The Presence – Peace – Power of Christ. 04.12.2025.

The meeting of Grace Christian Church. We meet in person and stream services every Sunday at 10:30 AM EST in Manalapan, New Jersey.

Main Theme

• Law and Grace cannot be mixed — just like oil and water.
  Salvation and sanctification (spiritual growth) are either by Grace through faith or by works of the Law — never both (Romans 11:6).
• Mixing Law with Grace destroys the power of Grace and keeps believers spiritually powerless and fearful.

Core Illustration

• Building he Golden Gate Bridge: Workers lived in constant fear of falling until a safety net was installed.
  → Fear disappeared, confidence rose, and productivity soared.
• Old Covenant (Law) = living with constant fear and anxiety of not measuring up.
• New Covenant (Grace) = the safety net of being forever accepted in Christ. This releases true productivity, maturity, and abundant life.

Three Graces Available to Every Believer Under the New Covenant1. Christ’s Presence

• Old Covenant: God dwelt in the physical Tabernacle/Temple (Holy of Holies). People had to go to a place to meet Him. God was distant and separated.
• New Covenant: Believers are the temple of God.
  • The Holy Spirit dwells in you (1 Cor 3:16).
  • Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19).
  • Jesus Christ is in you (2 Cor 13:5).
• Key truth: You no longer go to a place to find God’s presence — He lives in you permanently.

2. Christ’s Peace

• Old Covenant: To experience peace/fellowship with God, a person had to bring a peace offering (voluntary sacrifice) to the Temple (Leviticus 7:11, 16).
• New Covenant:
  • Christ Himself is our peace (Ephesians 2:13-14).
  • We already have peace with God (Romans 5:1).
  • The peace of Christ rules in our hearts (Colossians 3:15).
• Key truth: Peace is not something you strive for or earn — it is already in you. You simply rest in it and let it rule.

3. Christ’s Power

• Old Covenant: The Spirit of the Lord came upon people temporarily (e.g., on David) and could depart (e.g., from Saul) — 1 Samuel 16:13-14. Power was never permanent.
• New Covenant: The surpassing greatness of God’s power is in us — in these “earthen vessels” (2 Corinthians 4:7).
  • We are permanently indwelt by the Spirit of Christ.
  • We don’t have to earn, pray for, or go somewhere to get power — it is already ours.
• Key truth: The power is not from ourselves; it is of God and flows out as we depend on Christ.

Repeated Emphasis

• “Either it’s Grace or it isn’t!”
• Under Law → fear, distance, self-effort, performance, stagnation.
• Under Grace → presence, peace, and power of Christ are already in you by faith, not by works.

Closing Challenge

• What does it mean to you personally that Christ’s Presence, Peace, and Power are already in you?
• How will knowing this truth change the way you live your daily Christian life?

Bottom LineBecause we are not under Law but under Grace (Romans 6:14), every believer can now experience and enjoy:

This is the radical difference between the Old Covenant (shadow) and the New Covenant (reality) — made possible by the finished work of Christ on the cross.