If we have a true sense of God’s grace in our hearts, then we will live with a generosity and graciousness of spirit. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col. 3:16). Grace may not be synonymous with graciousness; but graciousness is certainly a fruit of grace. Grace has been expressed toward us in the kindness of God through Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:7). For our part, therefore, we are to be “kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32). The spirit of grace is not judgmental nor destructive—it is kind and builds up.
Christ has atoned for my sins, but, more than this, He is the propitiation for the whole world. “He is the propitiation for our sins; but not for ours alone, but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2 JnD). Because of propitiation, God can extend mercy to lost man. We are Christ’s ambassadors during this time of His rejection. We are to take up His mantle in the fullness of His work at Calvary. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not reckoning to them their offences; and putting in us the word of that reconciliation. We are ambassadors therefore for Christ, God as it were beseeching by us, we entreat for Christ, Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:19-20 JND). To call down fire upon the heads of our enemies is inconsistent with the character of this day of grace. “Turning He rebuked them and said, Ye know not of what spirit ye are” (Luke 9:55 JND). Rather, we are to “Pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matt. 5:44). “If therefore thine enemy should hunger, feed him; if he should thirst, give him drink; for, so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:20-21). This is love working in the midst of evil.
Grace, on the other hand, is not what is popularly called tolerance—it is neither noble nor righteous to be tolerant of evil. “Woe unto them who call evil good, and good evil” (Isa. 5:20). The world sees it as a virtue to be accepting of all people without regard to their associations or manner of life. A day is coming when this contrary world will be set right-side up. “The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful” (Isa. 32:5). Our speech is to be with grace, seasoned with salt (Col. 4:6). Salt purifies and preserves; it has rightly been said: salt is the consecrating principle of grace. It doesn’t indulge sin or folly (Eph. 5:4).
Love, as preached by the world, makes light of sin. Grace does not—God has delivered us from this world, the law, the flesh, and Satan (Gal. 1:4; 2:20; 5:244Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: (Galatians 1:4)
20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
24And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. (Galatians 5:24); Heb. 2:1414Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14)). Christian love must, when necessary, confront sin—it would not be loving or kind to let it continue. Distinctions, however, must be made. “Some who dispute, correct; and some save, snatching them out of the fire; and some pity with fear, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh” (Jude 22-23 JnD margin). A garment would speak of a person’s manner of life—some lifestyles are abhorrent to God, and we must be careful lest we are defiled by them. “If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Gal. 6:1).
Four of Paul’s letters end in a similar fashion—a prayer that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ might be with the spirit of the recipient. Each situation is unique—each calls for grace for a different reason. Two of the epistles are addressed to assemblies, whereas the other two are pastoral letters to individuals.
The various assemblies in Galatia had been turned aside by a Judaizing teacher. “He that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be” (Gal. 5:10). These Gentiles, having been saved by grace, had allowed themselves to come under the spell of this persuasive teacher. They were told that the law needed to be maintained for righteousness. This was a serious fall. “If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” (Gal. 2:21). Paul, the self-righteous Jew, had counted all this as loss (Phil. 3:4-9). He was aghast at what had befallen the Galatian saints. “Are ye so senseless? Having begun in Spirit, are ye going to be made perfect in flesh?” (Gal. 3:3 JnD). Had they even stopped for a moment and considered what the law required of them, or what it taught? “Tell me, ye who are desirous of being under law, do ye not listen to the law?” (Gal. 4:21 JnD). Peter, elsewhere, expresses similar sentiments. “Why tempt ye God, by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:10). This Judaizing of Christianity made it more palatable to the Jew. It also made it more appealing to the flesh (Gal. 6:12-13). Not only were they observing days and months and times and years, but they were also submitting to circumcision (Gal. 4:10; 5:2; 6:12-13). Paul, who had suffered so much at the hands of His own kin, bore in his body the scars he had received for preaching Jesus (2 Cor. 11:24). “Let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the brands of the Lord Jesus” (Gal. 6:17 JND). It was an affront to all that he stood for that these Gentiles should be circumcised. They had fallen from grace. “For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace” (Gal. 5:3-4). Sadly, the he who introduced the error, quickly became they (Gal. 5:12). A little leaven leavens the whole lump (Gal. 5:9). This false teaching—no doubt sold as a path to superior spirituality—resulted in their biting and devouring one another (Gal. 5:15). The last word in the Greek text of the epistle to the Galatians is brothers—αδελφοι. Grace makes brothers whereas the law divides. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). The Apostle concludes this corrective epistle, concerning the misuse of law, with: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” (Gal. 6:18).
Circumstances could not have been more different at Philippi. Here was an assembly which Paul could think upon with joy. They had participated in his work through practical gifts of fellowship. “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now” (Phil. 1:3-5 JND; see also 4:10). Theirs was a genuine affection for the Apostle. Philippi was a poor assembly and yet they willingly shared what they had (2 Cor. 8:1-2). There are no doctrinal errors addressed in the epistle, nor moral failures, nor does it present teaching as do other epistles. Nevertheless, as a normal assembly, Philippi had its share of practical difficulties, especially interpersonal contention. Each chapter touches on this subject (Phil. 1:27; 2:3; 3:16; 4:2). Paul also gives the solution: they were to be of one mind; to act in lowliness; mind the same thing; to be of the same mind in the Lord—all of which may be summed up by the verse: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). We need His mind—not just as to things, but, more importantly, in us. To be of one mind does not mean coming together to hash things out—this is the flesh at work and the stronger mind will prevail; these sessions invariably descend into the very striving the epistle decries. The assembly, on the other hand, is not to sit idly by. They weren’t to be ignorant of the enemy’s efforts—there will always be evil workmen, enemies of the cross of Christ, and those who mind earthly things (Phil. 3:2; 3:18-19). Pastoral care is to be shown: “I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel” (Phil. 4:3). The four chapters of the epistle present Christ for the Christian in four ways: Christ as our life—“For to me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21); Christ as our pattern—“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5); Christ as our object—“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14); Christ as our strength—“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13). The grace which characterized the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, who walked through a scene marred by strife and jealous strivings, is to be with our spirit. When we arrive at the last verse of the letter, we are not surprised by the exhortation: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen” (Phil. 4:23 JnD).
We have already discussed Timothy’s situation. Paul’s second letter to Timothy was at a time when things were not going well. Paul was in prison and the church of God had been influenced by profane and empty speculations which advanced impiety—the house of God had become a great house giving admittance to things dishonoring to God (2 Tim. 2:16,20). Timothy was to separate himself, not merely from these influences, but also those individuals connected with this sin. He was to “follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim. 2:22). Timothy was not to be swayed by the novel teachings of the day, rather, Paul instructs him to: “Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them” (2 Tim. 3:14). Most of all, Timothy was not to give up his labors. He was to “proclaim the word; be urgent in season and out of season, convict, rebuke, encourage, with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Tim. 4:2 JnD). That work of grace in the midst of evil was to continue. Paul’s closing words of encouragement were needful for a dispirited Timothy. “The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you” (2 Tim. 4:22).
Philemon’s situation differs as much from the previous three as they do from each other. Philemon was a believer, saved, it would appear, through the preaching of the Apostle (vs. 19). Paul counted him a fellow workman (vs. 1). Philemon owned a slave, Onesimus, who had run away; he had also, it would seem, robbed his master (vs. 18). This less-than-profitable servant had fled to Rome, trusting, no doubt, to fade from view in the hustle-and-bustle of that great city. God, however, in His mercy had other plans. In Rome, Onesimus encounters Paul, the prisoner, and through him he is saved (vs. 10). How this came about we are not told. Perhaps God had brought him to the end of himself through the law of the land—once a thief, always a thief, is a well-known proverb. What was the now saved Onesimus to do? Grace does not ignore the offences of the miscreant. Onesimus must return to Philemon. One can imagine the emotion, perhaps anger, that Philemon might have felt when he opened the door to the one who had wronged him. Paul’s letter is full of tender beseeching. He does not write as an Apostle, but, rather, as the “prisoner of Christ Jesus” (vs. 1 JnD). There is pathos in that; the cost Paul paid for preaching Christ was not one Philemon could have easily dismissed. Paul exhorts Philemon to receive Onesimus now as a brother—one above a slave (vs. 16). If he had done him material harm, Paul would repay it—although, Philemon owed his life to the Apostle (vs. 19). Onesimus was now useful, and Paul would have retained him, but he would not do so without Philemon’s permission (vs. 13-14). He could have commanded, but he would not. Whatever Philemon did, it must not be “of necessity but of willingness” (vs. 14). This would take the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” (vs. 25).