wealth our way than our needs require, it is so that others and their families will have enough to live on by virtue of our sharing with them as conduits of God’s gracious provision. EXCURSUS: A CONTEXTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF GRACE Paul developed his theology of grace and preached about the generous favor of God in Christ in a socioeconomic environment very different from the emerging mercantile economy of the Reformation period or the modern economies that have arisen since. As a result, theologians