Grace

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

GRACE

Rom 1:7-10

7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9 God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you.

NIV

We are still in the salutation or introduction portion of this letter and we find the typical phrase that Paul uses in many of his letters. Before we explore that phrase we should note that he is writing to those who are loved by God and called to be saints. This would mean because this letter has been preserved and included in the canon, we can say this letter was written to us as well. Although we were not among those in Rome, we take these words as directed toward us because we are, indeed, loved by God and we have been called by God to be saints through faith in Jesus. We have been called to believe in Jesus as the Son of God who came to pay the price for our sins and took our place on that cross. However, that was not the end of the story, for after he died for us, he was buried and then was resurrected for us, and finally ascended for us, to sit at the right hand of the father continually making intercession for us. Everything God did from the beginning was for us, although everything is about Him. Nevertheless, we are assured and confident that we are loved by God and are saints, holy and blameless in his sight. It is interesting the Greek word translated as saints is hagios, which means sacred, physically, pure, morally blameless, or religious, ceremonially, consecrated. This is all by the will and action of God, for it is He who started this good work in us, and it is He who will bring that work to completion. All we can do is have faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, yielding to the work of the Spirit within us. As far as this phrase: “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”, we have to explore this in Greek to fully grasp the fullest of these words. However, as we do, we must see them through the eyes or hearts of those who are in Rome who understood the Greek of that day and so we must see these two words, grace and peace as they would have. First, the Greek word translated as grace is charis, which has a direct meaning of graciousness. They would have understood it to mean that grace affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, and loveliness. They may also have understood that because of this act of graciousness of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, or what is due to this grace, is the divine influence upon their hearts, as well as ours, and how that is reflected in our lives. We could also say that because of grace, it is the spiritual condition of those who are governed by divine influence. This leads us to the question: how well do we do in being governed by divine influence? Sure, God is doing the influencing, he is always about exhibiting grace toward us, but how well do we accept that influence is the key. Do we rear our ugly heads and want things our way, being influenced by our own minds, or emotions, rather than living by the grace of God? Do we close our hearts to his influence and follow our own feelings? We think it comes down to having that circumcised heart which again, is an action of God, which exposes the most tender part of us to his influence. King David gives us insight into this condition, and he said: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”