I wish it weren’t true, but it is. I wish there was no need for a remedy. I wish that there were not a price to be paid. I wish that I were not a sinner. Yet my wishing for something different doesn’t result into anything. Left to my own vices, I am hopeless. I have offended my Creator. I have gone against a holy God and I am ruined because of it. I am all of this… without grace. However, with grace I get to tell a different story.
If you believe that grace allows you to go to heaven, you would be correct. But if that is all you view grace as, you are missing out on a lot. I propose to you that grace is a double remedy. That something truly amazing happens when grace meets a sinner like me (and you). [Tweet “Something truly amazing happens when grace meets a sinner like me (and you). “]
The Double Remedy of Grace
The grace I am talking about is the grace of God manifested in the cross of Christ and his subsequent resurrection. Let’s look at this in more detail.
1) Grace Justifies You Before God
Romans 3:23-24
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
Paul is in the middle of a thought in the passage above, but he is getting at this remedy of grace. Who is being justified as a gift by His grace? Every sinner who turns to God in faith.
The one who is not justified before God is indebted to Him. The debt is such an extreme that he would never be able to pay it. But again, this is why God’s grace through jesus Christ is SO GOOD!
Colossians 2:13-14
13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
When you go before God as one who is justified before Him it is as if your debt has been paid. In fact, it surely has. Jesus has paid your debt for good. He has taken all of your sin upon himself so that he can pay your debt off. The cross is the method in which this occurs. Your sins were nailed to the cross of Christ. He has taken care of it.
[Tweet “Your sins were nailed to the cross of Christ. He has taken care of it. “]
Justification is what happens to you. You can approach God with confidence because the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was sufficient to take away the punishment that you deserved.
2) Grace Transforms You
Not only does grace change your standing before God, but it also changes your very self.
Romans 7:4-6
4 Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.
Because of God’s grace, you have been made to die to sin. While sin used to hold you in bondage, you are held no longer by its power. You have been made alive in Christ and dead to sin. When grace meets a sinner like me (and you), a change takes place.
Romans 8:1-4
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
No longer do you walk according to the flesh, according to your former desires. No, you now walk according to the Spirit, for the Spirit lives inside of you. Grace changes your standing before God (remedy #1) and it changes you from the inside out (remedy #2). For whoever is in Christ is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are no longer who you used to be. You may be changing slowly, but you are changing. It may take awhile, but every day presents an opportunity for you to submit to the Spirit.[Tweet “Because of God’s grace: You are no longer who you used to be.”]
While justification is what happens to you. Transformation is what happens in you.[Tweet “While justification is what happens to you. Transformation is what happens in you.”]
This second remedy is the basis of good works. It is because the Holy Spirit lives inside of you and that you are dead to sin that you can truly do the good works that God prepared beforehand for you to do(Ephesians 2:10).
God Does All of This
You and I are not responsible for God’s grace. We are simply offered a gift. We must keep in mind that it is completely unreasonable for us to expect someone to get their life figured out before they come to Jesus. We must understand that people will be changed because they meet Jesus Christ, not anything else. [Tweet “We must understand that people will be changed because they meet Jesus Christ, not anything else.”]
God’s grace is so, so good. This week I will continue talking about God’s grace so stay tuned for more articles relating to the topic of grace. In the meantime, check out: The Surprising Thing I Found in a Kid’s Book. Word is, grace was found.
All Scripture quotations above are from the NASB.
