“Amazing grace!”

Hennie Symington

“No! We believe and are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.” Acts 15:11

And yet the Lord is waiting to be merciful to you. He is ready to take pity on you because he always does what is right. Isaiah 30:18

Sin takes its toll

There are certain church groups or believers who accuse other believers of being “soft on sin” and are therefore not Christians. Some of these self-appointed prophets even refer to “sinners falling to hell like snowflakes”.

Without diminishing the seriousness of sin, we as believers know in our hearts that the choices we have made for better of for worse weren’t taken lightly, that sin does exist and has an immense impact on our lives and that we can indeed lose sight of God’s purpose in our lives. However, we also see that nothing angered Jesus more than those who condemned others.

Yet we know that Christ not only came to earth to free us from sin, but more importantly, He came to reveal the heart of God to mankind and to proclaim that his everlasting and abundant love brings salvation to all – regardless of our inability to do what is good and right. The fact is that there are none who have not sinned. No-one is blameless. There are not degrees of sin – our very being is sinful.

Jesus descended into hell to keep us out of there. We all live under the law of grace and not righteousness. Therefore, to imply that certain churches are “soft on sin” underlines the greatest truth of all: that God loves sinners and will stop at nothing to save them.

How we love the song that begins with “Amazing grace!” Let’s take it to heart and thank God a thousand times over for his grace, while thinking very carefully about the kind of lives we have chosen to lead.

Prayer for today

Lord, how can I judge others if your amazing grace and mercy extend to all. Help met to live my life thankful that you have not condemned me to fall “fall like a snowflake” to hell. Amen