No wonder the apostle Paul calls such people “abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” ( Titus 1:16). Once, in contrast, God says some will turn “the grace of our God into lasciviousness” and deny Him who has bought and paid for all the horrible sin that they embraced to spite such grace ( Jude 1:4).

“We love him, because he first loved us” ( 1 John 4:19). No one is beyond the touch of God’s grace: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men” ( Titus 2:11). Everything that He has done is because He loves you and me beyond any grasp of our earthly imagination. In seven of the 13 times, this “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” is focused on “you.” God’s grace is very personal. God extends His grace to the very creation itself by merely keeping the universe together ( 2 Peter 3:7), intending thereby to “speak” and supply knowledge ( Psalm 19:1-4) sufficient to display His very nature and power in such a way that there can be “no excuse” about His existence and care for humanity ( Romans 1:20).

In Scripture, repetition is not for lack of something to say but the Holy Spirit’s intentional emphasis on something. The basic form of today’s verse appears 13 times in the New Testament. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

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