God's Grace

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:20-23 ESV). I never tire of thinking about the grace of God. After our series looking at Abraham and the tests of faith, it was natural for me to turn back to a simple reiteration of the grace of God. I read a story of two pastors from north of the Mason-Dixon who were on their way to Alabama for a large Christian men’s gathering. Neither one of them had ever been in the south before. After checking in to their motel for the night, both being hungry, decided to find a place to eat. It was late with most of the restaurants closed in the small southern Alabama town. The only place they could find open was a Waffle House. They paid little attention to the menu and just ordered some eggs and bacon on the side. When their meal was delivered, they saw this white, gritty looking stuff on their plate. When the waitress came by again one of the pastors asked her what it was. "Grits", she replied. He was both indignant and loud, as he said, "Ma'am I didn't order it and I'm not paying for it". She smiled and simply said, "Sir, down here you don't order it and you don't pay for it, you just get it." How like the grace of God! I talk to many people who simply don’t understand that truth. Recently I was talking with a young woman who had made some unfortunate choices in her life. The resulting turmoil in her life was devastating. She had come to repentance and she and her husband were restoring their marriage. She confided in me that she wasn’t sure she was a Christian. After all, if she had been a Christian how could she have done such a thing? I walked her through several passages of Scripture and listened to her softly weep as she realized it wasn’t her actions that had saved her in the first place. What a joy it was to see the burden of works lifted from her and replaced by the gift of God. All of us should recognize that we are sinners at our core. The Apostle Paul is so clear in the sixth verse of our reading today. We are ALL sinners! He is also clear when he says, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. I once saw a plumber’s van with the following slogan on it: “There is no place too deep, too dark or too dirty for us to handle.” What a wonderful explanation of the Gospel! Just think about it. When we were nothing but a mess, God looked in the darkness of our life and brought light into it. It is this amazing picture of God reaching into the mess of our lives and pulling us from certain destruction, giving us forever life! That’s the grace of God!