Grace, mercy, and peace from God
John from the text, tells how we become the children of God. It is through the grace and mercy of God channeled to us in Jesus Christ. God’s grace is love demonstrated at the cross that paid the price for our sin. It is only those that received God’s grace who can experience salvation from sin. “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is His mercy to us that moved Him to remove us from misery caused by sin. “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again” (1 Peter 1:3). When we receive God’s grace and mercy, we experience His peace. We are reconciled with God and no longer in enmity with Him. “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us” (Romans 5:1). John continues to emphasize the divinity of Jesus Christ who is joined with God the Father. The Christian faith stands and fall to the claim that Jesus is God. If He is a mere man, He cannot save us no matter how strong or gifted He is. If Jesus is not in the flesh, all the teachings about Him in the Bible that He is the Son of God are all lies. This is why John opened his gospel establishing the fact that Jesus is both God and man. “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness” (John 1:1, 14). God’s grace, mercy, and peace will be with us for the One who gave them to us is “truth and love.” This is why we need to stand firm in the truth of God’s claim and reject the falsehood promoted by the world. It is the truth and love of God that will unite the body of Christ. When we are fully yielded to God, we will live “according to the truth, just as the Father commanded” (2 John 4).
Blessings,
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