Tag: marvel

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Romans Devotionals

What we take for granted

Romans

I think as a life-long Christian I sometimes take for granted the things that I read in the Bible. It’s almost as if when I read it, I say in my mind (if unconsciously), “But of course.”

I wonder, though, if Paul still retained the wonder of the words he spoke when he wrote his letter to the Romans.

Did he have the same wonder that Peter no doubt had when he was sent to Cornelius and saw the Holy Spirit poured out on Gentile believers (Acts 10-11).

My guess is Paul did.

Think about this for a moment.

Paul was a lifelong Pharisee. A “Hebrew of Hebrews.” (Philippians 3:5).

He was one who all his life thought of the Jews as being above every other race, particularly when it came to a relationship with God.

And yet he said to these Gentile Roman Christians,

Through him (Jesus) we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the Gentiles, including you who are also called by Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:5-6)

Paul was saying, “This gospel I have received is for all peoples. And wonder of wonders (at least for me, a Jew), that includes you.”

Or as Paul wrote in another letter,

So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh—called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” which is done in the flesh by human hands.

At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:11-13)

All that, I think, was in Paul’s mind when he wrote his much shortened version of those words in Romans 1.

And so he could say to these Roman Gentiles, “You are loved by God, called as saints. (Romans 1:7)

Paul stood in wonder at all this.

The question is, do we? Or do we just take for granted that God’s gospel, his love and his grace have been extended to us?

Let us never take his grace for granted.

Rather, let us take a step back whenever we read these kinds of words in scriptures…and marvel.

Categories
1 Timothy

Wondering at the grace of God

Paul and grace

How often do we fail to wonder at the grace of God in our lives? How different would our lives be if we truly did so.

That was one of the differences between the false teachers and Paul.

The false teachers didn’t truly understand the grace of God. For them, the gospel was about making a buck. About prestige and honor for themselves.

For Paul, the gospel was a marvel that changed his life, and made him want to share this good news of God’s grace with as many people as he could.

Paul said,

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. 

Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 

The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.  (1 Timothy 1:12-14)

Here you can see Paul marveling at the grace God had shown him. That though he had once blasphemed Christ, persecuted His church, and was responsible for the murder of many of His people, yet God showed him mercy.

More, God poured out his grace in such abundance that it more than covered Paul’s sins, as horrible as they were. And now, Paul had come to faith and was filled with a love he had never known before.

And because of this, he could say with confidence,

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners–of whom I am the worst. 

But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. (15-16)

In short, Paul had truly come to realize, “Jesus died for me.”

It wasn’t that others needed to be saved, but Paul had been fine as he was. Instead, when Jesus appeared to Paul in that blinding light, Paul saw for the first time just how badly he needed mercy and grace in his life.

The problem with most people today, even Christians, is they can’t see that. They think they’re okay. Or at very least, think that they’re not that bad. “Sure Jesus died for me. But he had less to die for in my case.”

But as I’ve said before, it’s as we truly come close to Christ and step into his light, we see what a desperate state we are in. That we are completely stained with sin and in need of salvation.

And until we understand that, we will never marvel at the grace of God in our lives.

Paul did realize it, and because he did so, he burst out into song, singing,

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (17)

How about you? Do you marvel at the grace of God in your life?

Categories
Ephesians

The wonder of God’s grace

Wonder of God's grace

Paul had just finished praying for the Ephesians that they might see all they truly had in Christ. Now in chapter 2, he lays it all out for them.

Just as a side note, I think it’s important to remember that whenever we share God’s word, whether it’s the gospel or anything else from the Bible, that should be our pattern.

We should pray first that God would open the eyes of those we talk to and then lay it all out for them.

At any rate, we see here just how amazing the grace of God is.

We were dead in our sins. There was no spiritual life in us at all. We were simply walking in the ways of Satan, in utter rebellion against God. We had no desire to please God. Rather, we just lived to please ourselves.

And the thing is, we were born this way. Paul says,

Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. (Ephesians 2:3)

In other words, all of us were born with a heart that was in rebellion toward God and as a result, lived under God’s wrath.

Some people today, like the Jews of old, think that because they were raised hearing the Word of God and in a religious tradition, they are okay with God.

But Paul says of the Jews, “We like the rest, were objects of wrath because of our rebellious hearts. Though we had the law, we couldn’t keep it.”

And the same is true of all those raised in church before Christ saves them. Yes, they have the Bible. Yes, they may be “better” than others. But because they can’t keep the law perfectly, they are still under God’s wrath.

As Paul said in Romans 3,

There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:22-23)

But when God saw this, did he toss us aside. Did he just throw up his hands in despair and say, “It’s hopeless?”

No. Paul says,

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved.

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (4-7)

We were dead. What can dead people do? Nothing.

But God made us alive.

He gave us a new heart that could respond to him, and when we turned to him in faith, he breathed new life into us, lifting us out of the dirt and grime of our sin, cleansing us from our sin, and making us whole like Adam and Eve had been when they were first created.

And the thing is, God could have stopped there and we would have marveled at his grace. But God did more.

He has seated us with Christ and adopted us as his children. We will reign with him one day as his heirs. Why? For the simple reason that he wanted to show the riches of his grace to us and that we would glory in it.

Paul then concludes,

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast. (8-9)

The wonder of God’s grace is that he saved us though we neither sought it nor deserved it. Our salvation totally comes from him.

Our ability to believe in him itself comes from God. No one can boast that they deserved salvation. It is his gift to us from first to last.

And the wonder of his grace is that God didn’t stop at saving us, but he gave us gifts far beyond mere salvation from our sins. He made us his children. He made us his heirs.

May we all marvel and glory in that grace each day.