1 Response to Paul and the Gift

1. Leonard John Vander Zee says:

   December 30, 2016 at 11:52 pm

   Fascinating stuff. I found the second review from the LA Times more helpful in that she brings up the issue if judgement. One of the anomalies of Paul’s letters is that while he emphasizes the free grace of God, he also emphasizes, in every case, that the final judgement is based on works. In other words, grace is intended to transform lives. The clearest statement of this is Eph. 2: 8-10:
   “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”

   People cannot hide behind grace as though it has no other purpose than to cover sin. Bonhoeffer called that cheap grace. Grace transforms, and the evidence of grace in our lives is that transformation, however halting and inadequate. The “gift” put in a closet is a rejected gift. The gift treasured and used completes the gift.

   Reply