Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise and glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Hey listeners, this is Nick from Scripture Central, and today's podcast addresses the question,

why is grace important in a covenantal community?

People may usually think of God's grace as a personal gift, but as Paul and the other New Testament

apostles wrote to their various churches that they had helped establish on their missionary journeys, they would often describe obtaining the grace of Jesus

Christ as a goal, not only for individuals, but also for the entire covenantal community to obtain

and reach together. Unlike most modern conceptions of grace, Paul and his brethren understood grace as establishing

reciprocal relationships between givers and receivers of great blessings and sacrifices.

This ancient perspective on grace is consistent with Latter-day Saint beliefs today.

Grace was therefore a critical need for the early Christian Church, as Jesus offered, through

his grace, a chance for both individuals and communities to be saved from physical and spiritual

death. While grace, Charis in Greek, could be experienced on a personal level as individuals

converted and then made and kept covenants with the Lord.

It was also to be experienced as an entire covenantal community.

Paul referenced this aspect of grace multiple times throughout his letters.

The obliging force of receiving God's charis created for members of the covenant community

obligations not only to God, but also to the

covenantal community as well. Brent J. Schmidt has observed how in Paul's letters, grace

could be received in a three-way covenant between the individual, God, and the Church. This

covenant ultimately allows us to be adopted as children of Jesus Christ,

strictly made possible through the good pleasure of His will to the praise of the glory of His

grace. And as we are all children of this covenant, we are in obligated relationships with Christ,

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