I CANNOT SET ASIDE THE GRACE OF GOD. In the book of Galatians the Apostle Paul laments and states a unique statement about the grace of God that I want us to think deeply about today. By the NIV’s translation, it reads: I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing. The NLT translation of Paul’s statement in Galatians gives us a simple understanding and better perspective. It states: I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die! When we set aside something we simply put that particular thing away; we discard it, we disregard it; we reject it; we dismiss it; we put it in reserve; we leave that thing behind; or we forget about it somehow. Perhaps, we treat that thing with disrespect or contempt. In other words, the things that we usually set aside are the things that become irrelevant, insignificant, or unimportant in our lives. Sometimes, when things become less valuable and priceless to some extent that we do not cherish them again we may put them aside. What then is grace? Grace is the unmerited, underserved favour/favor that God has for the sinful mankind. We observe and understand the love of God for mankind when we question why the all-knowing God, after all, created man in His image, likeness when He foreknew that he, man will definitely sin? If God foreknew us sinful why then did He go ahead and created us in Himself to the extent that He equipped in us with some of His divine qualities: His life, Spirit, goodness, perfection, holiness and righteousness? Why did He not create us like animals, birds, fishes or plants or the non-living things so that He needn’t have to come and save us when man eventually sinned? The love of God is agape, unconditional. God is Love. He equates, embodies and epitomises the true and genuine love that only can come from God Himself. However, it’s His grace that wraps up in practical demonstration the entire love of God. Grace identifies the magnitude of God’s love that He has for mankind. God’s love compels Him to do all that He does, however, it’s through His grace that He does and accomplishes them all. And God the Father does and accomplishes and achieves all that He does through Christ Jesus who is the Creator and the Saviour/Savior God. And when he, man sinned God who is Love was compelled at all cost to come and save him (man) so that His creation, man will not perish forever? And the only way the Father God could show His unconditional love and lavish His grace on man and save him is what the Scripture says in the gospel of John: For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (Jn. 3:16 NLT). Today, you’ve come to know why Paul said He cannot set aside the grace of God. I believe you and I will wholehearted agree with Paul in his statement that: We do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! Beloved, we that are yet to embrace the love of God through the grace that He had lavishly bestowed through Christ Jesus on all mankind let us embrace it now. It’s only the matter to confess Christ Jesus as your Lord and personal Saviour/Savior. To this the Scripture states it in the book of Romans thus: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved; for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Rm. 9:10, 9:13 NIV). And to us that have already embraced and presently enjoying the gift of God’s love and His grace let us put grace into motion, keep it alive, put fire and power into it, resurrect it in our lives, rekindle the fire in your fellow believers, put grace into circulation and spread the good news, keep talking about it as lunatics, keep witnessing about it! As usual, may the Lord God bless us all! Amen. Rev. Kwame Ankoma-Amoa.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 07:56:45 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015