Epaggelia

What is the Grace of Christ? Let’s begin by looking at both John 1:14. The apostle Paul encouraged Timothy to stay strong in grace, 2nd Timothy 2:1. When Christians during the first century spoke of “seeing” the grace of God, they saw people becoming Christians, Acts 11:21-23. Can you think of anything more gracious in the world, than Christ making a new creation from an old sinner? Therefore in order to grow in the grace of Christ, must have something to do with helping people become a Christian. Correct? We know for certain that grace comes in various forms according to 1st Peter 4:10, so how many ways can we think of, which people help the Lord create new creations? Most people in our fellowship call this “evangelism”, yet the word “evangelism” isn’t in any version of the Bible. Maybe a better phrase is “the work of the Lord”? See 1st Corinthians 16:10.

What is the Knowledge of Christ? Let’s begin by looking at 1st Corinthians 2:16. When we speak the truth in love, we are promised that growth will be experienced, Ephesians 4:15. When we read or speak the gospel of Christ, is love truly the motivation for reading or speaking? To grow in the knowledge of Christ must mean we are growing in whatever Christ shares about His/Our Father, since Christ was always doing the Father’s will. Please take John 17:3 very seriously as we ask in prayer for our faith in God to become knowledge in experience of his will. His life can become our experience and his life is what Christ shares with us from the Father. Christ’s knowledge helps us experience an abundant life, here and now and forever, John 10:10.

Both the grace and knowledge of Christ contains the message of righteousness. Righteousness itself is a virtue which Christ’s Spirit helps us grow, Hebrews 5:13 & 12:11 and Ephesians 5:19. God’s righteousness is a gift which no one can merit to receive, nor can anyone be smart enough to know His righteousness without having God as our teacher in what is truly right. There is a way that seems right to a person, but at the end of that way is death. (Proverbs 16:25) Being right as God in Christ defines right, leads to life, because Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, John 14:6.  Are we growing in the grace & knowledge of Christ to reflect his enlightening righteousness in this dark world?