40 Days of GRACE - 13
Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days of GRACE
Day 13 | THE GIFT
40 Days of GRACE
Day 13 | THE GIFT
THE GIFT
Galatians 2:21
“I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”
Have you ever received a gift from family or a friend that you thought was WAY too much? Maybe it was a check, a trip, something else that was just more than you felt worthy of?
Sometimes, it’s hard to be a gracious RECEIVER of a gift given to you by someone else. Perhaps we don’t feel worthy or feel they just “shouldn’t have,” or maybe we don’t know how to be gracious in such a situation.
Salvation falls into that category in Paul’s mind. He had been SO horrible to God’s people and the church before meeting Christ on the Road to Damascus, that he has to fight the inclination to pay back the kindness that God provided him – salvation – EVEN THOUGH he had done bad things to God’s people.
The “law” that Paul refers to is, of course, the Jewish Old Testament laws (some 613 of them) that the Jews needed to DO to be in right-relationship with Almighty God. HOWEVER, Jesus Christ was the Fulfiller of the Law, as He said in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
So the law was fulfilled by Christ; yet… some in the early church and even some today think that they need to ALSO KEEP the law to be saved. They would say that FAITH + WORKS = SALVATION.
Paul states that if righteousness still came by KEEPING the law, then Christ died in vain… for nothing.
GRACE – God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense. Grace is a GIFT from God to us. Yes, like receiving a GIFT you don’t feel worthy of, Christ’s gift to us is precisely that – a GIFT from God that we don’t deserve, can’t earn, and can’t pay back.
Prayer: LORD, thank You, thank You, thank YOU for the marvelous gift of grace and salvation! Amen.
Galatians 2:21
“I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”
Have you ever received a gift from family or a friend that you thought was WAY too much? Maybe it was a check, a trip, something else that was just more than you felt worthy of?
Sometimes, it’s hard to be a gracious RECEIVER of a gift given to you by someone else. Perhaps we don’t feel worthy or feel they just “shouldn’t have,” or maybe we don’t know how to be gracious in such a situation.
Salvation falls into that category in Paul’s mind. He had been SO horrible to God’s people and the church before meeting Christ on the Road to Damascus, that he has to fight the inclination to pay back the kindness that God provided him – salvation – EVEN THOUGH he had done bad things to God’s people.
The “law” that Paul refers to is, of course, the Jewish Old Testament laws (some 613 of them) that the Jews needed to DO to be in right-relationship with Almighty God. HOWEVER, Jesus Christ was the Fulfiller of the Law, as He said in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
So the law was fulfilled by Christ; yet… some in the early church and even some today think that they need to ALSO KEEP the law to be saved. They would say that FAITH + WORKS = SALVATION.
Paul states that if righteousness still came by KEEPING the law, then Christ died in vain… for nothing.
GRACE – God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense. Grace is a GIFT from God to us. Yes, like receiving a GIFT you don’t feel worthy of, Christ’s gift to us is precisely that – a GIFT from God that we don’t deserve, can’t earn, and can’t pay back.
Prayer: LORD, thank You, thank You, thank YOU for the marvelous gift of grace and salvation! Amen.
Posted in GRACE
Recent
Categories
Archive
2025
January
40 DAYS OF NEW - 0340 DAYS OF NEW - 0440 DAYS OF NEW - 0540 DAYS OF NEW - 0640 DAYS OF NEW - 0740 DAYS OF NEW - 0840 DAYS OF NEW - 0940 DAYS OF NEW - 1040 DAYS OF NEW - 1140 DAYS OF NEW - 1240 DAYS OF NEW - 1340 DAYS OF NEW - 1440 DAYS OF NEW - 1540 DAYS OF NEW - 1640 DAYS OF NEW - 1740 DAYS OF NEW - 1840 DAYS OF NEW - 1940 DAYS OF NEW - 2040 DAYS OF NEW - 2140 DAYS OF NEW - 2240 DAYS OF NEW - 2340 DAYS OF NEW - 2440 DAYS OF NEW - 25
February
40 DAYS OF NEW - 2640 DAYS OF NEW - 2740 DAYS OF NEW - 2840 DAYS OF NEW - 2940 DAYS OF NEW - 3040 DAYS OF NEW - 3140 DAYS OF NEW - 3240 DAYS OF NEW - 3340 DAYS OF NEW - 3440 DAYS OF NEW - 3540 DAYS OF NEW - 3640 DAYS OF NEW - 3740 DAYS OF NEW - 3840 DAYS OF NEW - 3940 DAYS OF NEW - 4040 DAYS OF PROMISE - 0140 DAYS OF PROMISE - 0240 DAYS OF PROMISE - 0340 DAYS OF PROMISE - 0440 DAYS OF PROMISE - 05
March
40 DAYS OF PROMISE - 0640 DAYS OF PROMISE - 0740 DAYS OF PROMISE - 0840 DAYS OF PROMISE - 0940 DAYS OF PROMISE - 1040 DAYS OF PROMISE - 1140 DAYS OF PROMISE - 1240 DAYS OF PROMISE - 1340 DAYS OF PROMISE - 1440 DAYS OF PROMISE - 1540 DAYS OF PROMISE - 1640 DAYS OF PROMISE - 1740 DAYS OF PROMISE - 1840 DAYS OF PROMISE - 1940 DAYS OF PROMISE - 2040 DAYS OF PROMISE - 2140 DAYS OF PROMISE - 2240 DAYS OF PROMISE - 2340 DAYS OF PROMISE - 2440 DAYS OF PROMISE - 2540 DAYS OF PROMISE - 26
April
40 DAYS OF PROMISE - 2740 DAYS OF PROMISE - 2840 DAYS OF PROMISE - 2940 DAYS OF PROMISE - 3040 DAYS OF PROMISE - 3140 DAYS OF PROMISE - 3240 DAYS OF PROMISE - 3340 DAYS OF PROMISE - 3440 DAYS OF PROMISE - 3540 DAYS OF PROMISE - 3640 DAYS OF PROMISE - 3740 DAYS OF PROMISE - 3840 DAYS OF PROMISE - 3940 DAYS OF PROMISE - 4040 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 0140 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 0240 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 0340 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 0440 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 0540 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 0640 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 0740 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 08
May
40 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 0940 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 1040 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 1140 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 1240 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 1340 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 1440 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 1540 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 1640 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 1740 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 1840 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 1940 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 2040 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 2140 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 22