My sermon yesterday was from 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 and was about not receiving the grace of God in vain. That’s a curious phrase, “we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” Paul doesn’t seem to be saying that grace can be lost. What he is saying is that grace must be realized in some practical ways in a Christian’s life or grace becomes another of life’s vanities. To receive God’s grace in vain must be the worst vanity of all.
Therefore Christ must not simply be worn as a badge of belonging like membership in a lodge or church. Instead, grace has to be added to grace (John 1:16) for a Christian to achieve some maturity (Ephesians 4:13) in their relationship with God. Otherwise their membership is a vanity. Imagine a child never growing into an adult relationship with his parents and being babied well into middle-age. Vanity. God’s children must also grow in grace or the Christian life stagnates.
Some practical ways Paul mentions we may receive more grace is through enduring hardships, exercising purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God. He mentions more but you get the idea. These are real things, not the superficial actions churches so often expect from members. If you’re going to be a good member of many a church, then you’d better not use language they deem unacceptable, not smoke a cigarette, and certainly not enjoy a beer after cutting the grass on a hot summer afternoon. What about being kind, helping a neighbor in need, getting along with folks, caring about the lost, being responsible, keeping your word, volunteering at the food bank, being patient with your children, respecting your spouse, and being a man in the word who works out that word (Philippians 2:12)? All of these are avenues for grace to be built upon grace in your life with God. If you are simply a church-goer who doesn’t cuss, doesn’t chew, and doesn’t go with girls that do, then you’re likely just vain. You may have been blessed with God’s grace (and God knows you need it) but to what effect?
Some Christians are so afraid of sinning that they stop being of any use to God. So they make up easy rules that they insist mark them as followers of Christ. Sad thing is, their rules make them followers of themselves—not Jesus. Face it; you’re going to break God’s rules sometimes. Now if you’re one of those Christians who says he doesn’t sin, well then guess what? Lying is a sin. We need to get over ourselves. So when you sin don’t let your sin rule your conscience. Don’t let the wrong you have done predominate. This too is receiving Christ’s grace in vain. Bring your focus back to what Christ did for you—do not remain focused on what you did. Your sin is upon Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21) so don’t try to carry it yourself. This requires a gracious strength. It is not easy to to keep throwing oneself at the mercy of One so kind. Still, you must let go every day, otherwise your sin rules your conscience no matter how sorry you are. Though sin rules the occasional action, you must let Christ rule your heart and whole life. Otherwise you have received his grace in vain. He wants to forgive you, not watch you wallow in self-righteous sorrow.
Three-year-old, Ella, yelled out to her daddy last week during a church softball game—after he missed a hard-hit grounder—”Get your head in the game!” He could have become preoccupied with kicking himself or he could do as he did, redoubled his efforts and helped the team pull out a win.
What are you going to do?
0 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.
You must be logged in to post a comment.