Arguing grace

“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, ‘Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.’ But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Matthew 12:38-39

“For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the good news of Christ.” Romans 15:18-19

In Romans 11:1-6, Paul says that he will not speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through himself (Paul). At first, this may sound arrogant, but Paul is taking no credit for anything. Paul is saying that the words that are heard, the deeds that are accomplished, the signs and wonders that are seen are all done by the Holy Spirit working through Paul.

Christ is evident to the world through the words and deeds of Christians. When Christ walked the earth, His parables, miracles, and healing were to demonstrate the power of God to everyone, including the Pharisees. However, when we read the Matthew 12:38-39, we wonder why Christ would not accept the challenge of the Pharisees and perform a miracle that would prove beyond a doubt that Christ was king. The reason is simple. Christ did not come to earth to prove that He was God. Christ came to earth to prove that God loved us. Christ and Paul did not argue about the power of God. God’s power is for all of us to experience, and we can experience Him moment by moment in our walk with God. We do not have to rely on signs and wonders on a daily basis in order to know that God exists. Christ, and Paul too, has proclaimed God’s love, mercy, and grace toward sinful man, and that is the huge miracle that we can experience on a daily basis.

Grace in spite of insults

“We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor. For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, ‘The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.’” Romans 15:1-3 (NRSV)

Keeping our eyes on Christ can help us to overcome the insults that we receive from people. It can be difficult to get along with others. People have an agenda that is very self-serving, and we should count ourselves in this group as well. In order to survive, we have to take care of ourselves. The verse above tells us not to make our self-serving nature a priority, but work to build up our neighbor.

How do we do this without letting other people walk all over us? The key to this is grace. When we disagree with someone, grace helps us to recognize the weaknesses in the other person, and view the disagreement as a chance to help the other person become stronger. This is extending grace to them.

We must remember that when others insult us, they are actually insulting God. We do not need to stand up for God, but we can take a hard stand for our faith. If we demonstrate grace in the midst of insults, then we have demonstrated God’s grace to mankind.

It helps to remember that this is ultimately not our fight. This is God’s battle with sin, and He will overcome it. We just need to train our knee-jerk reactions to insults to be reactions of grace. 

Grace and sacrifice

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what the will of God is— what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned." Romans 12:1-3 (NRSV)

The first part of this scripture passage can be rather scary to a new Christian who is learning about how to lead a Christian life. Paul’s admonishment to present ourselves as living sacrifices that are holy and acceptable to God sounds almost as if we are to quit doing everything we enjoy and spend our entire lives sacrificing all of our time to God.

It is the second part of this passage that puts the first part into perspective. Paul says that by the grace given to him, he says to each person not to think of themselves more highly than they should. It is not our acts or our sacrifice that is important, and we should never think that when we pursue a holy life, it is our works that makes us holy.

In verse 1, Paul’s little phrase, “by the mercies of God” is actually the crux of the passage. It is through God’s mercy and grace that our meager sacrifices are pleasing to Him. Yes, we can strive to live holy lives, but we will never accomplish it. Our holy lives start and end with God. He chooses to view each of us as holy, “each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

We strive to be holy for God, not for ourselves or for others. We must keep our eyes on God as we strive to be holy, and not be sneaking sideways glances at other Christian’s behaviors. Our sacrifices to God are all different, and only He has the power to view each offering as holy. Praise God for grace!