Grace received, grace extended in Jesus Christ

My brothers and sisters in Christ will get this, “I’m not who I was, but I’m not yet who I will be.” The Apostle Paul refers to those who have confessed faith in and allegiance to Jesus Christ as a “new creation.” It isn’t something any person accomplishes by his or her own will or strength, it is the work of God through His Spirit. It is amazing grace. I pray to never lose sight of that grace extended to me!

In the New Testament, there’s a letter from the Apostle Paul to a man named Philemon. It isn’t a long letter, but it is an important letter. Paul is writing as a prisoner under house arrest for being a Christian evangelist. He is writing to Philemon who lives in Colossae. Years earlier, Paul had preached the gospel of Jesus Christ in Colosse, and among those who turned to Him in faith and devotion was a wealthy man Philemon.

Now Philemon had, among his household, a bondservant named Onesimus. Paul’s letter indicates that Onesimus had run away from Colosse and come to Rome, perhaps in hopes of getting lost in the crowd. But, by God’s grace, a Christian in Rome met him and brought him to meet Paul. That divine appointment led to Onesimus coming to a life-changing, life-saving faith in Jesus Christ!

Paul knew that Onesimus needed to go back to Philemon in Colosse and set things right. Paul’s letter to Philemon urges him to welcome back Onesimus, not simply as a returning bondservant, but now as a brother in Christ. Paul reminds him that each of us who is a new creation is so because of confessing our need and receiving by faith, God’s grace. And each person who has received that grace (undeserved favor) is called upon to extend that grace to every brother and sister in Christ.

I’ll use Paul’s words to close and to challenge those who are followers of Jesus Christ, “From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh … if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the ministry of reconciliation” (based on 2 Corinthians 5:16-20).

Here’s my life application and, hopefully, yours: God doesn’t hold my past against me nor my present imperfections. I will strive to treat in the same way others in Christ who, like me, are the undeserving recipients of that amazing grace. We are not who we were, and we are not yet who we will be!

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