by Hugh DeLong<\/p>\n
In writing about the contributions that churches were making in a relief effort for the saints in Judea, Paul writes of grace (cp. II Corinthians 8:1-6). Here, Paul states that God’s grace gave the Macedonian brethren the opportunity to share worldly blessings with others. They responded by begging Paul to allow them the favor (grace) of participating. Paul then speaks of this whole contribution and sharing as ‘this gracious work<\/em>‘.<\/p>\n Then, in the forgiveness of a repentant brother, Paul wrote: “But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ<\/em>” ( II Corinthians 2:10).<\/p>\n The word ‘forgive’ here is charizomai<\/em>, a derivative of charis<\/em>, most often translated ‘grace’. This involves a congregation being gracious, kind, giving – the same attributes as God has that make Him our Gracious God (cp. Exodus 34:6-7).<\/p>\n The background of this command was the discipline exercised against a brother who was openly involved in sin, sin that was even repugnant to the non-Christians in Corinth (cp. I Corinthians 5). The same zeal they had exercised in such discipline is now to be shown in their gracious act of receiving this brother back into fellowship.<\/p>\n A third point: ‘grace’ is involved in all of our knowledge and work! We may not mention the word itself, yet our faithful proclamation of the commandments\/teachings of Jesus (including those revealed by His chosen apostles and prophets!) is proclaiming the very grace of God. Such is a test, a test to see if we are obedient in all such teachings: “For to this end also I wrote, so that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things<\/em>” (II Corinthians 2:9).<\/p>\n Are you emulating God’s graciousness in your relationships? Are you as zealous to forgive as you are to rebuke?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Hugh DeLong In writing about the contributions that churches were making in a relief effort for the saints in Judea, Paul writes of grace (cp. II Corinthians 8:1-6). Here, Paul states that God’s grace gave the Macedonian brethren the opportunity to share worldly blessings with others. They responded by begging Paul to allow them…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[48],"class_list":["post-98046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-grace"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":58809,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/preaching-the-grace-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":98046,"position":0},"title":"Preaching the Grace of God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry W. Benton via\u00a0Prove It by the Scriptures A brother made the following comment:\u00a0 \"Grace is one subject one hears very little about in conservative Churches of Christ except it be prefaced by a stern warning of what grace is not.\" I wonder if that statement has been true\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95634,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-paul-offer-forgiveness-before-or-after-the-corinthians\/","url_meta":{"origin":98046,"position":1},"title":"Did Paul offer forgiveness before or after the Corinthians?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 14, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, If Matthew 16:19; 18:18; and John 20:23 are future perfect participles, would the same logic not apply in II Corinthians 2:10? That is, does Paul offer his forgiveness before or after the Corinthians? What did Paul mean by \"in the presence of Christ\"? Does it mean that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69486,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/finding-the-words-to-say\/","url_meta":{"origin":98046,"position":2},"title":"Finding the Words to Say","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ross Ward, Jr. \"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers\" (Ephesians 4:29). Have you spent time meditating on how to address a difficult situation? If you are considerate of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8025,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-one-person-was-forgiven-of-adultery-and-his-spouse-later-commits-adultery-doesnt-it-mean-neither-can-remarry\/","url_meta":{"origin":98046,"position":3},"title":"If one person was forgiven of adultery and his spouse later commits adultery, doesn’t it mean neither can remarry?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 16, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been reading your scriptural interpretation on remarriage, and as a member of the church of Christ, I was surprised. You said that if both spouses had committed adultery, there was a possibility for remarriage. I was always under the understanding that if they both committed adultery, neither\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62066,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/grace-is-sufficient\/","url_meta":{"origin":98046,"position":4},"title":"Grace Is Sufficient","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Paul describes certain visions and revelations that were beyond his understanding (II Corinthians 12). He then spoke of what he calls a \"thorn in the flesh,\" given to him to keep him from becoming conceited. He implored the Lord three times that this thorn would be removed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93842,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-phrase-we-are-now-living-under-grace-incorrect\/","url_meta":{"origin":98046,"position":5},"title":"Is the phrase “We are now living under grace” incorrect?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is the phrase, \"We are now living under grace,\" incorrect? Answer: The phrase is based on Romans 6:14, but to understand it properly, let's look at the context: \"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98046\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}