Encountering God’s Grace

“I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Cor 1:4 (NIV)

Paul was writing from Ephesus on his third missionary journey a personal letter to the church at Corinth. He acknowledged God’s call on them to be holy along with the other believers who were calling on the name of the Lord. Paul gave evidence to the content of his prayer life for the church at Corinth through the theme of grace.

God’s grace had been clearly given to the church at Corinth. Paul had spent eighteen months there teaching them the Word of God (Acts 18:11). The grace Paul identified in them was the same grace that had rescued Paul from the path of being a persecutor of the church. Paul had a life-changing encounter with God’s grace. Now he is giving thanks to God for the grace they have in Christ Jesus.

When you became a follower of Jesus Christ, you encountered the grace of God firsthand. God gave you what you did not deserve. Because of your sin, you deserved alienation, separation, and eternal damnation. However, God graced you with His abiding peace and lavished you with His unconditional love. If you ever doubt God’s grace, just look into the rearview mirror of your life and recall the portraits of grace God has painted throughout the terrain of your past.

In Christ Jesus, you have been given grace. God has blessed you with a new identity in Christ. You are a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). You have been saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9). You are God’s workmanship (Eph. 2:10). God’s grace has been poured out on you abundantly (1 Ti. 1:14).

Pursuing God,

Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell