100% Grace

¹¹For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. ¹² It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³ while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

What I think the Lord is saying to me is that His grace should be teaching me how to do a Nancy Reagan (“Just say no!”) to sin. His grace should be teaching me how to live a self-controlled, upright and godly life in this present age (“nothing new under the sun”). His grace should be making me eager to do what is good. The old acronym God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense; grace. It’s grace, it’s the fact that it’s not me or anything I can do (which I heard loud and clear yesterday). It’s what He did, is doing, and will do (because He chooses to do it). Grace can only be given by someone who has been wronged or offended in some way. If I don’t do anything to hurt anyone why would I need to receive grace from that person? I think that 100% of everything involving my relationship with the Lord boils down to grace. It’s grace; it’s not grace plus prayer; it’s not grace plus works; it’s not grace plus Bible reading; it’s not grace plus anything. It’s grace. Yes a disciplined Christian life is necessary and is going to make it easier and pay benefits in this life, but take grace out of the equation and I’m left with judgment. I can bite the bullet and say no to sin from now until the cows come home, without grace, it does not work. Not only grace, but my recognition of that grace and my understanding of what grace is. I think that if I am able to completely and truly understand what God did for me and does for me on a daily basis through grace, everything else will fall into place. I’m not trying to oversimplify Christianity, but I feel the Lord is trying to tell me that it’s Him, it’s grace, it’s not some complicated set of rules and lifestyle guidelines.

Douglas Hill
Head Usher/Board Member