The Grace Gifts of the Holy Spirit
2 - The Mercies of God
Romans 12:
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
New International Bible
These gifts of the Holy Spirit require our lives to be overflowing with the grace of God. How do we get to the place where God's grace overflows in us?
Romans 12:1 gives us a clue. Here Paul talks about God’s mercy. God's mercies to human beings are evident in His actions and attitudes towards us.
First of all, He shows us how much He loves us in the fact that even when we were His enemies and wanting nothing to do with Him, He still loved us. He provided salvation for us at His own expense even though we are the offenders.
God Himself in Jesus Christ provided this sacrifice so that we could come into vital contact with Him. God Himself took away our sins which barred us from His presence and the way is now clear for us to come to Him. God Himself took the initiative in mending the lack of relationship between us and Him.
God Himself causes us to come to Him just as if we never sinned because we are now cleansed by the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. God Himself confirmed that we belong to Him by giving us His Holy Spirit to live in us. God Himself has given us the glory of being His sons, part of His family, and citizens of His kingdom.
And at the end of the age, when we are all resurrected, God Himself will change our faulty mortal bodies for a beautiful strong body that will last forever and never give any trouble.
These wonderful mercies of God show us how God regards us human beings and to what lengths He has gone to make contact with Him simple for us.
Paul express is God's mercies toward us in Romans 8: 28 – 39. See the column on the right.
Hallelujah!
Prayer:
Father in heaven, we want to thank You so much for Your mercies and Your love for us. We want to thank You so much that You have made all the overtures to us so that we would come to You and understand Your mercies toward us and Your love. We thank You for Your mercies which are new to us this morning, and we receive them with joy, because Jesus has made it right for us. In His name we pray, Amen.
Hope we can get together again tomorrow, God willing. Meanwhile, have a great day walking with The Lord Jesus Christ! |