“In His Grace”

Scripture:

Galatians 2:21
I am not one of those who treats the grace of God as meaningless.
For if we could be saved by keeping the law, then there was no need for Christ to die. (NLT)

Observation:

It is only because of God’s abundant mercy and gracious favor that anyone of this fallen world has
both the means and the opportunity to stand forgiven and righteous before the Holy God of all creation (2 Chronicles 30:9), because it is humanly impossible for sinful man to co-exist, either spiritually or physically, with the holiness of God (Psalm 24:3, 4). The Lord gave us His written Law two-fold; so that we might know how to live a long and healthy life that would be both pleasing to Him and rewarding for us, and to show us how desperately we all need God’s mercy and grace—to show us how sinful we are and how impossible it is for any human being to live without sinning against our Holy God.

Application:

The standards of our Holy God are far too high for anyone to achieve on their own accord. And it is because of His high standard and the sin condition that we all have inherited from the first man, Adam, that the Almighty God sent His Son into the world. It is through our Lord, Jesus Christ, that mankind was able to meet God face to face and the Lord our God was able to experience, first hand, this hard and difficult life for Himself. Although Jesus was born without a sinful nature, He still lived with the same temptations as all of us do, and because He was able to live a sinless life, Jesus became the perfect, once and for all time, sacrificial Lamb of God, taking away the sins of the world and paying the full price that set us free from the power of sin and the fear of death that this life holds us in bondage to. Christ paid for our sins and our souls with His blood and His life. He now covers the forgiven sins of all believers with His perfect righteousness. By hanging on a cross Jesus saved us with His life. By rising from the grave into Heaven, Jesus defeated death and is now sitting at the right hand of the Father pleading our case and forgiving our sins. And even though we continue to fall short of God’s Glorious Standard we have the power of God to help us overcome our sin addiction, and His forgiveness when we fail. Treasure this gift of God’s grace and hold tightly to the hope it brings. And let no day pass you by, my friends, without verbally expressing your sincere thanksgiving and praise to the God who accomplished what you could not and saved your life.

Prayer:

What peace it brings knowing that we have a loving God who is filled with compassion for His people; a faithful God who is both living in and with His people. Without You, dear Lord, where would we find any hope? Where could we go for comfort? Who could ease our pain and give us peace? Only You, Lord God…only You.

Amen