I have been learning the value of looking carefully and studying deeply the verses in the Bible. So often, I would just zip pass what seem to be simple verses, especially those verses at the opening of epistles that just appear to be greetings and nothing more. But now I realise how much truth can be embedded in these seemingly innocuous verses. I'm learning that God never wastes a word in His Word.
Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
How often have I breezed through these two verses without giving them a second thought. But I after I had heard a sermon and then looked closely at the verses, oh what joy these two verses have brought.
Through him... we receive grace. Paul is pointing out that through the conduit of Jesus, we receive grace. Grace is God's unmerited love freely given to us. We are all rebels. We are all sinners. We deserve nothing but God's condemnation and punishment and we bound for the hell that he created for his enemeies. But because Jesus died for us, and gave us a righteousness that was equal to his righteousness, we can stand before God and be his friends. That's the moment when God unleashes his grace on us, pouring down his love on us like the Niagra Falls into a cup. Amazing!
And what's the purpose of God dying for sinners and then pouring out his love on us? It is "for his name's sake". In other words, God gets the glory for dying and saving unrighteous sinners. We are unable to rescue ourselves, we blaspheme the name of God by how we live, we trample on his glory by ignoring him and living for ourselves. God corrects all this by wiping out our sin and making us righteous and so he gets the glory for it. Only he has the power do this.
What are the implications for us when we understand this? Joy! Joy unspeakable. Because it means we never have to wonder and worry if we're good enough for God to love us. Are we ever good enough? Can we do anything so that we merit God's love? No and no. We are unworthy. But through Jesus, God rescues us.
Can we ever, on our own, make ourselves understand the message of the Gospel and thus be saved? No we can't! Verse 6 clearly says we are called by God. In other words, we are blinded by Satan (see 2 Corinthians 4:4), lost in this world, with no way at all to understand God's message of salvation. But God calls us and draws us to him. He made us believe! This means that even in our belief and act of faith, we cannot truly claim we did it. God did it. He put understanding and faith in our hearts. And this is good news! Because it means we never have to worry, is my faith right? Am I trusting in Jesus enough? Since God is the one who puts the faith in us so we can trust him, we don't ever have to fear that we didn't believe hard enough. God does it. And he gets the glory for it.
These verses for me, tie in so closely to Jeremiah 32:40. "I will make with them
an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to
them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not
turn from me." I see that God has promised to never let me go. He has promised! And so he will call, he will hold on to me, he will rip out my sinfulness and give me his righteousness, he will pour out his love on me. And in all this, he will be glorified! Ah, the depth of truth in such simple verses.
