Extend Grace to Your Fellow Believer - August 29, 2021

By Pastor Chuck Ryan

Extend Grace to Your Fellow Believer
Text: Ephesians 4:29-32
Thesis: Extending grace to another instead of holding a grudge is following the example of
God when He extends Grace to us in Jesus Christ.
I. The Apostle Paul recognizes it is God’s will for believers to love each other and get along
with one another.
A. The apostle Paul made it clear that if we are not “building others up” (vs29), “we are grieving
the Holy Spirit of God.” (vs30a)
1. God desires for His family, who are filled with His Spirit to be a wholesome, loving family.
2. The things that destroy family unity and harmony are “bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and
slander, and all forms of malice.” (Vs31b)
3. God’s Word says, “Get rid of all…” (vs30a)
a. The “Good News” is, we can, by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us.
b. A perfect example is the transformation in the Apostle Paul’s life, from that of “Saul” into
“Paul”.
4. If the family of God fails to love and get along with one another, we violate the second great
command.
• “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all
your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater
than these.” (Mark 12:29-31)
B. The Apostle Paul is calling the listener to be proactive, in their relationships, by seeking ways to
“build each other up.”
1. What are some ways you can build up your fellow believer?
2. The Apostle Paul instructs us to “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other,
just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Vs 32)
C. The truth is that we need each other more in these “last Days, than ever.
1. The Apostle Paul is calling us to “Extend Grace” to our fellow believer as God extended grace to
(__________)in Christ Jesus.
• “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not
condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to
you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For
with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:36-38)