Can we hear it for our men! They continue to step up and speak out! Today’s post is by none other than my second son by marriage, Pastor Doug Neal married to my second oldest daughter Shanna. Pastor Doug is a featured author on HeartLife and we are always glad to drink in his wisdom. Enjoy!
God Bless You,
Maria
Who could have known that a song written over 200 years ago could still impact us so greatly today? In 1779, the inspirational hymn, Amazing Grace, penned by John Newton and collaborator William Cowper appeared in print for the first time in their collection called the Olney Hymns. It has become one of the most well-known and widely performed hymns in the world. Although written from a first-person perspective, its verses speak of how a holy divine God graciously paid the ultimate price to save mankind from the destruction of sin.
But why is grace so amazing? To answer this question we need to first understand what grace is from a biblical point of view. In Ephesians 2:8-9 the Apostle Paul states that we are saved by grace through faith and not by our own efforts. This grace that Paul writes about is embodied completely in the fact that God sent His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins. His sacrifice became the complete fulfillment of righteousness required by God. The way we participate in this fulfillment is by accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior in accordance with Romans 10:9-10.
The amazing part about this gift of grace is that our salvation depends very little on us. Our only part in receiving God’s saving grace is simply by accepting it. We may think we already understand this but many Christians have a difficult time realizing that their salvation has nothing to do with what they do and everything to do with what Christ has already done. Thus in an effort to earn salvation, Christians who are already saved live life trying to earn their salvation by keeping a list of rule, regulations and laws.
The commandments of the Bible are meant to be kept but we must understand that keeping them is not what grants us salvation. In fact, throughout the book of Romans, Paul shares that the true purpose of the Old Testament law was simply to point out our sins, not to redeem us from them. Subsequently, because of our inability to keep all these laws, we can easily conclude that we are in need of a Savior, someone who can fulfill these laws on our behalf. This is exactly what Jesus accomplished when He died on the cross. He fulfilled the righteous requirement of the law so that now in this dispensation of grace all who believe in Him will be saved.
It’s unfortunate that we so often complicate this message of the Gospel. The very word “Gospel” means good news. The news is that Christ has died for our sins. What makes it so good is how simple God has made it for us to receive forgiveness for our sins. This is what makes grace so amazing, the simplicity by which man undeservedly can now freely come to God and be saved and reconnected back to God in a loving fulfilling relationship. The various spiritual exercises we participate in such as going to church, reading the Bible, prayer and interaction with other believers only enhance that relationship. The amazing grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ is where the relationship begins.
Doug, It is amazing His love for us, something so simple yet so powerful, thank you for the reminder.. lv ya
I am so thankful that His Grace is Still Amazing! Thank you for that good… word.