Grace, the Gift that Keeps on Giving
GRACE. God’s great gift to us through Jesus. “For from his fulness,” John writes in his gospel, “we have all received grace upon grace.” (John 1:16, ESV) That is grace for any and every circumstance. Grace in all walks of life. Whatever our need, whatever our task, whatever our calling may be, God’s grace is there for us in abundance. It has absolutely no limits. Grace gushes forth like an endless stream from the fulness of Jesus Christ.
Like the water Jesus promised the despised Samaritan woman by the well, grace so completely quenches our thirsty souls that we need no longer drink from the shallow, tainted wells of the world. No, the living water of God’s grace is available to all in unlimited supply.
And it’s important that we understand that the grace of God that comes to us through Jesus Christ is not understood, nor is it dispensed through theological definitions and doctrinal descriptions. No, like the Indian who, upon seeing the ocean for the first time, filled a jar, saying, “My people have never seen the Great Water. I will carry this jar to them so they can see what it is like,” grace cannot be explained, only experienced.
There’s a reason for this. Because grace, like faith, is a living thing. These two gifts, grace and faith, are bursting with life - God’s life, the life of the Holy Spirit, the very spirit of Christ Jesus himself. They steadfastly refuse to be locked up in the prison of dry, lifeless definitions. Grace and faith always color outside the lines. Like Jesus. And these two things, grace and faith are intimately and inseparably connected - for by grace you have been saved through faith. (Ephesians 2:8, ESV) Apart from grace, we can do nothing. We are nothing. We need, desperately need, God’s grace.
But it is not enough.
Because it is living water and because it is inseparably linked to faith, grace cannot be allowed to settle and stagnate in your life and mine. Like faith, grace is dynamic, not frozen. We live by faith. Show me your faith apart from works, and I’ll show you my faith by my works - by the life I live and by my relationships with others. That’s how grace works. That’s how it continues to live and shape our lives. The grace in your life and mine must be allowed to flow freely. We are conduits of grace. That’s what Jesus is calling us to be - channels allowing God’s grace to flow like an endless stream from our lives into the lives of others. All others.
That’s what makes the apostle Paul’s letter to the wealthy businessman and slave owner, Philemon, so powerful. It’s but a seedling among the mighty Redwoods of the New Testament, but in its twenty-seven verses, Philemon gives us incredible insight into grace in action. Grace flowing from one life to another. Philemon does not define or explain grace. It shows us grace. Grace as seen in the life of a spiritually mature follower of Jesus.
Paul’s letter to Philemon is a personal, private letter from one brother in Christ to another. Paul writes to Philemon on behalf of a runaway slave by the name of Onesimus. Onesimus was one of Philemon’s slaves. And now Paul is asking Philemon to take Onesimus back, to forgive him and receive him as a brother, and perhaps, even set him free.
Nowhere in his letter does Paul spout out doctrine in an effort to convince his friend to give grace to Onesimus. Nowhere does he appeal to his authority as an apostle of Jesus Christ, commanding Philemon. Paul refers to himself simply as a prisoner and an old man. Not a lot of leverage there. But Paul isn’t seeking leverage; he is making an appeal in this letter solely on the basis of grace. And Onesimus needed grace. Desperately.
Onesimus had run away from his master. Not only that, but he had stolen from him as well. But providence led Onesimus to Paul in Rome. And from his prison cell, Paul led this runaway slave to faith in Jesus. Now Paul is sending Onesimus back to Philemon with this letter asking Philemon to allow God’s grace to flow from his life into the life of his former slave, who is now more than a slave; he is a brother in Christ.
In these days in which so many obsess with and define Christian maturity by doctrinal knowledge, political camps, and commitment to causes that have little or nothing to do with the gospel of Jesus and the Kingdom of God, Philemon shows us what true Christianity looks life. It looks like an old man, who, from his prison cell, appeals to his friend and brother to let the endless stream of God’s grace flow freely from his into the life of another.
Prayer
Lord, it’s easy to think of myself as a faithful and mature Christian just because I go to church, read my Bible, and pray. Help me see these things not as Christian maturity itself but as the means to becoming the godly servant you are calling me to be. In Your Name, I Pray, Amen.
Individual Reflection
1. Are you growing in Christian maturity? What are some signs of your maturing faith in Christ?
2. Take time to consider your relationship with others. In what ways are you allowing God's grace to flow from your life to theirs? Can you think of some people and circumstances where you are experiencing a blockage of grace?
3. How does your faith in Jesus facilitate the flow of grace from your life?
From Philemon: Reflections on Christian Maturity
In Christ,
Dan