by Dennis Gladden, By Green Pastures, ©2026
(Mar. 25, 2026) — When grace appears, to reject it is hard.
Some say it is impossible, that grace is irresistible.
Yet, the church’s first martyr made that very charge against his executioners.
“Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears!” Stephen bristled. “You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you” (Acts 7:51).
The Apostle Paul cautioned believers in Corinth to receive grace graciously.
After a summary of God’s unmerited goodness in 2 Corinthians 5—Christ died for them, Christ made them a new creation, and Christ reconciled them to God—Paul urged the Corinthians, “Do not receive the grace of God in vain” (2 Corinthians 6:1).
He chose a Greek word for vain that invoked an Old Testament decree.
None shall appear before Me empty-handed (Exodus 34:20, Deuteronomy 16:16).
God had flooded them with grace, and Paul feared the Corinthians would let it slip through their fingers. There was grace for them to take hold of, but they might come away empty-handed.
Grace received in vain is tragic.
Read the rest here.