Skip to main content

 IT'S ALL ABOUT GRACE

Romans 5:6-11

"When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God."

It was while I was still a slave to sin, a rebel against God, an enemy of the Most High that Jesus Christ died for me...and as me...bearing all my sin...and not mine only, but the sin of the whole world. It was a sacrifice without condition. I had not, nor ever could meet any requirement that might warrant His love. Did I merit such love? Never. It was unmerited. That is what God's grace is; unmerited favor. I had nothing to offer God that had even the slightest measure of worth. I was essentially dead, separated from Life, Himself. I was only in a position to receive. I had nothing to give, but everything to surrender.

In one sense, I gave my life to Jesus Christ, but the deeper truth is that I laid my death before Him in repentance and faith, relinquishing all I am to all He is. He forgave me and by the power of His resurrection, He caused me to receive His Life, to be born again, a new creation with a new heart and a new spirit.

The Life I now have is the Holy Spirit living the Resurrection Life of Jesus Christ in me. That is why I can be transformed, renewed, healed and restored by God to live in humility, confidence, hope, repentance, faith and to be changed into His likeness. Salvation: the reclamation of a life being delivered from sin and death, being translated into the Kingdom of God by His grace, power and love.

The only condition the Lord placed before me was to believe Him, what He had done, who He is and to learn, growing in trust daily by His power at work within me. So, from start to finish, it's all about Him. Astounding!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

  PRAYER Jesus Christ NEVER taught on what we call "unanswered prayer." James wrote that a divided loyalty between trusting the Lord God for life and at the same time relying on the world's systems to get what you want will result in you not getting anything from God you may have prayed about. God will never reinforce the unbelief that flows from divided loyalty. THAT is not unanswered prayer. That is God saying, "No." to your request. God saying, "No." to your requests is not unanswered prayer. It is His grace. His "No" is just what I would want if I knew what He knows. The Lord also answers with, "Not now; not yet." because we are not yet prepared to receive what we think we need. God works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure. If I am praying for something God wants to do in me and the Holy Spirit is working in me preparing me to receive what God has in store, His "Not yet." is NOT unanswered prayer. As we see...
Post a Comment
Read more
 HEBREWS 10:1-2, 10-18 "The sacrifices under that system ( the Old Covenant) were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship.   If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.   For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.  Under the Old Covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins.   But our High Priest offered Himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then He sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.   There He waits until His enemies are humbled and made a footstool under His feet.   For by that one offering He forever m...
Post a Comment
Read more
 James 1:5-8 " If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.   But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.   Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.   Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do." We must remember that God is never upset that we don't know or understand how to live out the New Life He has given to us. That Life is now being lived out in us by the Holy Spirit. This Life of the Kingdom is radically different that the life we are accustomed to living in concert with the world. One of the main marks of a true follower of Jesus Christ is that there is change and ongoing change in us by the Holy Spirit. We do not remain as we once were. The Holy Spirit is conforming us to the Image o...
Post a Comment
Read more