Contemplation #109
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ . . .” Galatians 1:6
God’s call to us, that we might become reunited with God and enjoy the love and blessing of divine life, is accomplished through the merciful action done in Christ. Grace is the action God takes out of mercy and love, and this work in Christ for us is the grace of Christ. We are not speaking solely of the cross, but of the birth in the manger, the holy life of selflessness, the example of goodness and holiness, the righteousness lived to God, and the death that gives us what we do not deserve. The grace of Christ’s birth, life, and death is a gift of mercy and the means of God bringing us to himself. This grace of Christ is what calls us and into which we are called . . . so that we live by grace, through grace, and unto grace.
Contemplation #110
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ . . .” Galatians 1:6
Why would anyone desert the grace of Christ? What could be more appealing, more compelling, more filled with hope than Christ’s grace? The answer is simple . . . self. The grace of Christ has nothing to do with us, but is all about God through Christ accomplishing the work of God. To be called by the grace of Christ is to lose any place for self, and to be enter of life that is centered on God because it is life by and in grace. To live with self-respect, self-esteem, self- concern, self-confidence, selfish ambition, and self-sufficiency is always more desirable than grace.
Contemplation #111
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ . . .” Galatians 1:6
The grace of Christ tolerates no rivals and no exceptions. God’s grace is so all-consuming that it leaves no room for any other way of living. Therefore, any move to live by means other than grace is a desertion of God’s merciful action in Christ. This is why our abandonment of grace can come quickly. We do not slide gradually from living by grace, but at the first turn to something other we immediately abandon God and the way of grace. The nature of grace means, though, that my quick desertion of it is not the same of God’s removal of it. Paul instructs us to return to the grace that we so quickly leave, living intentionally once again in that which we left, though which did not leave us.
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ . . .” Galatians 1:6
God’s call to us, that we might become reunited with God and enjoy the love and blessing of divine life, is accomplished through the merciful action done in Christ. Grace is the action God takes out of mercy and love, and this work in Christ for us is the grace of Christ. We are not speaking solely of the cross, but of the birth in the manger, the holy life of selflessness, the example of goodness and holiness, the righteousness lived to God, and the death that gives us what we do not deserve. The grace of Christ’s birth, life, and death is a gift of mercy and the means of God bringing us to himself. This grace of Christ is what calls us and into which we are called . . . so that we live by grace, through grace, and unto grace.
Contemplation #110
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ . . .” Galatians 1:6
Why would anyone desert the grace of Christ? What could be more appealing, more compelling, more filled with hope than Christ’s grace? The answer is simple . . . self. The grace of Christ has nothing to do with us, but is all about God through Christ accomplishing the work of God. To be called by the grace of Christ is to lose any place for self, and to be enter of life that is centered on God because it is life by and in grace. To live with self-respect, self-esteem, self- concern, self-confidence, selfish ambition, and self-sufficiency is always more desirable than grace.
Contemplation #111
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ . . .” Galatians 1:6
The grace of Christ tolerates no rivals and no exceptions. God’s grace is so all-consuming that it leaves no room for any other way of living. Therefore, any move to live by means other than grace is a desertion of God’s merciful action in Christ. This is why our abandonment of grace can come quickly. We do not slide gradually from living by grace, but at the first turn to something other we immediately abandon God and the way of grace. The nature of grace means, though, that my quick desertion of it is not the same of God’s removal of it. Paul instructs us to return to the grace that we so quickly leave, living intentionally once again in that which we left, though which did not leave us.
posted by Greg at 9:43 AM
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