What Is Grace?

     "We have to be on our guard against the supposition that grace is an abstract quality; it is an active personal principle, showing itself in our dealings with those by whom we are surrounded.  ... in the great proportion of passages in which the word grace is found in the New Testament, it signifies the unmerited operation of God in the heart of man, effected through the agency of the Holy Spirit.  We have gradually come to speak of grace as an inherent quality in man, just as we talk of gifts; whereas in reality the communication divine goodness by the inworking of the spirit, and through the medium of Him who is 'full of grace and truth.'"  - Robert Girdlestone, Synonyms of the Old Testament (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1871) p. 179.

     Grace, such an important facet of our relationship with God.  But do we really know and understand it?  We cannot and God does not expect us to fully understand Him and his ways.  However, He does give us in this human form the ability to understand Him sufficiently to know, love, and serve Him.

     What Mr. Girdlestone is saying is that grace is not an abstract, a quality apart from its object, thing, but a real thing; example: poetry is abstract and poem is concrete.  As Christians, we know God is real.  He exists and is a living God and a God of the living.  Therefore his gift of grace is real.  Grace is God operating within and communicating with us through His Holy Spirit.

     He really is within us.  That is why our body is a temple of the Lord.  He talks with us through the Holy Spirit He gave to us as Christians.  Does that not make you feel extraordinary?   You should treat your body as His temple.  The words that come from you to others are coming from the Temple of God.  It makes one think.

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your bodies.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)

     Do not be afraid of God's grace...embrace it making your body a temple worthy of His Holy Spirit within.  He knows we all are fixer-uppers.  Remember, he chose us and not the other way around.  Rejoice in his grace.