The Gift of Grace

 

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.  Amen." (Philippians 4:23 NIV).

Paul's 'signature' signoff closure to his epistles are similar.  He mentions the 'grace of our Lord Jesus Christ'.  We read the verse and/or recite it smoothly, rolling it off our tongues but what's the meaning?  I feel there is much more than meets the eye.

Then to have His grace "be with our spirit;" what's that?  Putting both parts of the verse together actually feels comforting to me, but again, what are we saying when we greet others with this 'grace'?

Much like God's love, there's no way to plumb the depths or measure the heights of God's grace.  Most of us know that God's grace is freely given, and involves God's love as Initiator and whether or not we "earned" His grace, He gives it anyway.  Actually, God's grace is something we could never earn.  Some call this "unmerited favor".  He gives because He can.  He gives because He wants to.  He gives because He loves us.

The Merriam - Webster online dictionary records synonyms of grace as: "charity", "clemency' and mercy".  Furthermore, it says, these words mean, 

"a disposition to show kindness and compassion"*1.

That's beautiful definition but no doubt not yet all encompassing as who can contain God and His grace?   I'd like to comment according to some of the overall vibes Paul touched on in his letter to the Philippians.  This will by no means be exhaustive.

In my mind I think of the grace and the attitude of humility to be just "like Jesus Christ's".  This is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Secondly, stemming from this attitude comes being able to be more "like-minded" and keep unity of the Spirit with our fellow brothers and sisters-in-Christ.  Remember Paul's exhortation to Euodia and Syntyche to be "of the same mind" (see Philippians 4:21).

God's grace would also help these believers to "stand firm" in their faith and to withstand the tribulations they were undergoing.  They, we, and like Paul, were/will be able to do 

"all things through Jesus Christ who gave and still gives us strength." 

I happily chuckle a bit here cause God's grace will enable us to be content in "any and every situation" as well as gracing us with an attitude of gratitude.  Isn't that something!

What's more, is that God's grace is a gift bestowed upon us.  See Ephesians 2:8-9,

"For by grace you have been saved...it is a gift of God."  

This grace helps to transform into the same attitude of Jesus Christ.  We are no longer condemned.  We can persevere as did the Philippians.  So now we have this grace of God and its effects upon us, what do we do with this grace in other capacites?

Good question.  We can then give grace to others even if we may feel they don't deserve it.  God's grace works wonders.

Gracious Heavenly Father, thank You for giving and giving and giving to us of Your grace.  Thank You for bestowing Your grace upon us as a gift!  We could never earn grace for ourselves so thank You for having mercy upon us and giving Your gift of grace to us instead, because You can and because out of love for us You want to.

May we consciously allow Your grace to flood our hearts, souls, minds, and spirits so we can bestow Your gift of grace upon others as we interact with them.  May the mind of Jesus Christ be our mind.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

All in all, let's say,

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Chrsit be with your spirit".  

This sounds like a wonderful blessing with which to grace a fellow believer.

                                                    ~ERC  October 2023~

Based on Philippians 4:23 NIV.

Sing, Grace Greater Than Our Sin, along with Reawaken Hymns.

Reference:

*1.   Merriam-Webster link.