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Grace to you
When Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, he used the greeting ‘Grace to you’. 1 Cor 1:3,
2 Cor 1:2. In fact, most of the letters in the New Testament begin in this way. What did Paul mean by this? The Scripture has a great deal to say about the subject of grace. Church reformers defined it as God’s unmerited favour and no one would disagree. This certainly applies in the Old Testament where the word is often translated as God’s ‘lovingkindness’. In the book of Hebrews, the writer equates grace with God’s mercy and help and the apostle Paul testified that His grace had been ‘sufficient’ for every challenge. Heb 4:16,
2 Cor 12:9. We get the sense that God’s grace is tailor-made, directed, scripted and allocated to us in exactly the right portion for our time of need. 2 Tim 2:1. However, as we apply ourselves to study grace, we find it is not just an ethereal or vague force that surrounds us. And nor is it simply the countenance of God smiling upon us, although we certainly hope this is so.
One of the Greek lexicons defines grace as ‘the ability of God requisite for the work’. Our work is not just our nine-to-five occupation and nor is it simply what we do in the church. Instead, it is the mandate that has been given to an individual or group by God Himself. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul said that he was a minister or deacon in the church by the grace given to him. Eph 3:7. In another letter, he made mention of the grace that was in the church at Macedonia. 2 Cor 8:1. I was interested to watch a segment on the news recently about a Christian group of ex-bikies who were giving away huge amounts of money in food parcels and goods. There was no doubt in my mind that they were moving in the grace that had been given to them. We must also learn to move in the grace that has been given to us personally and as churches.
David Falk
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Feature Articles
October 2009
Grace to you
The trumpet of God
Ascending praise
The path of the just
A church community
No longer your own
Where is wisdom?
- Part 1
Asking and receiving
Our greatest support
Confidence to endure
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