ROMANS 8:32

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” 

Have you ever had the experience of finding out what you thought you understood really had much deeper meaning? I like to watch suspense movies. I am the one in the crowd who tries to figure out “who did it” long before it is revealed. A lot of the time I guess right, but sometimes I am blown away at the ending. When all is revealed, it is so much easier to understand.

That’s true with today’s verse for me. Sometimes when you are reading the Bible you come across a verse that you think you understand until you dig a little deeper. In the last phrase of today’s verse, Paul writes, “how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”That sounds good on the surface, but there is so much more here. Let’s dig in.

APPLICATION

Let’s look specifically at “freely give.” That’s the Greek word charizomai which comes from the Greek word for “grace.” The  Topical Lexicon describes this verb this way, “The term gathers under one umbrella the concepts of (1) freely bestowing a gift, (2) remitting a debt or penalty, and (3) graciously granting a request. In every occurrence the accent falls on the generosity of the giver, not the worthiness of the recipient.” Isn’t that so much better than simply “freely give”?

The same verb is used over in 2 Corinthians 2:10-11. “10 But one whom you forgive anything, I also forgive; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did so for your sakes in the presence of Christ, 11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.” Charizomai is used three times in verse 10 (the one in italics isn’t in the Greek text). This forgiveness gives us power over the schemes of the devil. How is the possible? Because an unforgiving spirit plays right into his hands. When we forgive like Christ forgave, we are be obedient to Jesus and not our flesh.

We see charizomai used twice in Ephesians 4:32. “Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” You and I need to forgive like that. And we do that not for the other person but for ourselves. More importantly, we do it out of obedience to our Lord Who has forgiven us so much. Amen? Amen!

Even though I was unworthy of Your forgiveness, You bestowed it upon me. Help me do the same to others.

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