The Abundance of Grace

"The redeeming work of Christ and the rightness He won for us together with the work of the Spirit in us as the power of the new life are spoken of as grace. It includes all that Christ has done and still does, all He has and gives, and all He is for us and in us. John says, "We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). The law was given by Moses, Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. "And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace" (John 1:16)."

—Andrew Murray in Covenants & Blessings

Grace Working in Us

"With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling, and that by His power He may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ".

—2 Thessalonians 1.11, 12

Read the context of verses 3-10 to see that Paul had "in mind" how God grows our faith so that we endure trial and because God is just in His holiness He will punish evil and reward those who persevere with His grace. As we pray for whatever requests we have may we be open to how God will work in us!

Standing for and Living Lives of Grace, Graciously

As I was preparing for next week's sermon on Galatians 1.11-2.14 I thought of an interesting juxtaposition between the kind of graciousness in the William Barclay quote below and standing up for grace. In Galatians, Paul accounts of standing up to Peter for the freedom of grace i.e., not adding Jewish works to salvation. We cannot possibly speak the truth in love without the Holy Spirit's leading us to do so graciously. Paul accounts for this later on in chapter 5 with the fruit of the Spirit. Even in difficult matters, standing for Jesus is to be done in such a way that we can be called peace makers (see Matthew 5.9). May we reflect the beauty of Jesus' calling us by grace by standing for and living lives of grace, graciously!

The Great Need for Graciousness

"...live in such a way that loveliness and the graciousness of the truth is plain for all to see. The defeat of error depends not on skill in controversy but in the demonstration in life of the more excellent way."

—William Barclay
commentary on 2 Timothy 3.8, 9