This coming Lord’s Day we will begin our summer preaching series on the subject of “The Gracious Commands of the Gospel.”  Now, you might be wondering about the title of this series.  We normally don’t associate or connect the concepts of grace and commands.  Perhaps they seem even directly opposed to one another, like salt and sugar.

As you are likely well-aware, there has been no small controversy simmering in the Reformed branch of the Lord’s Church over this very matter: the relationship between saving grace and works, or between salvation and obedience, or between faith in Christ and the pursuit of a holy life, or between justifying faith/grace and sanctifying faith/grace.

On one hand, there are those who see a radical opposition between grace and works, such that once saved, we have no obligation to live according to any laws or commands of the Bible. In this view, we are free from any responsibility whatsoever.  Once redeemed, there is nothing ‘required’ of us.

On the other hand, there are those who, rightly so I believe, hold that there is a most intimate connection between grace and works.  In this view, grace and works track beautifully together while remaining distinct in many ways.  The one, grace, actually necessitates and leads to the other, works.  And since this, I would argue, is the Biblical view, we need to explore how this tight relationship between grace and works functions, and how it is set forth in the most explicit and practical of ways in the Word of God.

All of this brings us to our starting text for this series, 1 Peter 1:1-2.

Our sermon for Sunday will serve as the foundational message for this series.  I look forward to exploring this subject with you over the next ten weeks!