The Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ
There are many good definitions of "grace." One of those definitions comes from II Corinthians 8:9. Grace is God's Riches At Christ's Expense. I believe this look at grace gives us one essential element that is often forgotten.
Grace is a free gift. However, someone always has to pay for the gift. Nothing is completely free. There is an expense to make the gift or buy the gift, so the giver or someone else must pay that price before the free gift can be given to another person. When it comes to salvation and all of the riches of the Christian life, we can only have those things because Jesus became poor for us. He left heaven for us. He lived a life of poverty to show He was the Lord and Savior of all people. He died naked on a cross with the soldiers gambling for His clothes. He gave all He had, so we could be rich. In Christ we can become children of the King, joint-heirs with Christ, and citizens of heaven for eternity. There are no riches that compare with these riches.
Therefore, we must learn from the life and death of Jesus. We must see that if we are to be like Jesus, we will give of what we have to make others rich. Yes, I mean giving them the gospel, so they can be saved and have the same things we have. However, it extends to more than that. We can impart some of the riches Christ has given to us to meet their needs and make them "richer" than they were before. That is living by grace. They get richer at our expense. That shows them the heart of Jesus and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, so they can go and do the same for others. When we all live by grace, everyone is better off.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Corinthians 9-12.
Grace is a free gift. However, someone always has to pay for the gift. Nothing is completely free. There is an expense to make the gift or buy the gift, so the giver or someone else must pay that price before the free gift can be given to another person. When it comes to salvation and all of the riches of the Christian life, we can only have those things because Jesus became poor for us. He left heaven for us. He lived a life of poverty to show He was the Lord and Savior of all people. He died naked on a cross with the soldiers gambling for His clothes. He gave all He had, so we could be rich. In Christ we can become children of the King, joint-heirs with Christ, and citizens of heaven for eternity. There are no riches that compare with these riches.
Therefore, we must learn from the life and death of Jesus. We must see that if we are to be like Jesus, we will give of what we have to make others rich. Yes, I mean giving them the gospel, so they can be saved and have the same things we have. However, it extends to more than that. We can impart some of the riches Christ has given to us to meet their needs and make them "richer" than they were before. That is living by grace. They get richer at our expense. That shows them the heart of Jesus and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, so they can go and do the same for others. When we all live by grace, everyone is better off.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Corinthians 9-12.