Being a Channel of God’s Grace

Last Sunday, we looked in Acts 9 at the conversion of Saul on the road to Damascus, and the passage challenged us to marvel that God’s grace is powerful enough to transform anyone. No one stands beyond the reach of God’s incredible grace in Christ.

There’s another element in Acts 9 that highlights the power of God’s grace. We see in this chapter that God’s grace is powerful enough to work through people like you and me. Of course, Jesus’s appearing to Saul in a bright light and speaking to him draw our attention as we read this account. Yet, it is good for us to remember the key role Ananias played in this event. The same God who blinded Saul could have just as easily restored his sight apart from any human involvement, and yet God, in his grace calls and enables Ananias to be a channel of his grace to Saul.

Luke records the key role that Barnabas plays in later welcoming Saul to Jerusalem. When he first comes to Jerusalem, Saul is not able to join with the disciples because “they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple” (9:26). Barnabas is putting more than his reputation on the line; he’s risking his life. The other disciples fear that this is merely a ploy by Saul to infiltrate their ranks, but Barnabas vouches for Saul and testifies to the validity of his conversion. In so doing, he becomes another channel of God’s grace in Saul’s life.

God’s grace is so great and so powerful that it can work through people like Ananias and Barnabas—people like you and me. The challenge for us to consider is: how is God calling me to be a channel of his grace to those he’s placed in my life? Perhaps, like Ananias we are to speak the redeeming truth of the gospel. Or, perhaps, like Barnabas, we are to welcome the most unlikely people, knowing that God in his grace can transform anyone.