2 Peter 1:2(NKJV) Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
What is God’s grace? Grace is (Bible Speaks Today BST): God’s good pleasure to delight in people who do not deserve it. It is the generous heart of God who determines to treat sinful men and women as He lovingly wishes rather than as they deserve. We need to know God’s kind of love and grace in order to extend grace to others when we are being wronged by them. This is important because God asked us to love our neighbors as Jesus has loved us.
The scripture tells us that grace and peace will be multiplied to us when we know the work of Jesus Christ and God especially God’s agape love towards us. Agape love is unconditional love. Once we are able to appreciate and experience His agape love then we are able to extend a similar kind of love to our neighbors.
The definition of Agape love is…. Love (Strong’s #26 Agape) It is the undefeatable benevolence and unconquerable good will that always seeks the highest good of the other person, no matter what he does. It is the self-giving love that gives freely without asking anything in return and does not consider the worth of its object. It is a love by choice.
We are reminded of His agape love as we stay in His presence daily. Therefore, we should also extend grace, mercy and love to others when we have been blessed by His grace. That’s Agape love!
Romans 5:1 (NKJV) Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is purely God’s grace and Agape love shown on the cross of Calvary that enabled us to have peace with God. Justified means to be able to stand right before God just like we have never sinned in life. This state of our being is made possible through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. God is at peace with us. We didn’t achieve this position of right standing based on our good works nor by observing of the law. We would fail miserably if we are justified based on observing the law and good works because of the sin nature in us. We will naturally sin against God because we still have to deal with the flesh that constantly desires to live independent of God. God’s love for us is unconditional and it changes not. Our worthiness was not even put into consideration when God initiated the act of redemption. He loved us first unconditionally and now we need to learn to practice agape love with our fellow man.
Sermon Series: How to Love (Part 3)
祂先爱了我们
彼得后书 1：2 愿恩惠平安、因你们认识神和我们主耶稣，多多的加给你们。
什么是神的恩典？恩典就是（“今日经义”）：神喜悦那些不配的人。正是神慷慨的心决定按祂慈爱的愿望而不是他们应得的方式对待有罪的男人和女人。我们需要知道神的爱和恩典，当我们被别人错待时，才能报以恩典。这一点很重要，因为神要求我们像耶稣爱我们一样爱我们的邻舍。
经文告诉我们，当我们越认识神和主耶稣基督的工，特别是神的对我们的爱，恩典与平安就会加倍地临到我们。 Agape 爱是无条件的爱。一旦我们能珍视和经历祂的Agape无条件的爱，那么我们就能够将同样的爱给予邻舍。
Agape无条件的爱的定义是…爱是一种不可战胜的仁慈和不可征服的善意，它总是追求对方的最大益处，不管他做什么。付出自我的爱是无偿地给予，而不要求任何回报，也不考虑其客体是否配得。这是一种选择的爱。
我们每天都留在祂的同在之中，这让我们想起了祂的Agape无条件的爱。因此，当我们领受了祂恩典的祝福时，我们也应该将恩典、怜悯和爱给予他人。这就是Agape爱！
罗马书5:1我们既因信称义、就借着我们的主耶稣基督，得与神相和。
显明在加略山十字架上的上帝那纯粹的恩典和爱，使我们得以与神和好。称义就是能够站立在神面前，就像我们这辈子从未犯过罪一样。倘若按着行律法和好行为来为我们辩护，我们将输得一败涂地。因着我们里面的罪性，我们会不由自主地得罪神，因为我们依旧要不断地克服肉体内想要摆脱神而活的渴望。上帝对我们的爱是无条件的，永不改变。当上帝出手施行拯救时，祂根本就没考虑过我们是否配得。祂无条件地爱了我们在先，如今我们要与人类同胞一起学习操练Agape无条件之爱。
讲章系列：如何去爱（第三部分）
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