Grace is essential, and a proper understanding of grace is equally essential to the on-going sanctification, or "making holy before God," for every believer. Grace begins with the onset: Christ's free gift of grace, a chance to start over, clean, brand new before God. But grace continues in the daily workings of our everyday. God gives us the grace to change and to stay changed. No matter what we have done, from whence we've come, God extends grace.
But God also demands change.
He forgives our sins. Those that occurred once, and those that have become a lifestyle of wickedness and debauchery. But the Holy, Redeeming Savior of the universe requires a grace-filled, radical, abandoned lifestyle alteration upon the acceptance of such grace. We aren't allowed to keep on sinning. We are allowed, and in fact commanded to judge and be judged according to the Word of God when we claim to have accepted grace and are refusing to live in the life-changing grace God extends.
A changed heart and life, however, does not automatically wipe away the natural, physical consequences of a life previously lived in sin. God doesn't promise to wipe away our rap sheets upon salvation. Getting saved in prison doesn't get you out of prison. Allowing God to change you doesn't automatically fix a relationship you ruined. Or get you out of debt. Or get your name off of any lists. He doesn't promise to erase human-instilled labels.
But when that change occurs, it is total and complete, and God does promise that a life lived out for him from that point on will be more powerful than we could possibly fathom, as seen in Paul's testimony. One young man I know has recently turned a complete 180-degree, from a life of pot, drinking and girls to a life sold out to Christ. It's radical, it's real and it's entirely and unmistakably by the grace of God.
As we are tempted to judge churches or individuals based on what we hear, what people say, or what one man writes about in his weekly blog, we must never forget that no matter what preferences, perspectives or opinions drive us apart, we are united under grace. If it was, perhaps, diluted and tossed in at the end with a "repeat-after-me" prayer, it's still grace. If over-zealously presented in a threatening sermon on hell and eternal torment, it's still grace. It's the once-for-all promise of God, as well as the "be holy as I am holy" empowerment of God.
From God to us, from us to each other. This simple post is reflective of my week, the things I'm personally going through, and a reminder to myself and all of you to never stop living in the grace of God, and extending that grace to those around, no matter how disastrous their offense.
No comments:
Post a Comment