It was brought to my attention this week, that we have not done a very good job of clearly defining grace. I want to make a point that grace is a HUGE concept, but can be easily defined as that which Christ has done for us and continues to do in us. Most people's misunderstanding of grace comes from only thinking about half of that equation. So, as we continue through this series, I will explain what we have covered about grace so far.
Over the last few weeks, we have talked about what grace is not. It is not being better than someone else. It is not following a list of rules better than another person. It is not being born into the correct religious, cultural, racial, ethnic, or national environment.
However, this week, we will begin looking at what grace is.
Grace is a radical idea. It may be the most radical idea. It is an idea so radical, that the first people to hear of it were either radically changed or radically threatened by it.
When Paul writes to the believers in Rome, he is perfectly aware of the fact that there are many in that early community who are still threatened by grace. Paul's message is intended to move these people from radically threatened to radically changed.
Paul spends most of the first three chapters of Romans explaining how every human is guilty of sin. Every single one of us has fallen short of the standard we hold for ourselves, and far short of God's standard. Nobody is perfect, and nobody will ever be righteous before God based on their behavior.
Paul is saying that the law, the rules and regulations, that many of these people have trusted in for their righteousness, has never made them right with God. In fact, if we trust in the law, then we are merely acknowledging our own guilt.
We are guilty...
Yet, the story of God's grace shines brightly into our guilt and provides a hope that we never could imagine.
If we are guilty, and there is no way out of our guilt, then someone else needs to pay the debt of our guilt before we can be made right with God.
Enter Jesus.
"23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus."
-Romans 3:23-26 (NLT)
The penalty of our guilt has been paid by Christ. Now, we are declared righteous, not because of our behavior, but because of Christ's.
This is an incredibly radical idea.
Our righteousness, through faith, not work.
This is the beginning of grace... Faith in Christ.
It is not changed behavior, following the letter of the law, or penance.
Grace begins with faith, not work.
Yet, how many of us have been enslaved to trying harder, working harder, as if somehow you might earn your salvation?
That is not grace, and it is not what Jesus has done for us.
Jesus came into our guilt. He did not wait outside for us to work our way out. He came in. He came down. He made a way.
When I try to work to meet Him outside of my guilt, I disregard what He has done and there is no faith.
When I accept that He has come into my guilt, to save me from the penalty of it, I believe in what He has done, and by grace through faith the work of salvation has begun.
This is not where grace ends. This is only where it begins.
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