In this conclusion to a series of sermons on grace, we’ll answer the question what are the obligations that come with grace? We are the recipients of many blessings of God’s grace— charis in the Greek of the New Testament. But charis had a specific meaning in the Greco-Roman culture of the first century in which the apostles wrote and spoke of “grace.” And they used charis —the giving of gifts from a patron to a client—to teach us profound lessons about our relationship with God. Those gifts of charis came with clear and well-understood obligations on the part of the recipients, just as we today have clear obligations toward God for receiving His gifts of grace.

Scott Ashley

United Church of God Pastor, Beyond Today Managing Editor

Scott Ashley is managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado. 
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he has worked for 50 years.