Grace is something very crucial for us as Christians to understand because it not only brings us into the Kingdom of God, but also sustains our Christian walk with Christ.
We are not only saved by Grace (Eph. 2:8) but we are also sustained by Grace (1 Cor 12:9) because of our shortcomings and sins. Jesus in all his splendour came and died for us all sinners who in essence deserved to die because of the sin that ruled our lives. He took upon himself, the penalty that was meant for us. Now, our redemption is not enough for us to live lives that will be pleasing to our God because we now have to unlearn all the things that we have known from birth which is sin. God knows this so he tells us in 1John 1:9 that "he is faithful and just to forgive if we confess our sins". I read 2 Peter 1:3 and it assures me that God has given us all the things that we will need to live godly lives, and I asked myself the question how; and I got the answer: GRACE!!
Freedom
For a long time the devil has been using the same strategy to shut christians up. The devil has been using guilt and shame as his weapons to distruct all the plans that God has for his people. Because of our sins, we think that God does not love us anymore and we are afraid of coming to him for forgiveness and end up living in our sin because we think that our best works are like "filthy rags" anyway. This is a completely distorted and warped view of our gracious Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus wants us to live a life free from guilt and shame hence David asked God to have mercy on him and clean him from his guilt after he commited adultery.
There is a story in the bible that intrigues me; written in 8 verses and yet one of the best illustrations of Jesus’ unfailing, unconditional and sincere love and grace. A woman caught in adultery is brought to Jesus and according to the Law of Moses; she ought to be stoned to death for her sin. Jesus the writes on the ground and says to her accusers; “let him who has no sin among you be the one to cast the first stone” and continued writing on the ground. The woman’s accusers all left and she was left alone and when Jesus asked her where her accusers were, she said they had all left and that there was nobody to condemn her. Jesus in his grace, mercy and awesome love responds: “neither do I condemn you, now go home and sin no more”. Now this is a woman who according to the Law of Moses deserved to die, she did not deserve a second chance, but Jesus Christ in all his glory and splendour gives her grace and allows her to live and live a changed life. Now you might have heard people write you off and say how you deserve to die and how God will never forget your sin, but God looks at you and says; “well I do not condemn you, I will give you another chance and I will help you to live a life that pleases me”. God was gracious to David when he sinned with Bathsheba and after Nathan spoke to him he writes Psalm 51 and his opening words are “have mercy on me according to your unfailing love.”
For a long time the devil has been using the same strategy to shut christians up. The devil has been using guilt and shame as his weapons to distruct all the plans that God has for his people. Because of our sins, we think that God does not love us anymore and we are afraid of coming to him for forgiveness and end up living in our sin because we think that our best works are like "filthy rags" anyway. This is a completely distorted and warped view of our gracious Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus wants us to live a life free from guilt and shame hence David asked God to have mercy on him and clean him from his guilt after he commited adultery.
There is a story in the bible that intrigues me; written in 8 verses and yet one of the best illustrations of Jesus’ unfailing, unconditional and sincere love and grace. A woman caught in adultery is brought to Jesus and according to the Law of Moses; she ought to be stoned to death for her sin. Jesus the writes on the ground and says to her accusers; “let him who has no sin among you be the one to cast the first stone” and continued writing on the ground. The woman’s accusers all left and she was left alone and when Jesus asked her where her accusers were, she said they had all left and that there was nobody to condemn her. Jesus in his grace, mercy and awesome love responds: “neither do I condemn you, now go home and sin no more”. Now this is a woman who according to the Law of Moses deserved to die, she did not deserve a second chance, but Jesus Christ in all his glory and splendour gives her grace and allows her to live and live a changed life. Now you might have heard people write you off and say how you deserve to die and how God will never forget your sin, but God looks at you and says; “well I do not condemn you, I will give you another chance and I will help you to live a life that pleases me”. God was gracious to David when he sinned with Bathsheba and after Nathan spoke to him he writes Psalm 51 and his opening words are “have mercy on me according to your unfailing love.” There is no way that the accuser can get away with making you feel guilty or ashamed when you are in Christ, God will affirm his love and faithfulness to you. The bible says that when we sin and we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive. Now this does not mean that we should sin all the more because we can always come back to him and ask for forgiveness. Paul clarifies this in Romans 6:1-23. Guilt and shame will make it hard for you to boldly come into the presence of God and sometimes not because you are bad person, but because you realize how sinful you are how holy God is. Shame and Guilt did not allow Judas Iscariot to live. “If anybody is in Christ all things are made new, the old is gone and the new has come” Will you accept today that God will never accuse you and receive his grace and peace as you walk with him or will you continue to live in misery with guilt and shame as your friends?
May we all come to know and truly believe this: THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING THAT YOU CAN DO THAT WILL MAKE GOD LOVE YOU LESS BECAUSE “…He does not treat us as our sins deserve … as far as the east is from the west, so has he removed our sins from us” Psalm 103:10,12.
Oh Sello how did you know that this is so what God is talking to me about??? This is great. Keep listening to the Fathers heart
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