Tuesday, June 6, 2023 – Romans 5:12-21
After reading about the ministry that Jesus lived and the reconcilable work that occurred through his death and resurrection, we are confronted with the concept of grace. The more we hear and read about it, the more familiar we become. But sometimes the more we hear of the Good News that is the Gospel of Jesus, we can become desensitized to it. For some of us, John 3:16, the central message of God’s love, may roll off our tongues without a second thought of the weight of what that love means for us.
With his letter to the Christ-followers in Rome, Paul intended to hit home this message of grace and what it means for us and to create unity among various communities. This wasn’t the first time these communities were hearing about grace; they have already been transformed by the Gospel of Christ. However, the Jesus followers in Rome were overly concerned with how to distinguish right from wrong and the good from the bad. Paul’s hope was to remind them that goodness comes from that which has already been finished through Christ.
Romans is a very powerful book that has influenced the theology of many, from prominent theologians such as St. Augustine and Karl Barth, to pastors, to people like you and me. The profound message of being made new through Christ and being freed from the obedience to sin is so liberating, but much like John 3:16, it can become desensitizing the more you hear it.
Romans 5:20 states, “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” Or, as the message version puts it, “Sin doesn’t have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace.”
No matter how many times we hear about it, God’s grace remains aggressive. The liberation that is brought to us through Christ is so much more than we can ever imagine or comprehend!
As I read Romans, I began to wonder what Paul would include in a letter to us— our communities of various churches and Christians. But then I concluded it would look a lot like this very letter to the Romans— a letter confronting the disagreements and strict boundaries we have laid to decide who is right and wrong even within our own faith communities. Paul reminds us that God’s grace and love are not only stronger than sin, but stronger than the divisions we create between people. When we are reintroduced to the power of God’s freedom for all through Christ, how does this reorient how we interact with others? How does this change how we view ourselves?
To ponder the power of grace in our lives and those of our neighbors, I want to leave you with the following:
For you—May you be reminded that you have been made right with God. Although you make mistakes, you have been made right with God. You, my friend, are one of many recipients of abounding grace that makes you new each and every day.
For your neighbor: May you be reminded that strangers, friends, and other neighbors are also recipients of this grace. Do not try to withhold them from grace because you disagree with them. Remind yourself that they also have been confronted with the aggressive love of Christ.
Grace is ample, more than enough, never-ending. God is not frugal with grace. Nor should we be.
Questions for reflection:
1. Think about someone, or a group of people, in your community that you disagree with.
- Pray for them. Pray that they may receive the ample grace of God.
- Pray for yourself. Pray that God helps you find room in your heart to love. Pray that the forgiveness you have been given is equally extended to them
2. When are times throughout your day or week that you need to be reminded that God has unending grace for you no matter what? How can you be reminded of that? Who is someone close to you that you can share that need? How can they remind you of that?