Tuesday, August 30, 2011

"Perfecting Grace"

Is it even possible for man to live perfecting grace within his life? Paul seemed to think that it was. As I dove deeper into some of the meaning to what 'the law of Christ' actually stands for, and then add to that the word 'fulfil', I truly believe that Paul was envisioning the perfecting of grace within the church; brother and sister, one and all, living out the grace that they had been given. The word that is used for fulfil is the word 'anapleroo', and is from 'ana' meaning up, and 'pleroo' meaning to fill. To fill the place of anyone (1 Corinthians 14:16); to fill up, complete, as spoken of measure (1 Thessalonians 2:16); to fill up or supply a deficiency, make good (1 Corinthians 16:17 & Philippians 2:30). The word is stronger than 'pleroo' (to fill) and means to make very full, to the very end, to perfection. Thus 'pleroo' emphasizes the act while 'anapleroo' emphasizes the measure. The 'law of Christ' is nothing less that the perfect law of the Gospel: "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." (Romans 13:8) In the verse here from Romans 13:8, Paul uses the word 'heteros' for another when he says "for he that loveth another", which means quite a bit more than just someone else; but it actually means more like someone different than yourself. This is actually the problem in man's ability to perfect grace in his life, and thus the churches ability to express grace to a fallen world: loving those that are different than who they are!!!

1 comment:

  1. Very well put my brother! Lord fill us and hence ur Church with such grace!

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