The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

2 Corinthians 6:1-3, “And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain–

2 for He says, ‘At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you’; behold, now is

‘the acceptable time,’ behold, now is ‘the day of salvation’ —

3 giving no cause for offense in anything, in order that the ministry be not discredited…”

In my travels, I have sometimes been given personal gifts. I have never sought for such things, but have accepted

them when it became evident that to have refused would have been to have offended the giver. People in far-away

countries are often more genuinely pleased with giving than those of us in the west are with receiving. That being said,

I have always treated their gifts as priceless, regardless of their inate value.

Paul has precisely this in his thinking when he urges us “not to receive the grace of God in vain.” We are to treat the

LORD’s grace as “priceless” and “beyond all value.” He only wants us to treat His grace as beyond any price. You

cried out for deliverence from sin, He says, and I came to your rescue. Now, it’s time for you to listen to Me: this is

the day of salvation! Further, He admonishes us, as recipients of His saving grace, not to discredit it in the eyes of

the world or in the eyes of the church, by being offensive. We are neither to offend others by a lack of love, nor are

we to ignore them and their need of salvation.

Our habits, our appearance, our language, our attitude –can all be offensive to others. If we are offensive without

knowing it, we should move quickly to correct ourselves. But, we should never ignore the needs of others by justifying

what we do or say. We are the LORD’s children! And when we display ourselves otherwise, we discredit Him! His

personal gift of salvation should be treated with even greater respect than the “things” that people give us. Their gifts,

however humanly precious, do not compare with what the LORD has given us in and through His saving grace.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”