And the God of all grace …
Summary: Following Peter’s train of thought we find ourselves with a roadmap to pleasing God and inviting His grace in our lives.
The word we translate as “grace” is charis in the Greek. Like so many words, it has more than one use. It can be a source of joy, the beneficent influence of God in one’s life, or a sign of appreciation. To my way of thinking, when we talk about God and grace in the same sentence, it is all three of these things.
In our meditation on verse nine, we looked at four areas of life that Peter encourages and instructs us in. These are that we should choose:
- truth over lies
- hope over despair
- love over hate
- suffering over self-indulgence.
When we choose truth, we align ourselves with God. God is the definition of truth. He is the creator of all reality. To choose truth is to choose to look at the things around us and see them as they are. The grace God gives us when we choose truth is that we are free of the burden and conflict that accompany lies.
Choosing hope is another way of saying that you have chosen to believe in God’s Word. Hope doesn’t force its way on us. Real hope is not something that one can manufacture out of thin air. Real hope is based on truth, so this builds on the first choice we make. When we choose hope, we open the door to God’s gifts of power and light.
Some kinds of love overtake us by surprise. This can be a blessing all by itself. But Peter is pointing us to a different kind of love. He points us to philadelphos, the love one has for a brother. Such love is affectionate and sacrificial. The grace that flows to us from living this kind of love has to do with the nature and power of love itself. God is love. (1 John 4:8)
Finally, the big one; putting others before ourselves. Yes, I know; the item on the list says, “suffering over self-indulgence.” But isn’t that the same thing as putting others first? We do not do this without reason. We do it because we believe God’s Word is truth. We do it because our hope for the future is based on our present relationship with God and his Word. When we put others first, that is the very definition of love.
In the end, all four areas Peter talks about are related. All four are really four sides of the same thing. When we choose to honor God this way there are consequences. One of those consequences is that God looks on the one who does them with favor. The favor of God is worth more than all the things the world has to offer combined.
Our creator is the God of all grace. All kinds of grace and all of it. He has plenty to share with those who serve Him.
Application: Look for signs of God’s grace in your life.
Food for Thought: Is the term, grace, ever misused, and if so, how?
I have a niece whose name is Grace.
Gracefully done! 🙂
Nice Tim. It is a great name 😉.
One way we can misuse grace is to abuse it. We can assume on God’s grace and use it as a justification to sin more. If grace covers our sin, why not just go ahead and indulge in sin? Why not sin more so that there is more grace? The Holy Spirit had something to say about this through the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 6 (see especially verses 1 – 4, 15 – 19).
Rich,
The Romans 6 passage is an excellent reference on this topic. Thank you!
Is the term, grace, ever misused, and if so, how?
You slid right int home on that one Tim!
A.W. Tozer wrote, “You can never put a plus sign beside the cross.”
No amount of activity on our part can ever merit a single brownie point with God. We are saved by grace and by grace alone.
We are imperfect beings attempting to serve our perfect God. If there is anything we do well, it is misuse, complicate, abuse any good thing that comes to us. We are free from the power of sin, have the power of the Holy Spirit to actively live for God, and His word to show each of us what we must do. And we see Paul, a man of God, one to look up, one to be like, and he is not able to follow Christ as he knows he should.
Romans 7:15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.
Yes I am sure we all have or will misuse the term grace, and Gods true grace during our short lives. But we do not seek to make it our way of life. We are all works in progress, working toward perfection which we will only receive when we are with Christ in heaven.
Ephesians 2:8, Matthew 1:21, Romans 11:6, 1 Corinthians 3:15, James 2:17
Ron,
The A. W. Tozer quote is spot on! This is another reason that it is not within our purview to decide who is heaven-bound and who is not.
Brother Jeff,
Good Job! You do come up with some doozies.
Ron
Would it be misused if I said that I am graced to be a part of this web site?
God say’s that His grace is sufficient,..that’s all I need,..to know that I am unconditionally loved with the merit of undeserved favor by my creator,..mind blown,..and yet so true,..
I can’t thank Him enough for the grace He has bestowed upon me,..
Thank you, John!
I am sure that qualifies as a proper use of the word. 🙂
We are blessed, aren’t we?