IMBIBING OF THE SPIRIT 
OF THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 
 
GOD'S GRACE is what stands out about Christianity. Grace means unmerited favor. Ephesians 2:8 reads, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." God is lavish and abundant in forgiving and accepting those who will accept what He has done through Christ. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). "But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Romans 5:20b). "For he [God] hath made him [Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (II Corinthians 5:21). Thus, Titus 3:5-7 reads, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost [Spirit]; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Yes, Acts 2:38 is a parallel to this). Then, Titus 2:11-14, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world; Looking for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar [i.e., special or unique] people, zealous of good works." 
 
Yes, it is a matter of God's grace from the beginning to the end, and the Lord expects us to respond in kind. The apostle John wrote, "We love him, because he first loved us" (I John 4:19). When we have really received the grace of God into our lives, grace will be in evidence in our lives at every turn. Jesus came that we might have life and have it "more abundantly" (John 10:10), and consequently our lives will be overflowing in relation to others as Christians. We will not be stingy and skimpy in our religion. We have freely received, and we will freely give. The apostle Paul declared, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). Also, in I Corinthians 15:10 he said, "But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." Then again he said, "For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again" (II Corinthians 5:14,15). "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord" (I Corinthians 15:58). "Always abounding in the work of the Lord"---that is what it is all about. Thus, after admonishing his readers to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, the apostle Peter wrote, "For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful... Wherefore the rather brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if you do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (II Peter 1:8-11). 
 
Drinking from the fountainhead of God's grace, the original converts on the day of Pentecost exemplified this great truth. The boundless liberality of God in forgiving them prompted generous liberality in them giving. We even read that they "sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need" (Acts 2:45). Someone has said that if the Jews under the bondage of the law gave a tenth, and we are now under grace, it is a disgrace to give less than a tenth. Our superior relationship to God should prompt a superior response. Freely we have received, and freely we will give. It's called grace, and that's what Paul called the giving in II Corinthians 8:1ff. The churches of Macedonia, although very poor, showed that they had imbibed the spirit of the essence of Christianity by first giving themselves to the Lord (8:5), drinking at the fountain of grace, then giving liberally (much like the people at Pentecost). Paul, leaving us an example, said that he would gladly spend and be spent in the things of the Lord (II Corinthians 12:15). And the brethren on the day of Pentecost had no problem with church attendance. It is even recorded that they met "daily" for a time (Acts 2:42,46,47). People today who find it hard to come to church have not drunk freely at the fountain of the water of life. It is not just a matter of church attendance once a week to fulfill our "duty" (and "get" the Lord's supper). Grace produces abundance and overflowing in doing the things of God. 
 
Grace makes a difference in the way that we live. Lest he be misunderstood, Paul wrote (Romans 6:1,2), "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" God's grace is full and free, and it should produce a full surrender (and it prohibits a skimpy obedience). We will not be just "borderline" Christians, trying to see how much we can get by with. We will "abstain from all appearance of evil" (I Thessalonians 5:22). 
 
The apostle Paul admonished, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God [i.e., because of the mercies, or grace, and motivated by His mercies], that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1). 
 
Yes, grace prompts us to go the second mile in every way (Matthew 5:41; etc.). As New Testament Christians our lives are lived in the context of the grace of God as our lives are moved and motivated by this same grace. 
 
Let us truly imbibe of the spirit of the essence of Christianity. ( VOL. 28, NO. 4, 1990) 
 
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