Another Layer of Grace!
Colossians 4:2-6 & Ephesians 4:29-32
I love the doctrine of Grace and how we are saved by grace through faith. This is a doctrine that is so important in our life in Christ. I was thinking this week about grace and how we emphasize one layer of grace but can miss a second layer of the doctrine of grace that is important in the life of every believer! I hope this post can peel open another layer of this wonderful doctrine of grace, that we need to apply to our lives.
I read a statement from a friend awhile back that said “If my Calvinism is without love, I am nothing.” If I know all mysteries and all knowledge… but do not have love, I am nothing” (1Cor. 13:2).”
Very good insight from my brother in Christ, I was thinking about grace and it’s fruits and here is the blog that comes from it. This message is on the other layers of grace following our salvation that needs to be heard. Many just focus on the grace of salvation without recognizing the grace in our lives must be exhibited in Christ Jesus our Lord! We can easily focus on our received grace without living it! Sometimes it is the more mature Christians who can know grace without exhibiting it.
After our Salvation by Grace, the second most emphasized aspect of our salvation I find in scripture is our lives exhibiting the grace we have received. So many times we can focus on how God saved us from the pit of hell and don’t deserve it but at the same time don’t show that grace to others. Therefore lets see two aspects of our speech by grace. Two layers that are deeply embedded in the Grace we have received in Christ Jesus.
1. The first is the Sharing of the Grace of God so unbelievers will come to faith…
Colossians 4:2-6 “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; 3 praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; 4 that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak. 5 Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity.
Noticed that we pray with an alertness that God will open a door to speak about Him the mysteries with clarity and that we are sensitive to God’s will in our speech. We are to speak with wisdom towards those who are outside the family of God making our time in our opportunities valuable to the hearer. How is this applied? By moving to verse 6.
“Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”
Here we see our speech should ALWAYS BE WITH GRACE! That is to speak God’s Word in a way that is fitting to the situation with sensitivity, encouragement, gentle with love for the hearer. We don’t repel but attract because the GRACE of GOD is in us and working through us! We Glorify God with our Words! Our goal is for people to see the beauty of Jesus Christ in us!
We cannot expect the unbeliever to have the same spiritual values we have because they do not see from God’s perspective. So we speak with GRACE, just as we heard the message of the Cross of Christ with Grace and love towards us! We pray that God will open the eyes of their heart to believe and receive God’s Grace.
There is a second aspect of our speech and that is dealing within the family of God.
2. The Second is the speaking in the Grace of God so believers will unified in our faith…
Ephesians 4:29-32 “29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”
Brothers and sisters in Christ we need to make sure the family of God knows this message. We are to speak in such a way that those who hear our words are receiving GRACE! The bible says it this way, “so that it will give grace to those who hear.” This means we are speaking in many situations and no matter what the situation is we speak with GRACE! This is not always easy because we may have been offended or did not like what another person said us, but we are to show grace in our speech and that means our attitude is with grace also! This is why this section of scripture ends with the following words, “32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”
If we understand the grace of God and the magnitude of His Grace towards us, then our grace being shown will never be as great as what He has already done for us. If Jesus forgave us we also must forgive so we can show grace also! There those who have to have a change of heart when it comes to grace.
If we have a critical spirit towards others, then we are not showing grace and love but an ungraceful spirit towards another person made in the image of God! We must not have a critical spirit, because not only will it hurt the other person but will make you miserable. After all as verse 30-31 says, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.”
There is a time when we must stand firm and contend for the faith with the Sword of the Lord held high, but even that situation must be handled with grace. It frustrates me when there is a debate for the truth and the one wrong wins the debate because they were not contentious and rude in their actions. This grieves the Holy Spirit!
Earlier in chapter 4 of Ephesians we read these words…
Ephesians 4:11-16 “11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
When the Saints are equipped through the love of the saints there is growth and proper working of all together for God’s Glory! The church must function biblically, that means we live a life of grace and love starting with our speech and attitudes towards one another in Christ, but also those outside the church!
So the point of this blog is we are saved by the Grace of God without a doubt and hopefully that includes everyone reading this message. This grace of God received changed us to be grace givers and that starts with our speech! Earlier in Ephesians we receive these Words…
Ephesians 2:8-10 “8 For by Grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
This is clear that this is speaking of how we received our salvation in Jesus Christ. But verse 10 also tells us that after we received this Grace of God there is something that is expected and changed in us. We have been changed in His grace by the workmanship of God in us. Here is how it is said…
“10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
There are works we do in Christ that we have not done before we received our salvation. That is we are His workmanship doing things out of our love for our savior and Lord! We are transformed and made new in Christ living our faith. As we already have seen, there is another layer of the Grace of God and is the Grace we live because we are His!
Let me end with this final closing verse for us to ponder in our minds …
2 Peter 3:18 “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
May we live these words!
