What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Romans 6:1-2

 

Grace is, “God’s unconditional, undeserved, unlimited, unrelenting love“.  Paul says grace does not give us a free ticket to continue to live a life of sin.  The grace God bestows upon us through the person of Jesus Christ demands death to sin. Grace calls us into a right relationship with God, in which we are transformed from a degree of glory to the next (1 Cor. 3:17-18).

 

When we make grace a free ticket to continue to live in our old habit, we cheapen the grace of God. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession…Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate” (The Cost of Discipleship). The grace of God is NOT cheap, it is a costly gift given to humanity.  God’s forgiveness and righteousness is given to us on the merit of Jesus because He willingly laid down His life on the cross and satisfied the full wrath and punishment that sin deserves.

 

As we enjoy God’s gift, let us not take it for granted!

For of His (Jesus’) fullness, we have all received, and grace upon grace. John 1:16

 

What is grace?  

In his book, “What Does It Mean To Be Welcoming?” Travis Collins beautifully defines grace, “Grace is God’s unconditional, undeserved, unlimited, unrelenting love.  Grace mans our place in God’s heart and our value in God’s eyes are not determined by our decisions.”

 

Adam and Eve’s decision to reject God’s law broke the perfect fellowship and communion that God intended for His creation. All the evil, pain, and illness we experience in this world is due to Adam and Eve’s deliberate disobedience.  The choice created a chasm between humanity and God that no man or woman by their effort is able to close. The prophet Isaiah says, “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away” (Isaiah 64:6). The Apostle Paul says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23). No matter how good one may be, a person cannot obtain the holy standard of God.

 

God looks deep within our hearts and examines our motives.  Paul says, “For all have sinned,” there’s no exception to it.  All of humanity stands guilty of falling short of God’s holy and perfect standard; God’s standards are more infinite than human ways (Isaiah 55:6-12). If left to our own device, all of us stand condemned.  This is where God’s grace comes in. God’s grace is not earned or deserved, it is a free gift that comes to us not as a concept, but in the person of Jesus Christ. His grace is “unconditional, undeserved, unlimited, unrelenting love.”   

 

God’s love is not something you earn or deserve, it’s a gift you receive.