Amazing Grace

Do you have anything in the house that’s been broken for a long time and because you are tired seeing it (but is somewhat precious to be thrown away) you ended up fixing it? And instead of a thank you, you were criticized or someone tried to “improve” on it?

Have you given anyone something and felt bad about giving it because instead of a thank you, that person asked for the gift receipt?

Have you done something for anyone out of the goodness of your heart and instead of a thank you, you get a “I-didn’t-ask-you-to do it”.

As the giver, I bet it doesn’t only hurt it could be insulting to some extent, right?

My employer had a daughter. She was very unhealthy. She would sleep the whole day and would only wake up for a cigarette break. She did not eat healthy and she was diabetic. Her blood sugar was always on the higher 500. She was taking up to 12 prescription pills for pain daily. She was unhappy and quarrelsome and bitter. Very ungrateful, too. It was hard being around her.

Then in March of last year, she was diagnosed with lung cancer-stage 4. It came as a surprise to her. After all, she had only been smoking since she was 15 years old. In just six months, she succumbed and lost the battle. She was 68.

When she was diagnosed with the disease, she was devastated. She was so afraid that one day she called for me and asked me to pray for her. I prayed with her and led her to accept Jesus as her Savior. I gave her a moment to speak to the Lord and with desperation, what I heard was this :” Oh, God please make me well and I promise to be a good person, just give me another chance.” I explained to her that God may not always restore good health ( and He did not in her case), but He gave her the best gift of salvation.

Do you now have an idea where I am going with this? A little earlier than that, we had a discussion and she was upset that God was “unfair”. I asked her to explain and she said, ” well what is up with this salvation for all sinners? You mean to say if a murderer or a rapist confesses and accepts Jesus as Savior that he would go to Heaven?”

“If it was genuine repentance, I believe that is true because that’s what the Scriptures say. ”

She couldn’t bring herself to accept the fact that she was gonna be in Heaven with them. I laughed and jokingly told her not to worry about it because she was not gonna be in Heaven anyway. Little did I know that months after that conversation, I would be the same person to lead her to pray and accept her salvation.

We were all dead in our transgressions and sins. If we lie , then we are in the category of liars, which is sin. White lie, blue lie, big lie or small lie is a lie, period. If we take money from the emergency tin can in the cupboard without asking, that is stealing. Robbing the bank and taking money from your husband’s wallet is both stealing. If you look at a woman with lust, you are in the same category as that of someone who cheats and sleeps with someone other than your spouse, it is adultery.

So, if all of us are sinners and fell short of God’s glory, then we’re in big trouble. But because God’s love is great, His mercy made us alive in Christ that even when we were dead in transgressions,-it is by grace we have been saved.

Accept it and be thankful. We can never improve on God’s plan. We can never be saved by doing good deeds. God is all knowing that He knew it would be an issue with us that he explicitly said:

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved,through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.

“Don’t get any idea”, God must be saying. My grace is sufficient. It is a gift and you cannot improve on my plan. There is no gift receipt for I know what is best for you. Just accept it, receive it . Good works are a by product of the salvation, not our ticket to Heaven.

God’s plan of salvation is simple yet profound. We find it hard to believe that sinners like you and I were the reason for the death of His only Son, Jesus. We are not worthy hence no amount of good work can earn us our salvation. Only God’s grace is sufficient. It’s a gift through the kindness and mercy through and in Jesus.

Now, that is amazing!

Related articles

• A Gift, Not to Be Earned (muyiwabamise.wordpress.com)
• Is salvation possible after death? Is there a second chance for salvation? (savedbygraceblogdotcom.wordpress.com)
• Pluralism, Inclusivism, and Exclusivism: Which Is It? (drtimwhite.com)
• An Unexpected “Gift” by Mark D. Roberts (lacykitkat.wordpress.com)
• Salvation out of my knees (manghahasik.wordpress.com)