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LEADERSHIP LETTER ARCHIVES
A
MONTHLY READING FOR ALL ARC LEADERS
GRACE
Central to the Christian life is the grace of God. God has shown his love for us in Christ, giving himself to us, forgiving our sins, and creating new life in us through Jesus Christ without regard for our works, whether good or evil. Grace and grace alone is the basis of our complete objective righteousness before God. Grace, which is experienced by faith and which produces good works, forms the foundation for all our relationships as Christian people.
--ARC Common Concerns
God wants us to give what we have received from him. We have received love, forgiveness, mercy and generosity. As John defines God in I John, he says, “God is love.” As the sons and daughters of God, having received the riches of heaven, should we not be defined by love, forgiveness, mercy, generosity? Having received God’s grace, should we not become grace to the world of people surrounding us?
The personification of grace is Christ. John the Apostle expresses this in the first chapter of his gospel. Christ, “. . .came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” “The law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.” “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Christ came into the world to express the redemptive heart of God to men and women helplessly lost in muddled, self-centered thought and ideas religiously imposed as to what actions merit God’s favor. Into this mix Christ came full of grace and truth to express the heart of God to a helplessly lost and confused people. Christ came, the personification of grace!
In juxtaposition to the revelation of Christ as grace and truth, we have the law previously given by Moses. The law, without all the abridgements of the religious establishment, was, and is, valuable revelation. But with the advent of Christ, God reveals grace expressed in Christ, the fulfillment of the law, that which transcends the law. “Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Paul the Apostle is overwhelmed with the implications of this grace of God. He calls it the good news, the gospel. In Romans 1 he speaks of his eagerness to preach this good news to all men describing it as, “. . . the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes . . . .”
We are beneficiaries of God’s grace. “. . . we have all received one blessing after another.” “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” Through God’s grace, personified in Christ, received by faith, we not only are saved from an eternity apart from God, from God’s wrath and judgment, but we are saved to a life of applied grace in time. We become the personification of grace. Grace applied to ourselves becomes grace radiated to others.
Grace is defined as unmerited favor. Much more can be said to fill out the meaning of grace, but unmerited favor serves the limits of this article. Until we understand the truth about our fallen human condition we will never be able to fully live and apply grace. Simply put, I don’t deserve grace; I deserve hell, but I get heaven. Paul captures God’s perspective of our human condition in Romans 3 when he says, “There is no one righteous, not even one. . . . for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Paul saw himself as the chief of sinners and the least of the apostles. Dr. Jack Miller loved to say, “When you are criticized, don’t defend yourself, ‘Cheer up. I’m much worse than you think I am.’” We’ll never be free from bondage to self and pride and we’ll never capture the profoundness of God’s grace until we understand the depth of our fallen human condition before God. A famous Philadelphia pastor, Donald Barnhouse put it this way, “Love upward is worship; love outward is affection; but love that stoops is grace.” Before we can live in the joy and glory of being “sons of God,” we need to come to a profound gratitude toward God for his kindness toward us in our undeserving condition. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). His is a love that stoops. We are the recipients of unmerited favor.
Grace received becomes grace extended. The recipient of grace becomes a vehicle of grace. Love, forgiveness, mercy, kindness, generosity and, may I add, freedom, all these give life and lift to the men and women in our lives. What we have received we extend to others. As sons and daughters of God we are to be like him. May I add, on the dark side, if we don’t extend forgiveness to others, can we say we have received forgiveness (Matthew 6:14-15)? And what about love, mercy, kindness, generosity and freedom?
We are to become the personification of what we have received from God. Grace lays down its life for others. Grace loves others “while still sinners.” Grace forgives. Grace is kind. Grace is generous. Grace sets others free, is not manipulating and controlling.
Awaken to grace!
Warmest personal regards, Ray Nethery
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