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      • 12. For Goodness Sake
      • 13. A Perfect Prayer
      • 14. No is not a Negative
      • 15. What My Shoes have Taught Me
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      • 18. The Motivation of a Sucide Terrorest
      • 19. The Message of the Terorist
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      • 21. Real Thanksgiving
      • 22. I have been Robbed!
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      • 37. The Whiner
      • 38. Reckoned Righteous by Works
      • 39. Are New Year's Resolutions Biblical?
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      • 40. One of the Greatest Need America
      • 41. Your Memorial Table
      • 42. George W. Bush Verses Saddam Hussein
      • 43. Learning to Listen
      • 44. The Problem with Gambling
      • 45. Memorial Day
      • 46. My Ecounter with an Orthhodox Jew
      • 47. Scott Free
      • 48. What My Auto Accident Taught Me
      • 49. The Decline in Family Living
      • 50. Give Me a Problem
      • 51. Decoding the Da Vinci Code
      • 52. Thanksgiving is not a Holiday
      • 53. What a Christmas Present!
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      • 54. What Do You Mean by that?
      • 55. What are Parents to Do?
      • 56. "The Passion of Christ"
      • 57. Martha Stewart's Greatest Lesson
      • 58. Same Sex Marriage
      • 59. A Tribute to a Servant
      • 60. Happy Marriages
      • 61. Independence
      • 62. Kerry's Logic
      • 63. The Olympic Spirit
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      • 66. Now that the Election is over
      • 67. Tribute to My Mother
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      • 68. Real Spiritual Growth
      • 69. No Time to Think
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      • 71. Do We Need a Pope?
      • 72. Everybody Loves Raymond
      • 73. Examples Worthy of Note
      • 74. How Two Different People Learned to Get Along
      • 75. "The God who Wasn't"
      • 76. Katrina and Now Rita!
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      • 78. "In God We Trust"
      • 79. The Redemption of Tookie Willaims
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      • 80. Is Religion a Problem?
      • 81. The Rights of the Born
      • 82. Did You Hear What She Said about Muslims?
      • 83. Judas: Betrayer or Best Friend?
      • 84. Weekend or Week--Beginning?
      • 85. A Tribute to My (Spiritual) Father
      • 86. Your Relationship to the Word of God
      • 87. What an Opportunity!
      • 88. America's Four Gods
      • 89. How to Deal with Your Enemies
      • 90. The Case for Systematic Exposition
      • 91. Don't Miss the Message
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      • 92. I can Afford it!
      • 93. The Gospel according to Patricia
      • 94. The Functional Church
      • 95. Who wants to Deal with a Taxman?
      • 96. Vital Virtures
      • 97. Have You Grown up Yet?
      • 98. A July 4th Reminder
      • 99. The Volume of Silence
      • 100. Biblical Illiteracy
      • 101. A Modest Political Propospal
      • 102. How to Handle Credit Cards
      • 103. When it is Tough to be Thankful
      • 104. Romney's Religion
    • 2008 Articles 105-114 >
      • 105. Continue
      • 106. A Tribute to Jack
      • 107. Why Good Ftiday?
      • 108. Happy Birthday
      • 109. The Most Important Room in the House
      • 110. The 80-20 Rule
      • 111. Be Sensible
      • 112. To Be Like Christ
      • 113. Sweet Reasonableness
      • 114. The Other Benefit of Christmas
    • 2009 Articles 115-126 >
      • 115. What Determines who Obtains Eternal Life?
      • 116. The Healing Touch
      • 117. The Function of Dysfunction
      • 118. When Your World Falls Apart
      • 119. 24-7-365
      • 120. To Complain or not to Complain
      • 121. "Suggestions"
      • 122. Making a Mark
      • 123. God's Timing
      • 124. Jesus Wept
      • 125. Andrew
      • 126. The Cost of Service
    • 2010 Articles 127-138 >
      • 127. Don't Ask; Don't Tell
      • 128. A Forest Dark
      • 129. The Rule of Law
      • 130. The Hits and Miss of Grace
      • 131. People Need the Lord
      • 132. Examples Worthy of Notes
      • 133. A Hassle Reduction Strategy
      • 134. Gossip
      • 135. My Favorite Poem
      • 136. Let's Put the Cross in its Place
      • 137. "Don't Spare Me"
      • 138 The Unseen Message of Christmas
    • 2011 Articles 139-147 >
      • 139. What Parents Should Teach their Children
      • 140. How to Avoid Having to Serve
      • 141. What Happen to Mike?
      • 142. An Atheist Recommends God
      • 143. Surprise
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      • 145. Union, Unity, and Uniformity
      • 146. Get in the Way
      • 147. "Let George do it."
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      • 148. Truth or Consequences
      • 149. Don't Leave Home without it
      • 150. Take a Break
      • 151. The Worth of an Individual
      • 152. A Tribute to Nana
      • 153. Jesus Crossed the Line
      • 154. Thomas Jefferson
      • 155. Taxes
      • 156. You Must be Present to Win
      • 157. A Grandfather's Wish
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      • 159. Is There a Santa Claus?
      • 160. A Tribute to Sumner Wemp
    • 2013 Articles 161-172 >
      • 161. How to Finish Well
      • 162. Rewards
      • 163. Spiritual Binging
      • 164. There is no way out of this one
      • 165. Half Empty or Half Full
      • 166. Nones
      • 167. Greet One Another with a Holy Kiss
      • 168. God's Answer to Atheism
      • 169. Obedience
      • 170. The Problem of Fellowship with God
      • 171. Character Development
      • 172. For Mercy's Sake
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      • 173. Lies
      • 174. Endure to the End
      • 175. Teaching Children How Money Grows
      • 176. The Principle of Delay
      • 177. By Their Fruit
      • 178. Sermons that Changed My Life
      • 179. If Paul Harvey were the Devil
      • 180. The Principle of Practice
    • 2015 Articles 181- >
      • 181. In Wrath Remember Mercy
      • 182. Choosing the Right Shepherd
      • 183. The Lord's Requirements
      • 184. Your Ear Lobe. Thumb, and Big Toe
      • More articles will be added as they are written
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Recently, as I was reading the book of Acts, I was struck by the fact that Paul “persuaded them to continue in the grace of God” (Acts 13:43). He had just preached in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia. He told the congregation of Jews and Gentile proselytes that God had raised up a Savior from the linage of David. He goes on to proclaim the message of “salvation” (Actsv13:26), namely, that Jesus died (Acts 13:27-28; Gal. 3:1), that He was buried (Acts 13:29), that He arose from the dead (Acts 13:30, 33-37) and that He was seen (Acts 13:31). In other words, Paul preached the Gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-8). Paul concluded his sermon by telling the congregation that those who believe are forgiven and justified (Acts 13:38). In short, he preached the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24). It was after the service that Paul persuaded those who had believed to continue in the grace of God. That sermon is not recorded. I wish it had been.

What does Paul mean by continuing in the grace of God? Peter says believers are to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18). Peter also informs us that if we have “tasted that the Lord is gracious” (1 Pet. 2:3), we should lay aside “all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,” and “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word” that we may grow (1 Pet. 2:1-2). Surely, at least part of growing in the grace of God is setting aside sin and saturating our minds with the Word of God.

There is another element in growing in the grace of God. The writer to the Hebrews urges believers to “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). It is only as we seek God’s grace that we have the power to set aside sin and obey God’s will as revealed in and gleaned from His Word. God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor. 12:9). Then He explained to Paul, “For My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9, italics added). Paul responded, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9, italics added). Paul knew that as he sought the grace of God to do the will of God, He would experience the power of God.

The problem is that believers can fail to avail themselves of the grace and power that is available to them. That is why the writer to the Hebrews warns believers to be careful “lest anyone fall short of the grace of God” (Heb. 12:15).

Hence, Paul told those saved by the grace of God to continue in the grace of God. We are saved when we realize that we cannot save ourselves and we must depend on Jesus Christ, the One who died for our sins and arose from the dead, to get us to heaven. Likewise, we continue in the grace of God when we realized that without Him we can do nothing and we depend on Him for the grace and power to do His will.

                                 © G. Michael Cocoris, 1/31/2008
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