Skip to main content

Greeting of Grace



A teacher in Bible class I attended recently pointed out something I had never noticed before in Paul’s writings. Every book he writes begins and ends with a greeting of grace. For example, he says “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the start of his letter to the Romans (Romans 1:7).  He ends his letter to Timothy with “The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.” (2nd Timothy 4:22) The word grace was a common expression among the Greek speakers. To some it may be thought of as only an expression, such as how people today use “God bless you” or “have a blessed day”, but to Paul it was so much more.
He understood the vital nature that grace has in the life of a believer. Without grace we could not be saved (Ephesians 2:5, Titus 2:11).  Grace strengths our hearts (Hebrews 13:9). Our words are to be measured by grace (Ephesians 4:29, Colossians 4:6). It allows us to be capable of good works (2nd Corinthians 9:8). Grace is an essential beginning and end point for the faithful.
It makes me think about how I view grace in my life. Do I start each day realizing that my life is only possible because of God’s grace? Do I end each night thinking about how all the blessing I received are God’s gracious gift. Do I spend the day being gracious to others and reflecting the grace shown to me? Am I living my life in obedience to God or have I “accepted the grace of God in vain” (2nd Corinthians 6:1). Is grace just an excuse for wrongdoing or the hope for my future?
As we beginning this New Year I hope we all will reflect on how much God has shown us his unmerited favor, how blessed we are because of his love and favor, and how we can spread the knowledge of that grace given in Jesus to the world. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Gift You Give Yourself

    I always hated buying gifts for my Mom. If I got her something like a new set of pans, it was like saying “Here’s something you can use to go make me something to eat”. A gift for her was seemingly a gift for me.   There are however gifts you give that benefit you more than the receiver. For example, forgiveness. When you give it, you are giving it to yourself as much as you are giving it to them. Jesus said that when we forgive others it means God is forgiving us our wrongs (Matthew 6:14-15).  I once read: “ Heaven is where everyone's forgiven. Hell is where nobody's forgiven.  So, when we forgive we pull heaven down into our lives.  When we withhold forgiveness, we pull hell up into our lives ” Give yourself something nice today, Forgive.
Post a Comment
Read more

Desire

  Is it wrong to want something? I guess it depends on what we want.   The Greek language had a word ‘ orego ’ that meant “to stretch oneself out in order to touch or grasp something, often used metaphorically to denote a strong desire or aspiration for something”. Paul uses this word in 1st Timothy as a good thing (to be an elder 3:1) and a bad thing (longing for money 6:10).   Our desires oftentimes define who we are. They motivate us to action. They are the focus of our minds and actions.  And they can be both good and bad.  Sometimes we want something better and we run over people to get it. Sometimes, we want something better so we will strive to improve ourselves.  Sometimes we see people with nothing they want and we envy them. Other people will see with no desire and we pity them.  We need to desire good things. Be willing to work to get them. Care enough to try.  We need to not desire bad things. Be willing to forgo o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Until Midnight

    In Acts 20, there is the tragicomic event surrounding a young man by the name of Eutychus. He did what a lot of folks before and after him did, he fell asleep during a sermon. Unfortunately, he was setting in in the third story window at the time. So instead of nodding off and hitting the pew in front of him, he fell to his death. The good news was the apostle Paul was delivering the sermon and had the ability to bring him back.       I don’t know, however, if we can judge Eutychus too harshly. The sermon had gone on till midnight. Paul wouldn’t finish it up till daybreak. That’s a long lesson. I know some folks that might want to jump out of a window if I had a lesson that long, yet these Christians wanted to be there to hear Paul.   Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pushing for all night sermons but I think we might need to adopt these folks' dedication. They knew that Paul was only in town for a limited time only and they were determined to ...
Post a Comment
Read more