Romans 16:20b
Romans 16:20b “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
II Corinthians 13:14 “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
Colossians 4:18 “I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.”
Ephesians 6:24 “Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.”
There’s a pattern here. Every single one of Paul’s epistles (plus Hebrews) closes with grace. All of them. No exceptions.
A psychologist once said that the things we say will often tell more about ourselves and the things we value than they do about who or what we’re talking about. This seems true for Paul. He valued grace.
Grace and mercy are frequently confused, but they’re not the same. Mercy is withholding punishment from someone who deserves it. But with mercy, though unpunished, the person remains condemned.
Grace is altogether different. Grace is a gift given to people who absolutely don’t deserve it. This was Paul, a man who consented to the murder by stoning of Stephen, a man who persecuted the people of God. He deserved condemnation and death. He got not just mercy, but the gift of salvation that removed forever the condemnation for his sins. He received the gift of being called to speak for God Himself, to see the fruits of is labors, to receive in abundance the love of God and His people. At times these gifts seemed almost more than Paul could believe, and the realization of them expressed itself as joy.
When I talk to Christians and look at their lives (my own included), those lives don’t look much like Paul’s. Joy is often missing. Too many of us seem to be living lives that received the mercy of God but not His grace. Too many of us still feel condemned for our sins. This sense of condemnation is wrong, because there is no condemnation in Christ.
Romans 3:21 - 24 “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by is grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
May the abundant grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be yours.
Brenda
II Corinthians 13:14 “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
Colossians 4:18 “I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.”
Ephesians 6:24 “Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.”
There’s a pattern here. Every single one of Paul’s epistles (plus Hebrews) closes with grace. All of them. No exceptions.
A psychologist once said that the things we say will often tell more about ourselves and the things we value than they do about who or what we’re talking about. This seems true for Paul. He valued grace.
Grace and mercy are frequently confused, but they’re not the same. Mercy is withholding punishment from someone who deserves it. But with mercy, though unpunished, the person remains condemned.
Grace is altogether different. Grace is a gift given to people who absolutely don’t deserve it. This was Paul, a man who consented to the murder by stoning of Stephen, a man who persecuted the people of God. He deserved condemnation and death. He got not just mercy, but the gift of salvation that removed forever the condemnation for his sins. He received the gift of being called to speak for God Himself, to see the fruits of is labors, to receive in abundance the love of God and His people. At times these gifts seemed almost more than Paul could believe, and the realization of them expressed itself as joy.
When I talk to Christians and look at their lives (my own included), those lives don’t look much like Paul’s. Joy is often missing. Too many of us seem to be living lives that received the mercy of God but not His grace. Too many of us still feel condemned for our sins. This sense of condemnation is wrong, because there is no condemnation in Christ.
Romans 3:21 - 24 “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by is grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
May the abundant grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be yours.
Brenda
posted by BreadBakers at 12:27 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home