Romans 3:22 the righteousness of God through faith in
Jesus Christ for who we all believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fallen short of
the glory of God , 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift,
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by
his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness,
because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
The concept of
God's gift of grace is very strange to most people who are not Christian, and
there are several Christians who do not truly appreciate what a magnificent
gift grace is or who miss it all together. In order to properly
understand grace you must first understand why you need it in the first
place. The reason that you need grace is because without it you stand
zero chance of getting into heaven. This is because heaven cannot be earned
by anyone therefore we need to have
grace given to us in order to have eternal life. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is
death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Why can't we earn
heaven? You may be thinking that you are pretty much a good person and do
not need grace because God will see that on your Judgment Day and overlook the
"small" crimes that you are guilty of. Let's look at a modern
courtroom and see how this defense would hold up. For the sake of
argument let's say that you are texting and driving. While you are doing
this you do not see that the light has turned red and you drive straight
through the intersection slamming into another vehicle and killing the
driver. You are arrested, you are taken to trial, and you are found
guilty. The judge asks if you would like to say anything before you are
sentenced and you reply, "Yes Judge, I would like to point out that I know
what I did was wrong, but I am really a good person. I don't drink. I
donate money and time to all of these charities. This is the only time I
have ever broken the law. Because of this and because I know that you are
a good man, I know that you will commute my sentence." After your
answer the Judge pauses a moment before replying, "All that you said it
true. This is the only time you have broken the law. However, I am a good man
and because of that I must see that justice is served." He then proceeds
to punish you to the fullest extent of the law.
Now you may be
saying to yourself, "Well that's a bad example. I would never do something
that bad." Wouldn't you? Matthew
5:21 You
have heard it said to those of old, "You shall not murder; whoever murders
will be liable to judgment." 22 But I say to you that
everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever
insults his brother will be liable to council; and whoever says, "You
Fool!" will be liable to the hell of fire. Now are you guilty
of that? I have yet to meet anybody who isn't. And that isn't the
only crime you are going to be held accountable for. Matthew 5:27 You have heard it said,
"You shall not commit adultery." 28 But I say to you that
everyone who has looked at a woman with lustful intent has already committed
adultery with her in his heart. So
now you may realize that you are a murdering adulterer. Well I'm sorry to
say that we are not done yet. Have you ever lied or stolen something? (Exodus 20:15-16) Have
you ever used God's name in vain? (Exodus
20:7, Matthew 12:36) I
don't know of anyone who has not done all of these things. If you are
honest with yourself then you should know that you are guilty of all these
crimes against God. My dear friends, this why heaven cannot be
earned. We have been given the standard for entering heaven but we cannot
maintain it because we are sinful by our very nature. Romans 3:20 For by the works of the law
no human being will be justified in his sight, since through knowledge of the
law comes knowledge of sin.
Now this is where
grace comes into play. God wants us to be in heaven with Him. Just
because He might have to send us to Hell because of our sin does not mean He
takes any joy in it. So what did God do to save us? He took on a
mortal body in the form of Jesus. He lived a sinless life. And
because He loved us He gave Himself over to death so that He might bear the
punishment for our sins. Then to further show His power over death, Jesus
rose from the dead after three days. This is the gift of grace.
Jesus died so that you might be saved from your just and deserved sentence of
Hell. We didn't do anything to earn this. The only thing in this
life that we earn is Hell. That is why grace is a gift. God has
given it to us although we didn't deserve it. All we have to do is accept
it and that is a very easy thing to do. You have to acknowledge the fact
that you are a lawbreaker (sinner). You have to willfully turn your back
on sinful things. This won't stop you from sinning because you are a
sinful creature, but it is an important mindset to have. Romans 7:19 For I do not do the good I
want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep doing. 20 Now if I do what I do
not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. The process of turning your
back on sin, (no longer willfully sinning) is called repentance. Now you
are ready to receive the gift of grace. Romans
10:9 because
if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. There you have
it. After you have repented all you have to do is believe and confess
that you know Jesus is God and was raised from the dead. It is that
simple. It's like accepting a million dollar gift because someone showed
you the receipt proving it was legally paid for. Why wouldn't you take
it? Especially now that you know you need it. I hope grace makes more sense to you now.
It's us being given a gift that wasn't earned, and cannot be
repaid. If you haven't accepted it then I sincerely pray that you
do. If you have, then I hope this has helped you to understand just how
wonderful a gift grace is and that you never stop giving thanks and praises
to our loving God.
