Skip to main content

Two Measures

For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Romans 12:3 

Did you see the two measures here? Look again. "For by the grace given to me" and "according to the measure of faith." Both grace and faith are given in measures. 

Let's define terms first. Grace is God's favor. Faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something. Both are fundamental to God's plan for you.

In this verse, we see that grace is given. The tense used for the word "given" is vital, as are all aspects and details of God's Word. The tense is an aorist passive. The Aorist tense is like a snapshot of a past action. A freeze-frame. The passive with the aorist tense indicates a past action taken on the subject by an outside source or individual (http://goo.gl/e9ezL).

So, Paul says that the grace, God's favor, has already been given to him. It is a done deal. He has it now. He didn't earn it. An outside source gave it. That source being God. 

Elsewhere he tells us that grace comes in varying measures (Eph 4:7). God apportions grace. He measures it out his unmerited favor to each of His children, as He sees fit. This measuring took place in eternity past and continues into the eternal future. 

The second measure comes as God allots us faith. Here the verb is an aorist indicative active, which indicates that God is in the continuing process of assigning this faith.

If you are a believer in Jesus the Christ, it is because God has allotted you faith to believe in Him. If you are not a believer, think hard about what this verse is saying. It is a matter of life and death.

P.S. You Greek scholars, feel free to help me understand the above text! Thanks.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Caught up to Paradise - 2 Corinthians 12

Residing in Michigan for over half my life, I had heard about Paradise. Because Paradise is a small town in the Upper Peninsula, you may have never visited there in your life, but you knew it existed. It was WAY up there next to Tahquamenon Falls and nothing else. Where's Tahquamenon Falls? Next to Paradise and nothing else. It's a long way from home.  Why all of the talk about Paradise? Because Paul talks about it in 2 Corinthians 12. There was this guy who had been caught up to Paradise. Not in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, but into the REAL Paradise. While there, he'd heard things that he was unable to repeat. What on earth was this? Who was this guy? Here's what was going on. Paul defended his position of Apostleship in chapter eleven and gave the Corinthians an idea of what Apostleship looked like in chapter twelve. It came with great wonders, like seeing or instead hearing unimaginable things. But, too, that position came with a terrible cost. God gave Paul a &q
Post a Comment
Read more

What to get God for Christmas

Jesus left perfect surroundings, relationships and glory to be born into squalor. He was homeless before birth. His father was a carpenter in a culture where carpentry was a despised trade. His, mother though young and giving birth to her firstborn, had no attendant nurses, helpers or friends. Rather than a pristine hospital, birth was given in the filthy stench of a stable. Romantic? Hardly. This sacrifice brought a life of hardship. Why? Why this odd story? Obedience. God's gift to humanity was His son. Jesus' gift was obedience to the Father. He paid the greatest price. Not because we are special but because he loves His Father. His gift was the perfect gift. Our Father wants obedience for Christmas and every other day for that matter. In Brazil Christmas is becoming commercialized. A phenomenon familiar for years in the United States tickles a growing economy. There is little time for meditation on God's Gift. There are no chestnuts roasting or Jack Frost nippin
Post a Comment
Read more

Stop Trusting

Isaiah 2:22 says Isaiah 2:22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of? The Prophet is saying that we shouldn't put our trust in humankind because they are so finite. They are not like God, who is infinite. People are fickle. They change their minds. They love you and then hate you in moments.  God invites us to trust him completely with everything that we have. He doesn't show himself to us physically or as a spirit. He demands that we have faith. However, he also gives us the faith to trust him.  The universe shouts "Creator!" and yet we often ignore the proclamation. This ignorance does not make God's creation any less a physical demonstration of his grandeur. God's boundless being becomes more amazing in his presence within us. How can the infinite God dwell in the mortals he commands us not to trust?  Jesus said, "with man it is impossible but with God, all things are possible." 
Post a Comment
Read more