Amazing Grace #18

 

12 For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. 13 For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand— 14 just as you did partially understand us—that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you. 15 Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace. 16 I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. 20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. 21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. (II Corinthians 1)

When Paul writes this second letter to the Corinthians, there had been a visit by his missionary friend Timothy to check on them after sending his first letter, to come back and report on how things were going.  He refers to the fact that when he had first come, it was by the Grace of God. In other words, God was at work in the hearts and lives of Paul & his team to bring them there to give them the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to establish them as a local church, which developed this ongoing relationship between them as fellow believers. That means that when Christ returns, we will all be with Him, telling Jesus how much we have been blessed by one another.  Paul then says that he wanted to come so they could have a "second experience of grace." That is often misunderstood as something in addition to salvation, but in context we see that is not the case. It is still this idea that Paul coming to them was by the grace of God - that this would be a second visit demonstrating God's grace in his life and theirs.  You see, there had been this strain in the relationship between Paul and this church because he had to address some sins and misconceptions by letter and by messenger, and not in person. He wanted to come again in God's grace, but had been hindered, and this had been misunderstood as Paul not keeping his word or not really caring.  But God's grace does make us care about one another, even when we disagree or must confront one another. God's grace helps us continue and deepen our relationshp with one another, and as the opening verses of this chapter say, to comfort one another. God also gives us His Holy Spirit to help us do this. Today, let us ask God how by His grace we can bless someone new, or someone who needs to know again that God cares, and so do we.