Encouraging the Saints

It is a joyful thing that God has given me when He allows me the opportunity to talk with a fellow saint in need of encouragement. It is a wonderful gift to have a fellow saint encourage me when it is I who is weak. I find that encouraging one another should be a supreme concern of the brethren. We as man are weak and in great need of grace, from both God and His church. Not that God is insufficient in the grace that He gives, but that He chooses to administer much of His grace through the church.

I love grace. One of my favorite theologians and authors is Augustine of Hippo. He either understood grace better than most men understand it, or just had an amazing style to articulate it. Augustine loved grace. He realized the depths of his wickedness and need of God’s grace. I try to emulate Augustine’s love of grace. Augustine also believed that one of the church’s faculties was to extend that grace to His church, from one believer to the other.

What is it to extend grace? Does it mean that we allow all things to go and forgive without rebuke? No. May it never be. The definition of grace I am using is a gift of love unmerited by the receiver. We are to love our one another. We are to place each other above ourselves and be willing to surrender all for good of others. Why, be because they have merited it? No. We do it because we have received grace. We receive the benefits of grace in our justification and sanctification. No only has Christ spared us from the wrath to come at judgment but He transforms us into His likeness until it is finished at our glorification.

There are times when encouragement must come from a rebuke. A rebuke should not be a stand of self-righteousness. It should not resemble the attitude that the one rebuking is better than the one rebuked. Both are fallen sinners redeemed by God’s mercy. A rebuke should be a correction of an act that does not bring glory to Christ and an encouragement to do something else that will. Encouraging does not always mean making the other feel better. Some times, it means pushing them toward righteousness; encouraging them in their sanctification and encouraging them in their relationship with Christ.

On a personal note, I am an extremely prideful person. I try to be humble, but I fail horribly. If our salvation was based on whether or not we could be “good” Christians, I would have given up long ago. Those who know me best know that I am prideful, arrogant, and boastful. Many in their hope to encourage me tell me of my good qualities, which I contend are simply outpourings of the grace bestowed upon me. In these times, I must flee or I grow in love with their flattering words. Yes, it is good to be complimented at times, but to a wretchedly prideful heart, it is like the quake of the earth that causes lava to rise to the surface. The pride of my flesh still richly persuades the indwelling sin of my old man.

Therefore, I am most encouraged when I am rebuked for my pride. One of my closest friends, Lance, who I hold very dear to my heart, is very quick to rebuke me. My pride I fear is most evident on the playing surface of any sport I participate. It is a sinful act for me to walk onto the football field or basketball court without a moment of sincere prayer asking my God and Savior to be with me that I might not sin against Him by the overrunning of my pride. History will go to tell that I still fall into sin and have been in need of serious rebuke on multiple occasions. Sadly, I have to not entertain myself with athletic competition to often to help with the ego that I have.

However, I love Lance because he is quick to encourage me. He come to me in love and says, “Naak, stop acting like that.” At times, he says other words; most of the time he does not have to. He could quote to me Scripture, but I know them. So what happens? I see what he is saying and I repent and become the most humble person on the field. No, that never happens. Usually, I get mad at him for calling my actions into question. I finish the game with an angry attitude and empty of any joy. I go home and think how I was right and they were wrong, especially Lance who dared to say anything to me about it.

Few people I know are willing to give me the grace Lance has given so many times. Lance was willing to come to me and rebuke me. He corrected me and encouraged me to act in a manner worthy of my calling. That is grace and that is love. What has resulted from that? I hope that I am a little better at holding in my pride while playing sports. I hope that I am less prideful in my day-to-day life, though I know I am still far too prideful. This I know for sure. One, I am able to spot my pride easier and correct it to some degree before some one has to say something to me about it. Two, I do not defile the name of God and diminish His glory as bad as before because I do not allow myself to go as far as I once did. Note that I did say, “as bad”, because I still sin and hurt the Name above all names.

How does the story end when Lance showed grace in rebuking me? I would eventually see that I was wrong. I have always been a little slow. I do finally repent and ask forgiveness from my Father. Prayerfully ask that He will help me get better at not being such a prideful man. I go to Lance and apologize for my actions. What I love is finding that I am forgiven. Just like asking for forgiveness from my Father, I do so knowing that I am forgiven. My sin has already been wiped away. It has been removed from my debt. The same is true with Lance. Not once have I gone to him and him act angry toward me. I would not blame him if he did, but he never does. He tells me not to worry about it. He knows I learned my lesson. He probably even knows it will happen again. Nevertheless, what does he do? He shows grace. And by grace I am encouraged. This I know for sure also, Lance’s and my friendship has grown stronger because of his willingness to rebuke me. Now, the friendship that we have is mutual. We both encourage each other the like manners. Because of that, we are very close friends and when we need to be encouraged in our weakness we feel that we can go to each other because we loved each other enough to show grace when we needed to rebuke one another.

The only man who might have better-articulated grace better than Augustine was the Apostle Paul. There was another man who loved grace. Paul who calls himself the chief of sinners knew what it was to need grace. He was dependent on grace. If Augustine or any of us know what grace is, it is because Paul told us. Just to demonstrate how much Paul loved grace he wished grace on all of those who received his letter: from the immoral Corinthians to the self-righteous Galatians.[1] In those letters, Paul heavily rebukes them for their sin. He tells the Corinthians that they are doing things that even sinners do not do.[2] He comes before the Galatians and tells them that he is amazed that they have so quickly deserted Him who called them by the grace of Christ[3] and then finds it necessary to defend his calling[4] and message[5]. Even among these breather who are defiling the name of Christ Paul extends to them grace.

What is Paul’s hope in the extension of grace? Notice what follows Paul’s extension of grace in every one of his greetings. Not only grace to you, grace and peace. Where God’s grace is, there is also peace. Peace is the product of God’s grace. Where peace is lacking God’s grace is not evident. We must do all things out of God’s grace in the hope that it will bring peace. This understanding attacks the very core of self-righteousness, which wants to stir up strife so that one is seen as greater than the other one. The self-righteous heart wants nothing to do with peace. It has no understanding of grace. Everything we do should be judged by this: is it done out of grace in order to bring peace? This does not mean that truth is abandoned to keep peace, because God is truth and grace is of God and therefore peace is only found in truth.

Therefore, “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But, each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one will bear his own load.”[6]

[1] Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:2; Galatians 1:3; Ephesians 1:2; Philippians 1:2; Colossians 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2 Thessalonians 1:2; 1 Timothy 1:2, 2 Timothy 1:2, Titus 1:4
[2] 1 Corinthians 5:1
[3] Galatians 1:6
[4] Galatians 1:11-24
[5] Galatians 2:1-6:16
[6] Galatians 6:1-5