reach man. The Bible says ‘While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us’. This shows how great God is, seeking lost man because He loves him.

Read: Romans 5 v 1-2

God presents the opportunity to be saved and leaves it to a person to take Him up on it. By faith, by believing God’s offer of salvation through His Son, you have entered the storehouse of God’s grace, His generous favor (see Ephesians 1 v 7, Philippians 4 v 19).

Read: Ephesians 2 v 8-9

Some people have great difficulty accepting a gift; they feel they must in some way merit or pay for everything they get. When that thinking is applied to salvation, it is called works – righteousness. That is, the righteousness is earned or merited by good works. It is not a biblical doctrine. Grace is its opposite; it is the biblical doctrine.

We can never pay for what Jesus has done. Instead we should accept Christ’s method of grace, just by believing, accepting and following Him.

Key verses: John 20 v 29, 2 Corinthians 1 v 20, Hebrews 11 v 1& 6, 1 John 5 v 4

We have touched on faith in previous lessons, because believing in God is where a person starts his journey as a Christian: “Anyone who comes to God must believe he exists” (Hebrews 11 v 6). As we put our faith in God into practice, it will grow.

We must not only believe God can save us today. You need to move to a level where we know God can save us to eternity. Faith is our persuasion, our hope, our anticipation in and of God. No situation is too big or too small or God. Our faith must be centered on Jesus.

Read: John 20 v 29, Hebrews 11 v 1

The world says, “seeing is believing”. But Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”. Jesus’ blessing includes you. You have believed Jesus died and came back from the dead; that’s part of the salvation message. And you’ve believed it even though you weren’t there to witness it. That’s faith!

Hebrews tells us that being certain of things we have not seen indicates faith. You believe that your sins are forgiven and that you will live for eternity with Jesus Christ in heaven, but have you ever actually seen someone go to heaven? No. But you believe because you have faith.

Read: Corinthians 1 v 20

Some Christians teach that if a person believes hard enough about something that will make it so. Their emphasis is on the strength of one’s faith. But it is the source of the Christians faith that is important. Christians should not just believe on temporal things, but seek the mind of God to base their belief on.

We can have confidence, or faith, in what Jesus has promised, because we know His word never fails. You may want something badly, but believing or hoping does not cause it to happen. The promise of Christ and the work He does should be where we put our faith and trust.

Read: 1 John 5 v 4, Hebrews 11 v 6

“But without faith is it impossible to please Him”. If we cannot take God at His Word and trust Him, we cannot be pleasing to Him. He is worthy of our faith and trust because He is able to meet every need we have.

“And this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith”. This verse means that our confidence and trust in God will help us rise above the wickedness that would drag us down.

Because I trust God, I know that He will see me through every struggle.

Key verses: John 13 v 35, 1 John 4 v 8,1 Thessalonians 3 v 12

Every Christian life should be marked with love. Those around us should be able to tell there is something different about us.

The Bible says “God is Love”. This is who He is. Whenever God moves or works he does not step outside of love. We must never mix up God’s love with man’s love. God’s love is pure and always seeks for man. Man’s love can be conditional we love because we want to be loved. It is because God’s love is so pure and giving that Jesus died on the cross.

Read: 1 John 4 v 8, John 13 v 35

Remember who God is? The origin of love is God. God’s love was shown through the life of Jesus. Jesus was begotten of the Father. This means Jesus came out of the Father. Everything the Father is, was passed into the son. Jesus, the son of God places that love into your and I. Once we accept His love, we will begin to give out love.

Read: 1 Thessalonians 3 v 12

Who is to be the ultimate beneficiary of the love of God? God’s love is to flow in us that we will allow the love of the Lord to increase in us so that we may show it to others, this is how we overflow. God pours into us and we pour into others.

If you are like most Christians, you are now a part of God’s kingdom because someone has shared that special love with you.

Key verses: Deuteronomy 10 v 19, Matthew 22 v 39, John 13 v 35, 1 Peter 1 v 22

This is a lesson in commands. The following verses contain God’s commands through Christ and the apostles to love one another.

Key verses: Deuteronomy 10 v 19

In the law of Moses, the first law was to worship the Lord God. Worship is reverence and honor to God. Our worship is in direct relation to our love. If we love God, we will seek to do his will. When we love God above situations and people we obtain a clear perspective of what is around us and of the people. Center your love on God and he will pour into you and what ever you need it will be done.

It is important that you love yourself. Some people have such low esteem and lack self confidence that they find it difficult to believe anybody can love them. If our past has been hurtful or abusive, we can sometimes build walls between ourselves and others. When Gods love flows in your heart, you will begin to see yourself in a different light.

Read: Matthew 22 v 39, 1 Peter 1 v 22

Love begets love. This means love in God, love in yourself will tip over into love of others. Your love can make a difference in some one’s life. When we treat others the way Jesus would, we are truly operating like a son.

Love will drive away fear, love will heal and cover a multitude of sins.

Read: 1 Corinthians 13.

This is the power of love. Now reach and touch someone by your love.