“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world…[He] gave himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
(Titus 2:11-15)
Grace is free, unconditional, unmerited for the recipient, but not for the conferrer. Grace cost God dearly! None can delve its depth other than to say, “It was an eternal hurt.” To watch His Beloved Son suffer the everlasting torment of the damned in real time will be forever a mystery. Nevertheless the endless agony of what every sinner would have, or will, endured for infinity He suffered. Remember, the Passover Lamb not only suffered death, but was burned in the fires.
Today we hear much about grace: grace preachers; churches with that name; we talk about it; sing about it; write books on the subject; but I wonder if it falls under the category Peter speaks of in his first epistle, “...this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.” Jude speaks of “ ungodly men, [who] turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness,” (that is, sexual lewdness). Grace doesn’t free us to sin; it frees us from sin! A real grace experience has the highest moral values.
Grace is not an enemy of God’s moral law; they’re not opposites, they’re compatible. Grace teaches us that...“denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” What God’s Moral Law says God’s Grace says “Amen!” to. Those who have tasted the genuine grace of God are those who mourn and weep behind closed doors over the least little sin; I use “little sin” in a descriptive sense only. To sin is to hurt our God, and He has been hurt enough, for time and eternity! Don’t you think?
An Old Disciple
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