God’s grace
Senior Pastor of Akwa Ibom, Nigeria based Power City International Church, Dr. Abel Damina has explained why saying the grace in his church is not compulsory at the end of each service
In his online message on Sunday May 3, Damina who is noted for his emphasis on grace, says, “saying the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ at the end of each service should not be a chant, but rather should be a reality that should be internalized by every believer.”
Using several scriptures to buttress his position, he said, “the word grace means Charis in Greek which means “to give love and kindness”. Jesus was rich but for our sake he became poor. He became poor, meaning Jesus carried out a specific assignment for us to become rich.
“What Jesus did to make us rich is called grace. Grace brought Jesus to a place of poverty for us to be rich. Grace is like me, giving up my convenience for others. It is not accumulation. It is me depriving myself to enrich others.
He said, “The word “rich” is Plouteo in Greek. It is used in 1cor4v8, 1tim6v9 and 1tim6v18. In 1tim6v18. It is not used as material wealth in some instances. It is spiritual wealth. We became rich as a result of his poverty. When he says the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ be with you it means the sacrificial work of Christ is with you. It is saying you are the beneficiary of the sacrificial work of Christ. Which is the blessing we have in Christ. It is what procured salvation for us. It is not a chant after service.”
Damina gave the instance of a lady who wanted to leave his church because they don’t say the grace at the end of church service. “If the lady understands that scripture she will not want to leave a church where the word of God is being taught like this. I knew she was not even born again because the entire teaching we do in church is on grace. We are sharing the grace already by teaching the scripture. As I am teaching we are sharing grace. It refers to what Christ has done.”
Explaining further he said, “When you read, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost; the word “and” in that scripture is an explanation of what the love of God is. It means the word of God is also the communion of the Holy Ghost. The word, “and” is a conjunction in English. But in Greek it is used to explain a previous word.
“When I say God and father of our Lord Jesus what I am saying is God who is our father of our Lord Jesus. It is in the same way water and spirit is used. To be born of water and spirit means to be born of water which is also the spirit.
“The grace of Jesus is the love of God, It is also the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. It is not a chant. It is not a chant or quote it is our reality. We are beneficiary of the love of God. We are beneficiary of the grace of God.”
Damina explains further, “the fact that Paul writes the grace at the end of his letter does not mean we have to say the grace at the end of each service. Paul also writes the grace at the middle and beginning of his letters. It is not a chant at the end of every service”
He says the epistles were concluded with the grace “as an emphasis marker. It is like an explanation of the entire letter. The apostles were saying what I have written to you is what Christ has done. It is fact of what has already been given to you. Whether you know it or you don’t does not change the fact.
The word amen according to him, “is used to sum up the grace as written in the Bible to affirm God’s word. Amen means it is true or let it be” Grace is an affirmation of the reality of the believer.”