Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.
Psalm 61:1-3
To return Good for Good, is Commonplace
To return Evil for Evil is Just
To return Evil for Good is Unjust
To return Good For Evil is Grace
What does the manner of our reaction tell us about our Spiritual state?
“If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?” Matthew 5:46:47
Shouldn’t Christians somehow be “responsively” different from those around us, or are we indistinguishable from tax collectors and pagans? Do I respond to the world differently than pagans do?
Have bumper stickers become the best means of distinguishing “Believers?”
“Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Hebrews 11:6
Is the gulf of understanding so wide? We fail to understand the debt we owe? Salvation by Grace confers a duty live by Grace.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1
Then can we substitute the understanding that
“Grace is the substance of faith, the evidence of salvation secure.”
Grace is is an act. To return Good for Evil is the very essence of Christ’s work on the Cross. Grace is also a state of being. If I live in grace then grace must flow from my life into the lives of others. If nothing flows, there is no presence of God in my Life.
Often, the enemy we struggle with most is an impulse to live beneath the calling of God.
Narrow Way Cafe 