“But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared.” The
Apostle had just described what we were and what we did. Our depravity,
disobedience and delusion had been exposed in verse three. There was nothing
desirable or winsome in man, the fallen man. Lawless and loveless, hateful and
hating one another, man deserved nothing but punishment, eternal punishment.
Driven out of the original garden of divine pleasure, provision and fellowship,
there was no way back to divine-human relationship, fellowship and partnership.
“But the kindness and love of God appeared”! That
is what changed the situation – the kindness and the love of God. The Greek
word translated “kindness” here is translated “goodness”
in Romans 2:4; 11:22, rendered “good” in Romans 3:12. Our
redemption, salvation,
provision or preservation is totally unmerited. Whatever
spiritual blessing or temporal benefit we have or enjoy is due to the goodness
of God, not our goodness. Nothing in us qualifies us for God’s favour or
fellowship; nothing in us merits His common or uncommon provision, His usual
and unusual gifts. We earn nothing of His grace, goodness or gifts. It is all
of grace. Without God’s indispensable goodness, we shall be miserable and lost
forever.
1. God’s
Undeserved Grace For Hateful Sinners
Titus
3:4,7; Romans 3:23-27; 11:6; 4:4,5,16; 5:1,2,17; Ephesians 2:5,8,9; 1 Timothy
1:12-14.
“The LORD is
good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works” (Psalm
145:9). The plan of salvation was founded on the love of God. His grace, His
unmerited favour, His undeserved goodness has given us salvation through the
sacrifice of His only begotten Son. “Scarcely for a righteous man will
one die…But God commended his love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” And this
“kindness and love of God” is not restricted or limited to a
selected, favoured few. “The LORD is good to ALL.”
“The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that ALL should come to
repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Because God is rich in mercy and for His
great love wherewith He loved us, He has extended His gracious, saving hand to
everyone. “His tender mercies are over ALL his works.” “According
unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”
Forgiveness is unmerited; it is offered to all who will come to God through
Christ who died that we might live. Cleansing, conversion, new life and
adoption into God’s family, fellowship with God here and in eternity, are all
ours through unmerited grace and goodness.
2. Gradual
Undeniable Growth Of His Sons
1 Peter
2:1,2; Ecclesiastes 11:5,6; Judges 16:22; Hosea 14:5-7; Mark 4:26-29; Ephesians
4:14,15; Psalm 92:12-14; 2 Thessalonians 1:3; 2 Peter 3:18.
The
spiritual growth of a baby, a babe in Christ, a believer, may be unnoticed from
day to day but there is sure uninterrupted growth if the baby or the believer
is properly fed and well-cared for. There is an all-inclusive growth, an
all-round growth that is desirable and inevitable if we live, feed, exercise,
work and rest properly, appropriately and proportionately each day. We may not
see or notice the growth each day; we may not know “how the bones grow”,
how spiritual stamina increases, how strong conviction develops, how
the backbone of courage builds up slowly but surely, how resistance and
resilience grow, but daily fellowship, feeding and faithfulness will not fail
to produce growth. Struggling to grow and watching, measuring, questioning and
evaluating the growth moment by moment can be frustrating and discouraging.
Even physical, emotional, social growth and development may not be easily
measured or noticed on daily basis. Spiritual growth is “as if
a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and
day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how” (Mark
4:26,27). Development and deterioration or degeneration take place without
being noticed each day. Daily neglect brings deterioration and degeneration;
daily nurture and nourishment bring development.
3. Great
Undeveloped Gifts Of His Servants
1 Timothy
4:14-16; 2 Timothy 1:6,7; Romans 12:6-8; 1 Peter 4:10; Acts 2:38,39; 1
Corinthians 12:1,4-11; Hebrews 2:4; Romans 11:29; Ephesians 4:7-12; 2
Corinthians 9:15.
The babe, the
believer, the Bishop. The child, the son, the servant. He gives us grace and
goodness, grace and gifts, grace and glory. He commissions those He has called
and He equips those He commissions. Employers and contractors give appropriate
tools for work to their employees and workmen. God has given each divinely
appointed minister necessary gifts to fulfil the ministry, accomplish divinely
set goals and finish the task. Gifts? We have the gifts but we must develop,
exercise and make use of them to reap a harvest of souls into God’s kingdom.
Athletes learn, practise and exercise to develop their muscles, attitude,
resilience, courage and endurance. The practice does not give the athlete new
muscles but renewed muscles. Failure to develop will bring definite failure.
What gifts we have! Gifts are not earned; they are bestowed on God’s sons and
servants gratis, gratuitously. Undeveloped or underdeveloped gifts will
not accomplish much. Let us grow up and then will our ministry and influence
grow.
Via: DCLM
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