"When God's Grace Steps In..." 2

Hello people. As we begin a new week, I’ll be emphasizing again the power of the grace of God as we continue drawing from Paul’s letter to the Galatians.

“Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia; and was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ: But they had heard only, that he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.  And they glorified God in me.” Galatians 1:21-24.

Paul had been a notorious personality. The whole church knew he was the one who leading the assault on believers although in fact many of them had never met him before. He had the reputation and it had spread widely around. 

Despite all the information they may have had about Paul beforehand, when the Christians in the churches in Judea heard that he had become a believer, they “glorified God”. They were thankful for the wonderful grace bestowed upon a man who was once a persecutor but had then become a preacher. It would have been a surprising change, but they celebrated the grace of God at work in Paul’s life.

Let’s take a mental trip back and just assume you and I lived at those times. Would you have acted like the Judean believers? Would you have been happy to hear that the man who was the witness at the stoning of “faithful deacon Stephen”¹ had become a minister of the gospel? I’m certain that many people in our day would have locked the doors of their churches against Paul or probably would have regarded him with much suspicion and caution. The Judean churches were not like that. They understood that God has the ability to turn people’s lives around.

On many occasions I’ve heard believers exclaim “it’s not possible!!” when they hear of any “notorious” person’s salvation. It almost seems sometimes that we don’t really trust in the ability of the grace of God to effect a change in the lives of others. But there isn’t a vile and sensual man that God’s grace could not make pure. There isn’t a dishonest man that His grace could not make honest. There is no lost and abandoned sinner that God cannot receive to Himself. 

There is no depth of sin and depravity that is out of the reach of the grace of God. This is how powerful and efficacious God’s grace is! Think about this fact dear friends and let it affect your consideration and behavior towards other people. Last week the emphasis was for us to celebrate God’s grace in our own lives. Today I say celebrate God’s grace not only in your own life but also learn to celebrate the work of grace in other people. Remember even where sin abounded, grace has superabounded²

 

Have a great week ahead.

Notes

1. Acts 7:57 - 8:1

2. Romans 5:20