It’s my hols again so finally I get to blog. I’ll start off with something on grace. It came from a sermon I heard couple of weeks back in New Creation. It’s not possible to list down all the points so I’ll just give some key pointers. Btw, this isn’t a response to recent blogs on a similar topic.
Back to the sermon. It was about the grace of God abounding in us from Romans 5. Interestingly, the sermon began with Hebrews that if we sin willfully, there remains no sacrifice for sin. Pastor Prince explained the context of that verse was Paul telling the Jews that if they continued to reject God’s grace in giving His Son, the grace of God will not be extended to them. Many Christians tend to think that verse meant if we sinned repeatedly, we cannot receive God’s grace anymore. But the verse was talking about the Jews rejecting the Messiah.
Citing Romans 5, he also said that grace abounds even more where there is sin. This does not mean we should sin more, but that we can be assured of God’s grace in times of sin. After we have received Christ, it’s impossible not to sin. There are times when we will fall. But as sons and daughters of God, we can never lose that status. When we have servants, we replace them when they make mistakes. But we never replace our children no matter how many mistakes they make. Therefore when we sin, grace abounds more in us. Why? Because, the more we sin, the more undeserving we are of God’s grace. To interpret this wrongly would be to say let’s sin more. But the spirit of what Paul is saying is His grace is sufficient for us and He will remember our sins no more.
Pastor Prince also gave some examples. He cited David who lived under Mosaic law. David was duly punished in losing his son for committing adultery with Bathsheba. But God restored him in giving his kingdom to Bathsheba’s next son, Solomon. Abraham had quite a different story. He was justified by faith and it was accounted to him for righteousness. He denied his wife when Pharoah confronted him and worse, let her sleep with other men to protect himself. Yet God blessed Abraham greatly when Pharoah asked him to leave. David experienced God’s mercy which included judgment. Abraham experienced God’s grace.
He ended his sermon with the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew. He mentioned how certain very questionable people were in the line of Christ- Rahab being a prostitute and Ruth who had a Moabite bloodline and so on. The point of it all is that it is not about the works of man, but the grace of God.
My personal feeling of this message is some will find it unacceptable. But actually Pastor Prince is preaching what Paul preached and getting his critics the way Paul had his. Christianity is often trapped in religion- which is man’s efforts to God. The only time God’s grace is really what it is is when we don’t deserve it. Yet, it’s not about sinning freely, but about freely receiving God’s grace so that no man can glory.
Over the years, I’ve heard many sermons on character building and living a holy life. But it’s one thing to preach about character and another on how to get it. In the end, it’s only his amazing grace that transforms us. I’m beginning to understand now why God made Abraham the father of many nations despite him forsaking his wife and why He allowed Jesus to come from a lineage of prostitutes, adulterers, liars etc. The amazing thing is Jesus hung out with these people during His time on earth. When we focus on the law, we are punished. But by God’s grace, we are His sons and we are blessed! My goodness, what a message. It’s like I’m seeing something totally new and experiencing it. The goal is not to avoid sin, but to live a life by grace through faith in the Son of God.
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