Our first weapon in the spiritual war is the gospel. What moved God to offer the gospel to us? The answer is the grace of God, which we in turn wield as weapons in this warfare.
“Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (Jn. 1:16–17).
“So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace” (Rom. 11:5–6).
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Col. 4:6).
“The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more” (Rom. 5:20).
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Cor. 12:9).
Grace is a gift from God that provides what man cannot provide for himself—righteousness, forgiveness, and power. God is not stingy with His grace. He gives it in great quantities.
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us” (Eph. 1:7–8a).
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:4–9).
The apostle Paul received grace from God in order to preach the grace of God. We also need grace in order to preach grace.
“Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake” (Rom. 1:5).
“Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets” (Eph. 2:3–5).
*Excerpted from Principles of War. To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/bookstore.
