Do You See The Grace of God?
“When he (Barnabas) came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad.” (Acts 11:21-23)
Few Christians see the grace of God at work in people who have not joined their group. I think it is because they are looking for works. They look for obedience to some creed or law rather than looking for the unmerited favor (grace) of God for all people. Their religious upbringing blinds them to the truth of the good news of grace.
They look for repentance, decisions, baptism, attendance, tithing, evangelism, etc. when they look at others. None of those works are the “truth of the gospel” which has come to mankind. None of that matters to God as far as His grace is concerned. His gift to mankind is salvation from death into a new, immortal, spiritual life. And Jesus has shown us "the way, the truth, and the life"...
"I am the way, the truth, and the life...the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life..." (John 14:6; Romans 6:23)
Few Christians see the grace of God at work in people who have not joined their group. I think it is because they are looking for works. They look for obedience to some creed or law rather than looking for the unmerited favor (grace) of God for all people. Their religious upbringing blinds them to the truth of the good news of grace.
They look for repentance, decisions, baptism, attendance, tithing, evangelism, etc. when they look at others. None of those works are the “truth of the gospel” which has come to mankind. None of that matters to God as far as His grace is concerned. His gift to mankind is salvation from death into a new, immortal, spiritual life. And Jesus has shown us "the way, the truth, and the life"...
When Barnabas came to Antioch what he observed was a bunch of sinners who had been made aware that God would save them from death by the resurrection, not as a result of religious works that the law had demanded, but purely by the unmerited favor of God. They believed it and it had changed them…and the fruit of that grace he saw in them was the love, joy and appreciation that Paul later called the "fruit of the Spirit". The “truth of the gospel” is for “all the world”.
"...the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth……the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control...we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe." (Colossians 1:5-6; Galatians 5:22-23; 1 Timothy 4:9-11)
Religious doctrine has prevented most of its members from grasping the “truth of the gospel” and they just do not SEE the unmerited “grace of God” as applying to all people.
But when I look at mankind, the whole sorry lot of us, and remember the truth of the living God, the good news that "all people" will be saved in the grace of God…it makes me glad too!
"...the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth……the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control...we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe." (Colossians 1:5-6; Galatians 5:22-23; 1 Timothy 4:9-11)
Religious doctrine has prevented most of its members from grasping the “truth of the gospel” and they just do not SEE the unmerited “grace of God” as applying to all people.
But when I look at mankind, the whole sorry lot of us, and remember the truth of the living God, the good news that "all people" will be saved in the grace of God…it makes me glad too!