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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?
True Hidden Treasure
God’s Word
“Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.”– Psalm 119-11
These words, penned by King David, give great evidence why he was called a man after God’s own heart. This is exactly what God wants. He wants us to treasure His Word, His Law. This was what He was trying to tell the Israelites in the Book of Exodus when He told them to bind it around your forehead and to put it on your doorposts. Though the Israelites took it literally, they missed the spiritual implications of the instruction.
What does it mean to “hide” His Word in [y]our heart? Usually when we think of hiding something, we think of putting it away for safety reasons or to protect it from prying eyes. Yet, when David said that he had hidden God’s Word in his heart, he was meaning just the opposite. He hid God Word in order that people may see that he possessed it!
Perhaps a better phrasing would be, “Your Word I have stored in my heart that I might not sin against You.” God does not want us to hide His word under or behind something. He wants us to live it so it will everyone will see. Psalm 1:2 says that the righteous person delights in the Word of God and meditates on it day and night. Why? To memorize it? No. Teachers will tell you that people who memorize things just for the purpose of memorizing them, do not really learn them and soon forgets what he memorized. On the contrary, we meditate not to memorize but internalize.
When David said he had hidden God word in his heart, he was saying that he had internalized it. He had digested it. He had made it a part of himself. It could be considered that he was saying that he had made God’s Word so much a part of him (his heart) that you could not tell it from him; thus it was ‘hidden’. They were so much alike that they were essentially blended together. One could not tell where the Word ended and David’s heart began.
Could this be said about you and God’s Word? Have you made it so much a part of your life that you no longer have to think to do it, it becomes nature? An analogy I often use is that of a cupcake. I love Hostess cupcakes (though the sugar doesn’t love me). In the middle of the cupcake is the cream filling. In the cupcake is sugar, flour, eggs, chocolate, and a host of other things. You can separate out the cream filling and still have the cupcake. You cannot separate out the sugar from the cupcake. To those of memorize the Word of God, the Word is the cream filling. To those who internalize it, the Word is the sugar.
In your life, is the Word cream filling or sugar? If it isn’t sugar, ask God to help you change that. Develop a plan to read and study God’s Word regularly. Don’t just read it; understand what it says and why it says it. Once you understand the purpose for it, applying it becomes easier.
Be transformed!
Cyber-Discipleship 