- The Grace of God and Gifts Under Pews
- The Grace of God and Our Adoption
- The Grace of God and Used Cars
- The Grace of God and Learning to Walk
We began talking in the previous post about God’s grace. God, in his love and by his grace, provided a way for us to be made right with him despite our sins. That’s the most incredible truth in all history, so let’s unpack it and see what we can learn about God’s grace.
First, though, let’s ask an important question: do we really need saving?
The answer is yes. We really need saving. Each of us has sinned, and that sin has separated us from God, who is perfectly holy and just. Because God is pure and holy, he must and does condemn sin. Since we’re sinners, that means he must condemn us.
It isn’t that we’re neutral toward God. We’re so desperately lost in sin that we don’t even realize we’re in open, defiant rebellion against our Creator. Our sins have made us his enemies.
But God was never satisfied with leaving us separated from him. Maybe we don’t truly appreciate God’s grace because we underestimate our sin or God’s holiness or both. The real issue for many of us, though, is that we underestimate something else — God’s love.
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (Romans 5:8-10)
You were an enemy of God and under his holy wrath and condemnation. But God loves you so much that he refused to leave you that way. While you were in open rebellion against him and liked it that way, God saved you from his wrath against sin. God, in his grace, provided a way for us — sinners, enemies, people under his wrath — to be made right with him.
While we were sinners, Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. He died in our place. Our sin must be punished, and our sin was punished. All of God’s wrath was poured out on Jesus on the cross.
In Romans 5:9, Paul says that “we have now been justified,” which is a legal way of saying that we’ve been declared not guilty. We’ve been made right with God because Jesus paid our penalty on the cross.
But God’s grace didn’t stop at justification. He did so much more than that. God didn’t simply declare us not guilty and then walk away.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Jesus, who had absolutely zero sin, took all of our sins on himself. And his righteousness, his holiness, has been placed on us, who had no holiness. We’re not simply declared to be not guilty. We’re declared to be righteous. He takes our sin and gives us his righteousness. And this is done “for our sake,” because he loves us.
But, of course, we may not feel righteous. We still struggle with sin. This is the “already/not yet” existence of followers of Christ. On the one hand, we are already righteous, but on the other hand, we still sin. We’re not yet holy, but in God’s eyes, we’re already holy. We’ve been given his righteousness, so God considers us to be righteous.
Do you think God stopped at righteousness? No, God has gone beyond even that — he has adopted us as his children! The judge has taken you into his family!
Paul wrote:
He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will… (Ephesians 1:5)
You’re not simply on God’s good side, you’re not simply on speaking terms with God, you’re his child. He’s your Father.
John, the “beloved” disciple, a man who knew as much as anyone about the love of Jesus, wrote about this as well:
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1)
This truth of our adoption into God’s family was so important to Paul that he wrote about it more than once.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. (Romans 8:14-16)
God’s love for us is so great that when we accept Christ’s forgiveness, God adopts us into his family. Because God has adopted us, we gain all the privileges of being a child and heir of God. We can even call him “Abba,” a very personal term that expresses an intimate, loving relationship with God our Father. And if we ever begin to doubt that God loves us, the Holy Spirit “bears witness with our spirit,” assuring us that we are his children and he is our Heavenly Father.
I want you to know that you are loved! Your Creator knew you and saw every one of your sins, even the ones you haven’t committed yet, and he loved you so much that he allowed himself to be nailed to a cross for you. God says to you, “You’re my child, I’m your dad, and you mean the world to me! It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, or what you will do. I love you, and I will never stop loving you!” Oh Father, please allow every reader who struggles with this to experience your overwhelming love right now.