June 09, 2007
Newsletter Archives

This past week I attended a funeral service in our community for a long time friend who had unexpectedly passed away. One of the songs we sang during the service was:
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I’m found
Was blind, but now I see.
As I pondered these words, I wondered, what is so amazing about grace? The short answer is that God is so holy that He cannot tolerate sin. Yet He gave His own Son in sacrifice for ours.
God knew we could never pay enough to pay for our own sins. Yet He also knew that His holy character would be compromised if He just ignored our sins and forgave us. Our sin had to be punished. Hence the Lord Jesus took the punishment for us. The Bible states: “Christ died for our sins” 1 Corinthians 15:3.
There is however, one more factor in this equation. For personal sin to be paid for, it must be personally accepted. This is where our responsibility lies. God does not force us to accept His Son as our Savior.
Speaking to an audience one day, the Lord Jesus said: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” John 5: 39-40. If we refuse to come to Him, we will not receive the pardon for our sins.
The grace of God is amazing; He is willing to take away all our sin. But what seems quite amazing as well is the fact that people refuse to accept it and think they can save themselves.

Russ Nesbit