by Tyler Saxton
“So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.” – Philemon 1:17-18
This summer at West Side, as we journey through Paul’s letter to Philemon, we are learning about the subject of forgiveness and how to apply it to our lives as believers in 2018. Throughout the new testament, Paul describes the importance of grace and forgiveness, but “…in the epistle to Philemon, Paul demonstrates it.” (-Richard R. Melick, JR- New American Commentary, p346.) How does Paul demonstrate grace? It first begins with his understanding of grace. It begins with Paul understanding the foundation of the Gospel itself, which as we say often at West Side is simply, ‘Jesus in my place.’
Paul understood that long before anyone has wronged someone else, we have all wronged and sinned against our God in heaven. He understood that he himself, like all of us, stood guilty in sin before our holy God with no hope of redemption until God Himself intervened. Paul understood that Jesus, God in the flesh, came down from heaven to bear the charges brought against us and paid for them on the cross so that we could be reconciled with the Father.
Paul first understood grace, and in this letter to Philemon, he demonstrates it. “…if he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.” -v18
Have you ever been wronged, hurt or abused? Perhaps you are struggling with how to forgive someone who has damaged you in the past. Maybe in order to demonstrate grace and forgiveness, we must first, like Paul, truly understand the grace and forgiveness that was extended to us.
That is the goal of this new song. The Grip of Grace is a song we have written that will help aid us in our journey through the book of Philemon. Our hope is that the lyrics of this song will help to remind us of the grace that was shown to us through Jesus Christ on the cross and encourage us with Gospel truth to be able to walk forward on the path of forgiveness.
It’s all about Jesus
-Pastor Tyler
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The Grip of Grace
Lyrics
You are the Savior of my soul,
Your word a lamp and light.
Your Spirit now alive in me
giving me new life. (Romans 8:11)
From sin and death, You raised me up.
Now I forever live.
Just as You’ve forgiven me
help me to forgive. (Philemon 1:17-18)
I am held in the grip of grace,
forever changing me,
forever saving me. (Ephesians 2:1-10)
To love as You loved. Spirit give us grace.
To live as You lived. Spirit give us grace.
Forgive as He did. God, we need Your grace.
God, we need Your grace. (Romans 15:1-7)