Do not receive the grace of God in vain
We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain (2 Corinthians 6:1 KJV)
Grace comes to us as divine gifts from God, which we do not deserve. These gifts are good things that are meant to bring joy to our hearts, which we do not deserve and which God expects us to receive and enjoy!
Jesus is God’s gift of grace to the world. The world has not yet received God’s gift. The Church, however, has received God’s gift, and gift upon gift has been added. When Paul said the Corinthians should not receive the grace of God in vain, he was not talking to unbelievers because they have not yet received the grace of God to begin with. He was addressing the Corinthian Church, believers who had received Christ and in all indications, had received the powerful operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which by themselves are grace!
What does it mean to receive God’s grace in vain? Imagine I give you a car as a gift. You received the gift and was so happy and thankful. Yet I see you every day walking to work in the heat of the sun! It means you received my gift in vain, that is, the gift is not producing what I intended in your life. This applies to all aspects of God’s grace. When we receive forgiveness of sins and continue to live in sin, grace is in vain in our lives. Jesus’s body was broken to pay a hefty price for our healing. Do you know the grace of healing is in vain in our lives whenever sickness oppresses us and we are unable to be healed? What about demonic oppression? Jesus defeated Satan and gave us victory as a gift. Whenever Satan defeats us, it makes that gift of no effect.
Grace is free to us but it was not free for Jesus. It cost Him unimaginable suffering and horrible death. The more you get this revelation, the more you will yearn to become what Christ paid for you. Whenever I get sick and realize I should not be sick but cannot figure out why I am not being healed, it gets me spiritually agitated and stirred. May the Lord stir you up. Do not sit down and be contented to live beneath what Christ paid for. Listen, God does not merely forgive you in Christ because He is a forgiving God. He forgives you because Jesus paid for your sins. You are not healed in Christ just because God is a healer. He has always been a healer. You are healed because Christ took your diseases and suffered the punishment for you to be healed. If your Savior tells you to enjoy eternal life until it overflows( John 10:10), it is not empty talk. He means what He says, and He worked for it!
MEDITATE
In summary, what does it mean to receive God’s grace in vain?
APPLY THE WORD
Please think of what Christ suffered to give you and compare it to what you are currently enjoying. Examine your life if Christ’s grace is in vain in any area of your life. Resolve to receive and experience all that Christ has paid for you to enjoy now! Some of you are mean to be so full of God’s presence and anointing but you are so dry and miserable spiritually. Do not let this continue!
PRAY
Ask the Spirit to help you never to receive God’s grace in vain in your life.
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