Good Day, Meetpastordan Readers…This is one of those days when I have been drawn to this particular subject. But the challenge so far has been, finding the right title for the message. However the title reads when you first look at it, I can assure you it is at least the 10th, 11th, or 12th attempt at getting the right wording. The title could just as easily have read, “A Message to My Unsaved Friends.”
This message is the ultimate message of hope and salvation, but since so many people have erroneous beliefs concerning two fundamental truths that underpin the message of grace, I want to tackle each misconception separately. Granted, the title has an ominous ring to it, which is intentional because the two misconceptions lead to ominous consequences. But when you compare these misconceptions with the truth of the Gospel of Grace, you can’t help but see a God of unconditional, unending, and unfailing love who always prefers mercy over judgement. He is a God who wants to lavish on you His riches in glory…“regardless of who you are, or what you have done!” (Romans 3:22)
I have the opportunity to share the Gospel of Grace with both nonbelievers, and with believers who are struggling to stay the course. In both cases, my conversation eventually leads to this all-important question: “Are you secure in your salvation?” Sometimes I am told outright that they don’t believe what I believe, and they’re not interested in pursuing this subject any further. The good news… that is by far the minority of cases. Most often I hear one of these two misconceptions. The first sounds like this: “I believe I am a good person”, then I hear a resume of good deeds, a list of volunteer work, and sometimes even about financial support of worthy endeavors. In these cases they have missed the concept of “grace” and are still living under the Law, meaning they are depending on their works to make them worthy and acceptable in God’s eyes. Galatians 2:21 addresses this specifically: “If we could have been made right in God’s sight by keeping the Law, there would have been no reason for Christ to have come.”
The second misconception is often framed in this manner: “Wow! If you had any idea of my past, even you could easily see why God would want nothing to do with me. I don’t even like myself; how can I expect Him to love and forgive me?” Here the concept of grace has obviously given way to satan’s lies and distortions, leaving the victim feeling unworthy, unloved and unacceptable. That’s the way satan works; his whole purpose is to steal our joy and to shipwreck our best effort to become more Christ-like. Believe me, he is a master at his craft! But let’s turn now from these two areas of misconception and immerse ourselves in the truth of God’s Word.
God created us for a relationship with Himself; not just a here-and-now relationship, but an eternal relationship. That is of utmost importance, and God’s plan is spelled out specifically in Ephesians 1:4-5,10-11: “Long ago, even before He created the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ., and this gave Him great pleasure. And this is His plan: At just the right time He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for He chose us from the beginning (because we are in Christ), and all things happen just as He decided long ago.”
Because one of God’s majestic qualities is omniscience, even before He created us, He could look into the future and see that we were going to be problem children. He could see that we were going to pursue our own interests and exalt “self” rather than exalting Him. But it was that very awareness that makes this such an incredible example of His unconditional, unending and unfailing love for us: He created us anyway, knowing full well that at just the right time He would have to send a Savior to do for us what we would prove, without a doubt, we were incapable of doing for ourselves. What a display of His love for our lost souls.
Sin is the eternal dilemma of Mankind! God gave Man from Creation until 2019 years ago to wrestle with the issue of Sin, but instead of showing progress, we continued our downward spiral into moral and spiritual decay. Romans 5:6 is our report card regarding the issue of Sin and our own best effort. “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time to die for us sinners.” Utterly helpless is a serious indictment, which means we showed ourselves to be slaves to our sin-nature. So, what was just the right time to implement God’s plan? When we, in God’s eyes, were utterly helpless to save ourselves. This is what makes this gift the “Gift of Grace”. We didn’t earn it, and we certainly didn’t deserve it. It is His gift to us because He loves us.
But God also wants us to love Him back with all of our heart, soul and mind. That is why we were created for a relationship with Him. 2 Peter 1:3 clarifies that point: “The more we grow in our relationship with Jesus, His divine nature gives us everything we need for living a Godly life…” It’s all about relationship; it’s not about religion or works. Ephesians 2:8-9 drives that point home. “God saved you by His special favor (by His grace) when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; this is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”
Since God witnessed first-hand what sin did to His original Paradise, He took steps to prevent such a recurrence in the New Jerusalem. He proclaimed in Leviticus 20:26: “You must be holy (set aside for a sacred purpose; sin-free) because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own.” In other words, we cannot come into the presence of God if we are stained with sin because sin contaminates, spreads, kills and destroys. If you doubt that, just look at the world in which you are living. Remember, this too started out as Paradise, but what you see today is the exaltation of Man’s best effort as opposed to God’s perfect plan.
Revelation 21 puts the exclamation point at the end of the discussion concerning the criteria for entering the Kingdom of Heaven. “Nothing evil will be allowed to enter – no one who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty – but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (meaning, those who are in Christ!)
So far there has been only one person in the history of the world who lived a sin-free life, and that was Jesus Christ. That is what qualified Him to be THE Sacrificial Lamb to be slain in our place. His one-time sin offering paid the sin-ransom for everyone who accepts God’s Gift of Grace. If you are in Christ, in God’s eyes you are justified (made right in His sight) because we are covered with the blood of His dearly beloved Son, Jesus. This is the only ticket to eternal life in Paradise!
I’ll close with this clear, concise presentation of the Gospel of Grace: “But now God has shown us a different way of being right in His sight, not by obeying the Law, but by the way promised in Scriptures long ago. We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in the same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet now God in His gracious kindness declares us NOT GUILTY! He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy His anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed His blood, sacrificing His life for us.” (Romans 3:21-25) Amen!
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May God bless Ya…
Dan Presgrave, (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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