The Apostle
Paul began each of his letters to churches by speaking grace and peace to the
churches. For example, he said to the church in Corinth, ‘Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.’(1
Cor. 1:3) This frequent greeting was Paul’s way of undergirding and
reinforcing the doctrine, value, and position of grace for the believer under
the New Covenant. He reminded the Jews that they were no longer under the
law. He reminded pagans that they were
no longer multi-theistic worshippers of idols. He reminded them all that they
were filled with everything they needed to live a life in Christ. Then he would
go on to teach, instruct, correct, and admonish those same believers.
I am drawn
to 1 Cor. 1:4, 5 where Paul, after greeting the church with ‘grace and peace’
expands upon what that means to them.
The Amplified Bible does a great job of bringing fullness to this
expansion. “I thank my God at all times for you because of the grace (the favor and
spiritual blessing) of God which was bestowed on you in Christ Jesus. So that
in Him in every respect you were enriched, in full power and readiness of
speech (to speak of your faith), and complete knowledge and illumination (to
give you full insight into its meaning).” Paul says that grace was bestowed on
them. It was a gift. It was supernatural
favor and blessing received by faith upon believing in their hearts that Jesus
was truly the son of God and savior for all who would believe. To ‘bestow’ means ‘to present as a gift’. They
didn’t do anything to earn or deserve it. It was presented as a gift, received
when they believed in their hearts, an act of faith at the deepest level.
Paul then
goes on to describe very succinctly the consequence of receiving that gift…….
First, they were ‘enriched, in full power and readiness of speech’. Grace comes backed
with the full power of the throne room of God, and gives a readiness and acuity
to speak your faith and speak by faith. The NIV Bible says it this way “enriched
in every way!” You (a leader, a
pastor, a church member, a new believer) have
already been enriched in every way with the full power of God! Wow! You are ready, aware, and dialed in to speak
forth your faith IN JESUS with power, authority and assurance of Truth.
Paul then
says the Corinthians have ‘complete knowledge and illumination’
of the meaning of grace as the gift of God bestowed through Jesus
Christ. They had power, knowledge, readiness, and insight by grace. This was
the imputed righteousness and holiness that only Jesus could bring to them.
However, we read later on in 1 Corinthians that many in the church were
divisive, boasting, immoral, cheating, disorderly in worship, and on and on.
How can this
be? It can be because many in Corinth had not fully embraced grace as the transforming power that the Father had
offered. They had not completely opened
the gift! It still had wrapping paper and packaging partially covering it. Many
had embraced grace as not as enrichment
but as entitlement……entitled to do whatever they felt like doing. Paul said ‘everything is permissible but
not everything is beneficial’ (1 Cor. 6:12; 10:23). Grace permits us to
make a choice…halleluiah! It is a choice to completely unwrap the gift!!
It is our choice to embrace the fullness of grace, the fully imputed power and
readiness of faith. We have the marvelous choice of fully receiving imputed
enrichment in us, so that there is enrichment departing from us!
This
Christmas season take the wrapping and packaging off of grace. Fully open and
receive this gift. Choose to receive and embrace the enrichment, power,
readiness, knowledge and insight of the Father’s gift. It’s His complete gift!
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