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GOD’S GRACE
It is through the writings of the Apostle Paul that we best come to understand the doctrine of Grace. Through Paul’s teachings, we understand that Grace comes by faith, and that the faith that brings Grace comes from God and not from ourselves. We do not work for Grace. If we did then it is not Grace but it is something we earned and therefore not a gift. Paul would open each of his letters to the various churches and to his friends, Timothy, Titus, and Philemon with a blessing of grace and peace. How did Paul come to understand the doctrine of grace? He experienced it.
Saul, Paul’s Jewish name, was a man of two worlds. He was a Jew whose father was likely a Roman because Paul claimed Roman citizenship many times in his writings. He was not only a Jew but a member of the ruling body known as the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the keepers and teachers of the Jewish Law. As a Pharisee, Paul was zealous for the Jewish faith. He was zealous to the point that he was present at the stoning of Stephen (Acts 8:1). He was a persecutor of the church leading men and women to prison and death (Acts 8:3, 22:4). He not only persecuted the church but likely blasphemed Jesus as a heretic and as well as those who followed him (1Timothy 1:13). Though he was such a man, God spared him and used him in a great and powerful way.
God, through His infinite love and great mercy, decided to extend his generosity to Saul by visiting him one day on his was to Damascus. When going to Damascus to arrest the Christians there to bring them back to Jerusalem to be tried and imprisoned (or worse), he was intercepted by Jesus who appeared in a light brighter than the sun. He spoke with a loud voice that knocked Paul off his beast (Acts 9). Through this powerful voice, He asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Saul responded, “Who are you, Lord?” The voice came back, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” From that day on, Paul was on fire for Jesus and for spreading the Gospel. Why? Because he realized that he had been spared the wrath of God. He realized that he was fighting against the very God he was trying to defend. He realized that his actions warranted death but God had mercy on him. As a result, he could write, “ that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge…(Ephesians 3:17b-19)”
God’s Grace to us is powered by His love for us. He loved us enough to create us and to desire fellowship with us (Genesis 1:27-28). He loved us enough to tabernacle with us when we were lost in the wilderness of sin (Exodus 40:34, 1 Kings 8:10-13). He loved us enough to tabernacle in us through His Spirit because of the blood of His Son (John 14:15-18, Acts 2:1-4). He loves us enough to allow us to one day tabernacle with Him in the Eternal City (Revelation 21:3). It was God’s Grace that elevated a murderous persecutor and blasphemer like Paul to the role of Apostle, planter of numerous churches, and writer of nearly one half of the New Testament. It was also God’s Grace that elevated a lowly rebel like me to the heights of a saint, a priest, and a king (Revelation 5:10).
Have you experienced God’s grace in your life? Paul, Moses, Abraham, all can tell you that it doesn’t matter what type of background you have. It doesn’t matter what sins or wrongs you have committed. It doesn’t matter how bad you have been or you think you have been. He offers you mercy instead of wrath. He offers you adoption instead of separation. He offers you love. He offers you faith. By trusting in the work of His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross of Calvary, you, too, can experience the same grace Paul experienced—the same grace every believer has experienced (and continue to experience). God offers grace that leads to eternal life rather than justice that leads to death. Which will you choose?
Faith That Makes a Different: Part One
Stepping Out on Nothing
Perhaps you have asked, “What is faith?” I’m sure you’ve heard sermons on it and attended Bible studies regarding it. But what exactly is it? How do we exercise it? How do we walk in it? We are all familiar with Hebrews 11:1—“Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things unseen.” But what does that mean? I believe the Holy Spirit has given us the answer.
Faith is believing in that which is not likely or is impossible to happen. Real faith does not just believe in what is improbable, but what is impossible. Real faith doesn’t just believe in that which is not likely to happen but in that which cannot happen. Real faith is not believing in the face of the odds but believing in spite of the odds. Real faith is believing for that for which there is no earthly way possible it could happen.
Let’s allow a few heroes of the faith bear witness:
· Noah exercised faith by building an ark to be saved from a flood, even though up to that time no rain had fallen on the earth.
· Abraham exercised faith by believing God for a son when he and his wife were elderly and she was unable to bear children!
· David walked in faith when he entered into a battlefield to face down Goliath, an experienced and armored warrior. He exercised his faith by believing that God would give him the victory even though every natural and military law would have marked him for dead.
· Peter literally walked in faith when he stepped out of the boat and stood on the surface of the water even though every natural and physical law dictated that he should have sunk to the bottom like a rock.
The best definition of faith I can think of is line from one of Shirley Caesar’s songs. “Faith is stepping out on nothing/landing on something.” Essentially, that is faith. It is believing God for what you want or need even though everything is against it happening. Circumstances, laws, or situations do not bind God. God is God. He can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we may ask or even think.
Genuine faith does not just believe in something or for something that could possibly happen. Genuine faith believes in something or for something that cannot. In short, faith says, ‘yes,’ when everything else says, ‘no.’
Cyber-Discipleship 