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The Blessing

The Blessing

Words of Faith 7-24-19

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2019

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

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Galatians 6

 [17] Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.      

 [18] The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. 

 

      After all that, strong words of rebuke, vigorous defense of apostleship and authority, strong arguments for the Gospel of grace, a plea to walk in freedom rather than slavery and learn the life of the Spirit, and after a special request that never should have been necessary, to honor the scars Paul bore for the Gospel… Paul pronounced this blessing: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers.

      While we might be tempted to think this was a superficial or casual farewell, in fact, these may well be the most important words in the entire letter.  The letter ends on a single glorious note of God's grace. And this was more than a wish.  Paul was pronouncing a blessing upon those who read the letter and congregations in which it was read aloud. 

      May the grace of the Lord Jesus-- the matchless favor of His mercy, forgiveness, sustaining strength and love-- may that grace be eternally attached to your innermost being, your very spirit, the breath of Life that God has put into you.

      Now that… is a blessing.  This is what the whole letter has been about, this one sterling thought.  We are forgiven and accepted by the grace of the Lord Jesus.  We are to live by the grace of the Lord Jesus.  We are sustained by the grace of the Lord Jesus.  There is nothing we can do to increase that grace, nor is there anything we can do to decrease it.  All we can do is receive and trust the grace, walk in it and live by it.

      We cannot even give that grace to others, really.  But when the grace of the Lord Jesus is so attached to our spirit, and we live and walk in it, grace will overflow and bless the lives of those around us.  We are not really capable of grace, but we can be conduits of it.

      And what does that make us?  "Brothers" is the word used here in the NIV but the original actually means "from the same womb.”  When we are embraced by the grace of the Lord Jesus, we are born again from the same spiritual womb.  We are born from above by the Spirit of God.  We become brothers and sisters in the family of believers.

       This was the most essential truth.  The conclusion of Paul's most contentious letter was to pronounce a marvelous word of blessing upon the very ones who had disagreed with their pastor, argued about rituals and theology, criticized his credentials and generally caused a ruckus.  What a rich blessing.  What a profound statement.

        Paul's gracious manner stirs up that same grace with us.  Is there someone who has been harsh with you?  Someone, who hurt you?  Someone who contended against you?  Someone in the body you have been holding something against in your heart?  Perhaps you have even forgiven that person. Paul teaches us another step, and that is to bless that person.  Pronounce the grace of Jesus into their life.  Bless them.

 

       Lord Jesus, teach me the power of Your grace so that it may overflow into every aspect of my life.  Teach me the fruit of the Spirit-- how to love, have joy in difficulty, have peace in hardship, be patient in suffering.  Teach me how to walk in kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.  Teach me how to forgive as I have been forgiven.  Most of all, teach me to bless those I have contended with and claim as brothers those you have forgiven and I have forgiven.  Teach me the life of grace and blessing.  In Jesus' Name.

 

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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, and our website, and our church app, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.  

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