AMAZING GRACE!

AMAZING GRACE!

Grace is such a marvelous thing. One of my most favorite songs is, AMAZING GRACE. Most of my life I have missed the understanding of grace. I have given so much attention to man doing things and doing things right and believing things right that I overlooked the greatest theme in all the Bible, THE GRACE OF GOD!
 
When the Reformation Movement was launched in the 15th and 16th centuries there was a hunger to escape the legalism of the Roman Church. The pendulum of theology swung from harsh legalism to the opposite direction as men sought balance and redemption. The Restoration movement in 19th century America sought a return to the Word of God. It responded to those that seemingly has missed some vital understandings and commandments. The Restoration Movement did not end in the 19th century but in one way it did. We settled in and the great minds that led the Restoration passed away. Lesser minds took the reigns of leadership and defended the gains that had been accomplished. This was a mistake. We should have pushed ahead for deeper understandings of such vital concepts as that of grace.

I grew up in NE Arkansas and in a church family surrounded by love and goodwill. Though I do not remember much said on grace I do remember a family of grace. My teen years in Michigan were not years of understanding grace either. Although, they were a dear and loving family to me. At Freed-Hardeman I mainly remember hearing what grace was not, rather than the riches of grace. Indeed, my first twenty years of life and half of that as a Christian, was all in the ideas of what grace was not and a strong emphasis on that I had better believe the right facts and do the right things or I will be lost. Leaving Freed-Hardeman in 1977 I started my first full time work with this emphasis. You must believe the right facts and do the right things or you will burn. My goal was to change the thinking and beliefs of others. I knew grace was there but only in a very abstract way.

Do not get me wrong. I feel one should pursue the Word of God and learn and grow. I feel one should take the truth of God and seek to live by it. Sin is powerful and destructive and if one continues the dark path of sin there comes a point in which even grace is left behind. Grace will go with you a long ways however. Praise God! Grace would teach us to abandon a life of sin and move closer to the light of God and His wonderful love.

But, what is grace? Grace is that magnificent concept of God's love and redemption in our lives. He loves us unconditionally. He loves us fervently. Once we believe in Jesus Christ and submit to Him in obedience and commitment, He surrounds us with His grace. The Christian has a measure of grace that is so awesome.

Here is a fact we do not like to talk about. As a Christian I am still not right. I still sin. I still fall. I still fail to do what I should. I never study enough. I never do enough. I never give enough. I never evangelize enough. I never pray enough. I am always inadequate. This thought can be so overwhelming and so discouraging but not for grace. Grace comes to the rescue and says, yes you will never be "good enough" but you will be forgiven and you will be my child. Grace says you can make it and God will be with you.

Failing to appreciate the wondrous grace of God is in reality failing to see the cross of Jesus. In the death of Jesus for the sins of the world He did what we could not do. He saved us. In His blood He keeps on saving us and helping us to achieve (I John 1:5-10).

Here is something about the church at Corinth that I have failed to see for many years. They were one messed up congregation and had many failures and sins. Yet, Paul said of them in the opening verses:
"Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." (I Cor. 1:1-9)

It is just amazing how Paul talks to this sinful church. Here is what I see. Grace
covers a lot. It covers me even as I sin and it catches me and holds me. In my weaknesses and failures grace catches me. In my sorrows and rebellion grace catches me. In my doubts and fears grace catches me. When I am wrong grace covers for me. When I sin grace catches me. Oh indeed, AMAZING GRACE! The church at Corinth had SIN but was in a period of God's grace and with this letter Paul was teaching them how to move away from darkness and toward His marvelous light. They did make movement and in the second letter Paul praises them for that movement toward the light.

But, there are limitations. "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" (Rom. 6:1). This verse has something that I have in past years overlooked. It appears to me that in my sin I am covered by grace. Did you catch it? "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" Wow. This is what I have been saying. Grace catches me even in my sin. However, there is a warning here. Grace gives me time to recover but I must not play with this grace and take it for granted. Grace is wonderful and powerful but SIN is powerful as well. Sin is addictive and has a way of taking hold and it will lead you down darker and darker paths of evil and absolute destruction. You can walk so far away from God that You leave Him behind, and His wondrous grace that He wishes to bestow upon you.

What does all this mean? It means you can live a confident Christian life of love and grace. You are forgiven. Each day you sin and each day God forgives you because of Christ and His death on Calvary. Each night I turn my computer off and it resets for me to turn back on in the morning. In like manner God resets your Christian life daily. Praise God! You can have joy in your life in knowing that I am not perfect and that is ok. My faults and failures will not destroy me, His grace catches me! So, relax! Be happy! You are loved and you are forgiven! God through Jesus has your back! You have His grace and He will ever help you to achieve. When you fall, you are human. His grace picks you up and puts you on your way!
 
God be praised for His marvelous grace!

*Allen Ashlock, 2014


BIBLE VERSES ON GRACE THAT HELP ME:
1 Peter 5:10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Ephesians 2:4-9 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
Romans 5:8 But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
John 1:16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
Romans 3:20-24 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (Note: I believe the phrase, "...through faith in Jesus Christ..." should be translated "...through faith of Jesus Christ..." It was His sacrifice and atonement that freed us from all sin. Thank you Jesus.)