Charisma
In Romans 5:15-17, Paul shares the Good News of the "charisma" (a Greek term) from God to all who trust in the One who raised Christ from the dead. This "charisma" is translated as "gift" (in the NIV) or "free gift" (in the ESV). Personally, I like to translate it as "gracious gift". Why? Because the root for "charisma" is "charis", the Greek term for "grace" or "favor". This means that the gift is unmerited (thus, the adjective "free" from the ESV). Maybe I'm splitting hairs here, but I think "free" is significantly different from "gracious". To understand why, we need to understand what the "charisma" is...what is this...gift? The "gift" is the justification from God for all of us who have trusted in Christ as our Savior (from our sins) and Lord ("Master") over all of our life, including sin's result (our death). We believe in Him, because He proved His lordship through His resurrection from the dead. This "gift" (justification) makes us "righteous" before God...because it is Christ's righteousness that we bear, through faith...by God's grace. It is a "gracious gift". And, though unmerited, it is also not "free". At least not in the sense that we usually think of "free". In fact, it was a very costly gift. On Jesus' part it was costly in that he suffered and bled and died that we might receive forgiveness. On our part it is costly in that it requires us to give up our "presumed" lordship over our own lives...admitting that we've believed the same lie from Genesis 3, that we are "like God". We give away our delusion of lordship to receive the reality of His. A small price to pay, you might say, but it does require our trust. And what a wonderful "price" to pay! "Charisma"...the gracious gift of being justified through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by the grace of God! Read it (Romans 5) and weep...for joy!
I look forward to celebrating this "charisma" of God with you Sunday!
God's grace and peace be with you,
Dave