Skip to main content

Giving Thanks For God's Grace

             I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— (I Corinthians 1:4-5)

 

            This is a standard sort of greeting from Paul. I always thank my God for you. For whom do I thank God? For whom do I always thank God? I suspect he doesn’t mean 24/7, but he thanked God for it whenever the Corinthian church came to mind. I can’t say I do this. I thank God when something happens, but not every time I hear their name. It’s a start.

            But then I get to the next phrase…because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. Paul wasn’t thanking God because the Corinthians had their Christian walk down pat. You know they didn't if you’ve read the first letter to the Corinthian church. But God gave them grace, and Paul thanked God for them because that grace was demonstrated in their midst somehow. Somehow, God stepped in and did what they couldn’t.

            The first application is that we should learn to be thankful for the Church and our churches even though the people in it aren’t perfect. This is contrary to the reaction of the world, which says that if the church isn’t perfect, and the people in the church aren’t perfect, they’re all hypocrites, and that justifies rejecting them and the church. While we must not accept sin, the Church should be a place that sees broken and messed up people as those to whom and through whom God wants to show His grace.

            The second application is with other people. Even those who are not saved have been shown grace; their lives reveal some aspect of that grace. We should thank God for the grace He has given them, even if they have hurt us or offended us. The third application is with us. Do we thank God for the grace He has given to us and through us even when we mess up? Do we need to pray that God would open our eyes to that grace, shown in all three ways? I do.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more