Experiencing God - Life of Grace 140

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith"
Paul's letter to Ephesians

If we take the time to study the lives of the saints, there are three things they have in common.

1.  They lived their lives in anticipation of Jesus' promise to release His Spirit within their lives.  They counted on this promise which is also Jesus' promise to each of us.  They counted on this Spirit to not only guide them in the decisions they were to make, but to sustain them, and to give them the strength they needed to live out their life in Christ.

2.  They were willing to die to "self".  Knowing the will of God through prayerful discernment is one thing.  The willingness to set "self" aside in order to follow this voice of the Spirit is another.  In order to do this, they knew that they had to die to "self" seeking.  As Jesus would say: "For anyone who wishes to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it."
 
3.  They were moved towards generous self-giving as they accepted Christ as their unique Lord and savior.  They saw Jesus as the "wisdom" of God.  They experienced Jesus as the living source, the force or energy that enabled them to live a selfless life. 

Saint Paul himself was to declare this many times in his letters, and I quote from Galatians: We know that a person is justified, not by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ.  And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Him, and not by doing the works of the law."  

Now all of this may be a little confusing when we compare it to Jesus' words in the Gospel of Matthew:  "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.  I have come not to abolish but to "fulfill".  Jesus goes on to emphasize:  "For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished"  

The St. Jerome Biblical Commentary defines "fulfillment" to mean: "Bringing the law to perfection."  This does not happen through the process of a rigid literal observance like that of the Scribes and Pharisees.  Fulfillment of the law, as Jesus lived and as Saint Paul explains again and again can only be found in loving God and loving neighbor.  As Saint Paul would say in Corinthians Chapter 13, "If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing."

To love God, and to love neighbor in this way is not easy.  In fact, in our human condition with all of its compulsive behaviors, it is impossible.  But through Grace, through our personal surrender to the Christ, it is possible to live a life of Grace.  As St. Paul would say in Ephesians:  For it is by Grace you have been saved, through faith in Christ."