Grace and Peace Episode Season 2 Episode 1

 Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Grace and Peace Episode Season 2 Episode 1

Presbyterian Church of Easton

January 23, 2022

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Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:7)

Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Book of Roman begins with the usual beginning for a 1st century letter, “A sends B greetings”.   In this case the Apostle Paul is sending a letter to a Gentile who belongs to Christ.   So in a way Paul is writing this letter to us.  

Paul begins by identifying who he is.   He was called to be an apostle.   Jesus himself called him to discipleship by appearing to him in a blinding light leading to Paul’s conversion.   Paul also claimed to be set apart, for the gospel of God.   This refers to his task.   He is to proclaim the good news that Jesus is the Messiah himself who rose from the dead and as a result we receive forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life.  

The way that Paul will proclaim this gospel of God is by showing that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies.  Paul identifies Jesus as being both a descendant of King David, proved by his virgin birth, and the son of God, proved by his resurrection from the dead.   He therefore refers to this Jesus as “Jesus Christ our Lord”.  This has important implications for us.  If we claim to be followers of Jesus, then we are called to be obedient to his teaching.  We are called to be saints, holy ones.  We have to do what Jesus tells us to do.   He is our Lord.   

And we have certain benefits from all this.  We receive grace, saving grace, so that our sins will not block our pathway to heaven.  We also receive apostleship and are sent out to proclaim the gospel of God to bring more people to saving faith in Jesus Christ.  Why do we do all of this.   Because God loves us and we receive grace and peace.  Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for blessing us with your love, grace and peace.  We are grateful that you have adopted us as your children and called us to obedience.  Amen.