We also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain...

2 Corinthians 6:1-13 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain— ² for He says,

“At the acceptable time I listened to you,
And on the day of salvation I helped you.”

Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”— ³ giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, ⁴ but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, ⁵ in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, ⁶ in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, ⁷ in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, ⁸ by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; ⁹ as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, ¹⁰ as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.

¹¹ Our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians, our heart is opened wide. ¹² You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own affections. ¹³ Now in a like exchange—I speak as to children—open wide to us also.

“We also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain.”  In Ephesians 2:4-10 , it says: God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead  in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹ not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.     

 Indeed salvation through Jesus Christ is a free gift from God. Yet many do receive it in vain. If we are given a $100.00 gift card but never use it we have received it in vain. It has no value to us if we don’t use it. The free gift of salvation is like that. God has given that gift to all mankind. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)  The gift of God, salvation through Jesus Christ is not something to be presumed on though. While it is available to all, it must be activated just like that gift card.

 Jesus says: 'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. 20'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. (Revelation 3:19-20)

Answering the call and the knock of Jesus, repenting is what is required to activate the gift of salvation. When the church begins to have the same message as the world, when the entire focus of the message is on love, acceptance and today’s politically correct terms, tolerance and inclusion we encourage an attitude of presuming on the grace of God. We take the grace of God in vain. God is love. That does not mean that He is not also righteous and just.  Psalm 89:14 says:   Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You.    The love of God comes through the foundation of His righteousness and His justice. His love and truth go together. You can’t have a love relationship that is founded on a lie. If you love someone you tell them the truth.

The truth that the world needs to hear is this: Today’s old testament reading is from Ecclesiastes. 3:1-2  says:  There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—² A time to give birth and a time to die     None of us know, we are not guaranteed  a certain number of days, we don’t know the day of our death. But if we have been born, then death will one day come. In light of our not knowing, today’s text speaks of another event under heaven. We are given a day to be born and a day to die and   God says:

“At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you.”

Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”

Salvation, God’s free gift of grace to all mankind, is given to us for free, but it did not come without a cost. Jesus paid the price. He suffered and died for us. God’s free gift to us cost Jesus His life.  He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. ²⁵ For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.(1 Peter 2:24-25)

Jesus didn’t bear our sins on the cross to tolerate and accept them. Jesus paid the price, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. Matthew 27:46 says while on the cross:

About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"

Bearing the sin of all mankind caused Jesus to be separated from the righteous and holy presence of God. That was a pain greater than all the physical pain. Jesus didn’t endure the cross for us to continue in sin.   

“At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you.”

Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”

I urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain.         Amen