A young man from far away has just written a letter saying he has recently gotten married, and he is asking the Lord to help him be true to one woman and to know how to love her.
That’s a prayer for the gift of the much more abounding grace of the Lord to be obedient to His holy law; it’s a law of love (agape), and although obedience to it is contrary to the fallen, sinful nature we have inherited from our fallen father Adam, such a prayer is a request for the “mind” of our new or “last Adam” or second Adam.
Such a prayer is therefore in harmony with what Philippians 2:5-8 tells us: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” That “grace of God” wants to be our “Teacher,” actually “teaching us” how to say “No!” to the constant impulse of our fallen, sinful nature to indulge self and thus “let this mind be in us which was also in Christ Jesus” (see Titus 2:11-13, and check the NIV rendering which in this instance is good).
We don’t want to go through life and end up at last with a defective understanding of that “grace.” Let’s stop a moment and look:
(a) It “brings salvation to all men,” just what we need. If that’s true, it has brought the gift to you personally (and it’s true!). Let’s not waste precious time arguing how near that grace has brought this salvation—whether the Lord Jesus through the Holy Spirit placed it in our hands or merely within our reach; good people have argued both views (like how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?); what’s solid truth is that the Lord Jesus Christ has given Himself to you (cf. John 3:16), and you receive the Gift or you crucify Him afresh.
(b) That grace “teaches us to “deny” self—when a life of self-denial strikes us as the most miserable existence imaginable. Calculus or nuclear physics or chemistry would be an easier 101 university course than learning Christ-like self-denial. But never mind; that “grace of God” has set itself to the task of “teaching” you. It’s like my university professor of long ago: when I came back from Africa and enrolled in Greek translations I found that the Greek I had learned in college years was practically gone and I couldn’t keep up with all these bright young men in class so I’d better drop it. She said, “No, hang on; and I guarantee I’ll see you through to a pass.” She did; even an “A” at last! Don’t jump the Lord’s class!
Time’s up; maybe we can look at this “grace tuition” again tomorrow.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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