Excelling as Participants of God’s Grace
1 Peter 4:7-11; Galatians 6:7-10
Jim Davis
Grace is the easiest thing in the world to receive. This is true for the worst of criminals, and for you and me. The thief on the cross is cursing Christ one moment, and receiving entrance into paradise to be with Christ the next—that’s grace—it was free—but it wasn’t cheap. Throughout the New Testament the message of the gospel is a message proclaimed to undeserving of sinners.
We see ourselves as recipients of God’s grace, but it is a little more difficult to see ourselves as participants of God’s grace. Receiving God’s grace goes beyond receiving forgiveness as it gives us the opportunity to become people filled with God’s grace.
The important aspect of receiving grace is developing lives that participate in sharing God’s grace with others.
1 Peter 4:7-11
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. NIV
Peter speaks of administering grace. Peter admonishes Christians to use whatever gift he/she has received to serve others without grumbling. It can be assumed that the gift has been freely given to them by God. They were to use their gift or ability whenever they saw an opportunity to serve others.
Paul speaks of excelling in grace. “But just as you excel in everything-in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us-see that you also excel in this grace of giving” (2 Corinthians 8:6-7). Paul speaks of excelling in faith, speech, earnestness, and in love, then he admonishes us to also excel in the grace of giving. He is talking about giving of our means as a way of excelling in grace. But notice faith, speech, earnestness and love are mentioned in the same sentence. All of these involve administering God’s grace to a lost world. There are a means to excel in God’s grace.
Paul writes, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (Galatians 6:10).
Ephesians 4:25-32
25 Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another. 26 Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. NKJV
Paul speaks of lives that are imparting grace to others. “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” This is God’s plan to salvage our lives and our world. Receiving grace bestows obligates us to participate in bestowing grace upon others.
Grace Goes Beyond Receiving
Can I come to a true appreciation of God’s grace before I share it with others? The emphasis of Christ’s life was that he tasted death for each of us. I can’t fully appreciate grace until I have tasted what it is like sharing it with others. The question is: can I fully receive God’s grace without sharing it with others?
Pure grace can only be tasted as you share it with others. The prophet Hosea’s wife became a prostitute. God instructed Hosea to buy her back from her lovers. He bought her back. She continued to prostitute herself to her lovers. She had children by her lovers. Hosea spent his life loving a wife who rejected his love for her. However, he through the ordeal he learned how God loved Israel who had prostituted herself to idol gods. Ultimately Hosea understood how God loved him. He learned it through extending love to someone who didn’t return his love. Sounds impossible, but it isn’t.
Peter writes, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” When our love covers over the sins of others, we begin to experience God’s love that covers our sins.
The amazing thing about this kind of love is its reciprocation. You can’t bestow love on anyone without reaping the benefits of that love for yourself. It doesn’t matter whether the one receiving it reciprocates it or not, for in essence in discovering how to love others we learn how to love ourselves.
Ephesians 5:28
28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. NIV
I don’t believe you can know how to love yourself without knowing how to love others. Paul writes, “He who loves his wife loves himself.” Can you know how to love yourself without knowing how to love your wife? Can you truly appreciate God’s grace without sharing grace with others?
When you administer God’s grace to others it will be multiplied to you.
Luke 6:37-38
37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." NIV
These verses teach us that it is absolutely essential to extend grace to others to receive a generous measure of grace. When we choose to be gracious with non-judgmental, forgiving attitudes, sharing our abundance with others, we will receive the same in abundance. When we give as we have been given we will always have enough. God’s grace will be extended to each of us as we participate in extending the same grace to others.
Think about countries where wickedness, hate and killing abound. We need to take note that those spreading the hatred are condemned to live in a land of hatred and violence. They imprison themselves. What we dispense in life is what we receive.
God’s gifts of grace are not given to make us personally rich. They are given to us to enrich the lives of others. It is impossible to experience the richness of God’s grace without sharing his grace with others.
2 Corinthians 8:1-7
8:1 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will. 6 So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7 But just as you excel in everything-in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us-see that you also excel in this grace of giving. NIV
The only sure way to know you have received God’s grace is when it enables you to extend the same grace to others. Christian living doesn’t get any better than when we participate in sharing—extending God’s grace to others.
2 Corinthians 9:6-11
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written:
"He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever."
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. NIV
Grace is not solely about what we received at the cross; it is about God’s ongoing work on our behalf. Paul writes, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” God’s grace continues to work for us in the present—he will make his grace abound to you, so that you can excel in extending his grace to others.
Opportunity to Minister through Fellowship
The kingdom of God provides us the opportunity to minister God’s grace. Ministering to one another in Christian fellowship is the place where sharing God’s grace begins. The motive to ministering God’s grace is to enrich others. Enriching others is the surest way to glorify and praise God.
Try to imagine a congregation of God’s kingdom where everyone serves as ministers to one another. This is an exciting concept. Imagine allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell within us as we allow him to minister to others through us as we are filled with the fullness of God. What a great way to share in his glory? There is no better way to enjoy God and glorify him forever.
Imagine a fellowship where Christians are ministering to one another in the power of God. Notice what Peter writes, “If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen” (I Peter 4:11).
God working in you and through you is the key to participating in Christian fellowship. Allowing God to work in and through us is the key to discovering God’s power in the kingdom of God.
Living so as to minister God’s grace to others allows us to make the most of every opportunity. God opens doors of opportunity to share his grace when we understand grace is about giving rather than receiving.
I heard a story on Paul Harvey news Friday morning on the way to the church office. A red fox came up to a woman’s home. The fox was limping on three legs. The other leg was broken. The fox allowed her to put a splint on its leg. She fed the fox with wieners and raw meat until it recuperated. When it recuperated it went back into the wild. Some time later the red fox returned to her home with a gray following it. The gray fox was limping on three legs. It had a broken leg. She placed a splint on the gray fox’s leg. The red fox returned to the woods. She fed the gray fox wieners and raw meat until it recuperated and returned to the woods.
Someone told me this past week that this congregation is a good place to find healing. Many today are running from churches with leaders seeking to lead while they rule arbitrarily without understanding their need to bring healing to the broken hearted. Jesus was a leader who died for our sins. He didn’t do it just save us eternally. He died as he sought to bring healing to the brokenhearted.
Ministry beyond Christian Fellowship
Administering God’s grace to each other in fellowship allows us to reach beyond Christian fellowship to persuade others to become Christians.
John 13:34-35
34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." NIV
Jesus gives us a simple clear view of what it means to administer God’s grace to those outside of our fellowship in the example prayer.
Luke 6:27-31
27 "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. NIV
Extending grace of this magnitude is unnatural. It is against the very nature of our world order. This kind of grace is not performance based. It is undeserved. It is against our sense of justice.
“God’s mercy ... goes before the unwilling to make him willing; it follows the willing to make his will effectual.” (Augustine of Hippo, in his Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Love. Signs of the Times, March, 1993, p. 7.)
It is a challenge to be gracious to others when they have hurt us. “Give me such love for God and men as will blot out all hatred and bitterness.” Deitrich Bonhoeffer.
It is a challenge to be gracious to others when we have had a bitter life. Our own heartaches and pains sometimes cause us to be slow to extend grace to others.
What we must see is the grace God has given us in spite of our hardships. Grace heals people—both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it. Karl Menninger
It is a challenge to extend grace to others when they have created their own troubles! “Love is my decision to make your problem my problem.” Robert Schuller.
Hebrews 2:9
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. NIV
Conclusion:
Jesus participated in sharing God’s grace.
Matthew 20:26-28
26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave- 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." NIV
We must remember that God will not forget how we extend grace to others.
Hebrews 6:10-12
10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. NIV
If our knowledge of salvation doesn’t lead us to grow in grace we may need to question our salvation.
2 Peter 3:17-18
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. NIV