Grace Abounds

"God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant." Romans 5:20 NLT

My Pastor's message Sunday was SO good! I decided to share some of it with you this morning. He has been teaching on grace. (He also has a book that's about to be available, so get ready to see a link for it soon. I highly recommend it, even though I've only heard 4 messages from it.) 

People always say that Christianity is about a relationship, not religion. What they are actually saying there is that Christianity isn't governed by the law.

Now, before you get upset with me, hear me out. The law is good. God put the law in place because we needed it to show us that we are sinners and that we needed a Savior. Which is exactly what Romans 5:20 that I posted above says!

Josh gave this example: let's say you have something on your face. You go to the mirror to see and remove it. Then you take the mirror off the wall and try to remove whatever it is. Will that work?

No. Because that's not what the mirror is for. The mirror is there for you to see what's on your face. That's what the law does. It is a mirror that shows us our sinfulness.

It takes soap and water to get the stuff off our face, right? The law is the mirror, and grace is the soap and water.

Romans 3:20,"For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are."

The law is good and has purpose... but it's not there to beat people over the head with.

What happens a lot of times is someone gives their lives to God, and they are feeling good... then, they hear the rules from the Bible, then they hear the rules from the particular denomination they attend, then they realize they can't live up to all of that and they turn their back on God.

Many non Christians think that all Christianity is is a bunch of rules and that we are miserable people. That's simply not true.

However, living under grace doesn't mean that we have the right to go live however we want to. I liked how Josh gave the example for this too.

Let's say you get pulled over for speeding. You aren't upset that you let that police officer down and he had to give you the ticket. No, you are upset that you'll have a fine to pay.

But when you hurt the feelings of someone you love... that's when it affects you and makes you feel bad for letting them down.

Romans 6:14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.

Grace keeps us from sinning because we want to please God. Or, it can help us not sin I should say. We are still going to sin, that's the truth, but we should try not to in order to please our Heavenly Father who gave us the grace.

It's my prayer that you will live in grace. Give grace to others as well. Stop telling them that how they are living or what they are doing is wrong. Most people already know that. Tell them that God loves them.

Like the song Oceans says, "Grace abounds in deepest waters. His sovereign hand, will be my guide."

Grace abounds! 

God bless you today and always.