Becoming A Conduit Of Grace

My dad used to work as a lineman for a rural electric company. I can remember him mentioning how he would sometimes install conduits. An electrical conduit is a pipe through which wires are pulled. They house the wires to protect them from harm, and to protect people from electrical shock.

The definition of a conduit is “a means by which something is transmitted” and “a pipe, tube, or the like, for conveying water or other fluid.”(1) One relevant synonym is the word channel.(2) A channel is “a course into which something may be directed, a route through which anything passes or progresses” and “a means of access.”(3)

One reason why God saved us is to become a conduit of His grace. We’re to become a channel into which His grace is poured and through which it’s conveyed to others. However, it appears as though many believers are neither totally receiving nor sending God’s grace through their lives.

Grace, which is God’s free gift of salvation from our sins and His eternal favor, is gained only by freely receiving it. It’s not something we can earn or gain by our works (Eph 2:8-9). In receiving God’s grace we must open our heart and let it flow in and through us, and be cleansed and renewed from within.

Once we have received God’s grace we’re expected to give it away to others. Jesus told His disciples, “Freely you have received, freely give” (Mt 10:8b); but I have to ask, “How many believers are freely giving God’s grace to others?” An even better question is, “How many believers have actually received His grace themselves?”

I have to wonder if some believers have received God’s grace, for they’re certainly not extending it. When a fellow brother or sister in Christ falls into sin, or when a person doesn’t fit the typical church-going mold, some believers are quick to judge and condemn instead of extending the grace that God so mercifully offered them.

If we do not know how to demonstrate grace, then this is a good indicator that we’ve not yet understood or received God’s grace in our own heart. We can’t give away what we’ve never received or experienced. The same condemnation we find ourselves dishing out is likely the same that we’re feeling in our own heart.

It’s really sad to see a believer not living in the joy and freedom of God’s grace, but it’s even more tragic when a believer doesn’t allow those around him, such as friends and family, to live in the freedom of grace.

In this message we’ll gain an understanding of some of the ways in which we can demonstrate a lack of acceptance of grace in our own heart and life; and we’ll be shown how to overcome the blockage of grace that we might be experiencing.

It is my hope that we’ll be able to break free from self-condemnation, as well as the judgment that we might be placing on the hearts and lives of others.

Living Apart from God’s Grace (Colossians 2:20-23)

Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations - “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using - according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh (Colossians 2:20-23).

Paul shared how some of the Colossian believers were living as though they were still a part of the world, and as though they hadn’t yet received God’s grace. They were continuing to live by human standards of righteousness, instead of by the standard of grace found through faith in Jesus Christ.

Some of them were constantly concerned about making sure they weren’t eating the wrong foods or touching things that would be considered unclean. They were trying really hard to please the people around them by being sure to keep the numerous commandments imposed on them by men. They were likely doing such things as fasting, being sure to pray at certain times of the day like clockwork, being careful to wear their hair and clothing in certain holy and acceptable ways, and being sure not to spend time with unbelievers.

Paul said these things have an “appearance” of wisdom (Col 2:23), meaning that there’s no real wisdom in them at all. He said this kind of self-neglect and self-imposed religion is only false humility (2:23), and these particular Colossians were actually taking great pride in seeing how humble or righteous they could behave.

A Self-Imposed Righteousness

So, do believers act like this today? Yes they do, for I once acted this way. I was raised in a Christian home and attended church weekly, and I was a good little boy who never did anything wrong; or so I believed. I didn’t receive Jesus into my heart until I was sixteen-years-old, because I thought that I was going to heaven for being a good person. When I was finally saved I still harbored a self-righteous mentality, though I didn’t realize it for the longest time.