(Romans 16:21-27)…..21 Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen, greet you. 22 I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, my host and the host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, a brother. 24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Grace! There may be no sweeter word known to mankind. It is by Grace that God has granted us His merciful kindness by, turning us to Christ, keeping us saved, strengthening us, and giving us the ability to grow in the grace and knowledge of Himself. Simply, grace is the unmerited love and favor of God for you and me, sinners.
Notice, (v.24) says that it is, “The grace of our Lord.” Grace is something that begins and ends with the Sovereign Lord. Listen, man does not seek God, God seeks men (Romans 3:9-18). Through His grace, He sought you out for salvation. Man does not initiate salvation for the lost and dead sinner, God does! God sought us, God bought us, salvation was all His doing and all according the good pleasure of His will (Ephesians 1:4-6).
Think about it. He has refused to allow those who are His to go to Hell, intervening, and saving saving us by His Grace. Just the thought of that truth ought to make the born again child of God rejoice! The sole reason Jesus came into this world was to become the Savior of fallen humanity and bear witness to the truth(Luke 19:10) (John 18:37). He came to this world to shed His blood to save fallen men (Philippians 2:5-8). So you see, man does not provide the means of salvation, God did (Romans 5:6-11). God alone provided a Savior to cleanse us, a Spirit to draw us, and a plan to save us. One might say, “the innocent came to die for the guilty so that the guilty might be made righteous,” now that is grace! And it is His grace that teaches us how to live life for Him (Titus 2:11-15) (Hebrews 4:16). Thank God for grace! Will you praise Him for His grace towards you this morning?