Steven A. Bush - December 6, 2020
Giving Grace
Grace is God's undeserved and favor--His mercy and love, heaped upon us. Why is it undeserved? We are God's born enemies. But Romans 5:6-11 tells us what God did for His ungodly enemies: "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die--but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." (ESV) So what does receiving grace have to do with giving grace? Everything! Grace has an intended effect. The true effect of receiving grace is giving grace to others, that is, extending favor to those who don't deserve it. In another context Jesus said: "Freely you have received, now freely give..." What flows to us in the way of God's blessings are meant to also flow through us to others. And there is no greater blessing bestowed by our Lord than His amazing grace...