CHAPTER THREE

GRACE —IT REALLY IS AMAZING

But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

ROMANS 5:20-21

A study of the grace of God is a study in contrast, a contrast between the desperate plight of mankind and the abundant and gracious remedy God has provided for us through Christ Jesus. This contrast is beautifully described in the words of an old hymn:

Guilty, vile and helpless we,

Spotless Lamb of God was He;

Full atonement! Can it be?

Hallelujah, what a Savior![8]

In chapter 2, we saw that all of us are indeed guilty, vile, and helpless. We recognized that all of us are equally in need of the grace of God. In this chapter, we will consider God’s gracious provision for our desperate plight.

When an engaged couple goes into a jewelry store to shop for that special diamond, the jeweler will often set a dark, velvet-covered pad on his counter, then carefully lay each diamond on the pad. The contrast of the dark velvet provides the background that enhances the sparkle and beauty of each diamond.

Our sinful condition hardly qualifies as a velvet pad, but against the dark background of guilt and moral pollution, God’s grace in salvation sparkles like a beautiful, clear, and flawless diamond.

OUR RUIN, GOD’S REMEDY

The apostle Paul used a contrasting background when he described God’s gracious remedy for our ruin in a series of Scriptures I like to call God’s wonderful “buts.”

We already saw the dark background Paul painted in his indictment of all mankind, both religious and irreligious, in Romans 3:10-12. In verses 13-20, he elaborated on that indictment, finally concluding in verse 20, “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.”

Having painted the dark background of our ruin, Paul proceeds to set before us the clear, sparkling diamond of God’s remedy. Notice how he begins: “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify” (verse 21). We are all found to be in a state of ruin, but now God has provided a remedy: a righteousness that comes from God through faith in Jesus Christ. This righteousness is said to be “apart from law,” that is, apart from any consideration of how well or not so well we have obeyed the law of God.

Under God’s grace, the extent or quality of our law-keeping is not an issue. Instead, those who have faith in Jesus Christ “are justified freely by his grace” (verse 24). To be justified means more than to be declared “not guilty.” It actually means to be declared righteous before God. It means God has imputed or charged the guilt of our sin to His Son, Jesus Christ, and has imputed or credited Christ’s righteousness to us.

Note, however, that we are justified by His grace. It is because of God’s grace we are declared righteous before Him. We are all guilty before God —condemned, vile, and helpless. We had no claim on God; the disposition of our case was wholly up to Him. He could with total justice have pronounced us all guilty, for that is what we were, and consigned us all to eternal damnation. That is what He did to the angels who sinned (see 2 Peter 2:4), and He could have with perfect justice done the same to us. He owed us nothing; we owed Him everything.

But because of His grace, God did not consign us all to hell; instead, He provided a remedy for us through Jesus Christ. Romans 3:25 says, “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.” What is a sacrifice of atonement? A footnote of the New International Version gives an alternate reading of “the one who would turn aside his wrath, taking away sin.”

The meaning of Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, then, is that Jesus by His death turned aside the wrath of God from us by taking it upon Himself. As He hung on the cross, He bore our sins in His body and endured the full force of God’s wrath in our place. As Peter said, “He himself bore our sins in his body,” and suffered, “the righteous for the unrighteous” (1 Peter 2:24; 3:18). By His death Jesus completely satisfied the justice of God, which required eternal death as the penalty for sin.

It is important that we notice who presented Christ as this sacrifice of atonement. Romans 3:25 says God presented Him. The whole plan of redemption was God’s plan and was undertaken at God’s initiative. Why did He do this? There is only one answer: because of His grace. The atonement was God’s extending favor to people who deserved not favor but wrath. The atonement was God’s bridging the awful “Grand Canyon” of sin to reach people who were in rebellion against Him. And He did this at infinite cost to Himself by sending Jesus to die in our place.

Another of God’s wonderful “buts” is found in Ephesians 2:1-5:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions —it is by grace you have been saved.

Again we see the contrast drawn so sharply between our ruin and God’s remedy. In verses 1-3, Paul described us as dead in our sins, under the sway of Satan, captivated by the world, prisoners of our own sinful lusts, and objects of God’s holy wrath. Could any picture be more dark, any background more contrasting? But against this dark background Paul once again presented the flawless diamond of God’s grace.

But God intervened! We were dead in our transgressions, but God intervened. We were in bondage to sin, but God intervened. We were objects of wrath, but God intervened. God, who is rich in mercy, intervened. Because of His great love for us, God intervened and made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in our transgressions and sins. All this is summed up in one succinct statement: “It is by grace you have been saved.” Our condition was hopeless, but God intervened in grace.

A third instance of God’s wonderful “buts” occurs in Titus 3:3-5:

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

Again Paul draws a gracious contrast between our ruin and God’s remedy. The contrast could not be more bold and complete. Our foolishness, disobedience, and enslavement to all kinds of sinful passions are met by God’s kindness, mercy, and love. The utterly unrighteous are declared righteous (justified) by His grace (see Titus 3:7). God’s grace really is amazing.

God’s grace, then, does not supplement our good works. Instead, His grace overcomes our bad works, which are our sins. God did this by placing our sins on Christ and by letting fall on Him the wrath we so richly deserved. Because Jesus completely paid the awful penalty of our sins, God could extend His grace to us through complete and total forgiveness of our sins. The extent of His forgiveness is vividly portrayed to us in four picturesque expressions in the Old Testament.

A FAR AS THE EAST IS FROM THE WEST

Psalm 103:12 reads, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” How far is the east from the west? If you start due north at any point on earth, you would eventually cross over the North Pole and start going south, but that is not true when you go east or west. If you start west and continue in that direction you will always be going west. North and south meet at the North Pole, but east and west never meet. In a sense, they are an infinite distance apart. So when God says He removes our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west, He is saying they have been removed an infinite distance from us. But how can we get a “handle” on this rather abstract truth in such a way that it becomes meaningful in our lives?

When God uses this metaphorical expression describing the extent of His forgiveness of our sins, He is saying His forgiveness is total, complete, and unconditional. He is saying He is not keeping score with regard to our sins. The psalmist clarifies this idea: “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10). Yes, God actually says that! I know it seems too good to be true. I confess I almost hesitate to write those words because they are so foreign to our innate concepts of reward and punishment.

But those gracious words are right in the Bible, and they are God’s words. How can God possibly do this? How can He so completely disregard our transgressions as to say He removes them an infinite distance from us? The answer is by His grace through Jesus Christ. As we saw in an earlier part of this chapter, God laid our sins on Christ, and He bore the penalty we should have borne. Because of Christ’s death in our place, God’s justice is now completely satisfied. God can now, without violating His justice or His moral law, forgive us freely, completely and absolutely. He can now extend His grace to us; He can show favor to those who, in themselves, deserve only wrath.

BEHIND HIS BACK

Isaiah 38:17 gives another pictorial expression to describe the extent of God’s forgiveness of our sins. The prophet said of God, “You have put all my sins behind your back.” When something is behind our back, it is out of sight. We can’t see it anymore. God says He has done that with our sins. It is not that we haven’t sinned or, as Christians, do not continue to sin. We know we sin daily —in fact, many times a day. Even as Christians our best efforts are still marred with imperfect performance and impure motives. But God no longer “sees” either our deliberate disobedience or our marred performances. Instead He “sees” the righteousness of Christ, which He has already imputed to us.

Does this mean God ignores our sins like an overindulgent, permissive father who lets his children grow up undisciplined and ill-behaved? Not at all. In His relationship to us as our heavenly Father, God does deal with our sins, but only in such a way as for our good. He does not deal with us as our sins deserve, which would be punishment, but as His grace provides, which is for our good.

In His relationship to us as the moral Governor and Judge of mankind, God has put our sins behind His back. In His relationship to us as the Supreme Sovereign dealing with His rebellious subjects, He no longer “sees” our sins. And note that our sins do not just happen to be behind God’s back. The Scripture says He has put them there. How can He do this and still be a just and holy God? Again, the answer is that Jesus Christ paid the penalty we should have paid. As another hymn put it, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”[9]

HURLED INTO THE SEA

Another striking metaphor expressing the completeness of God’s forgiveness occurs in Micah 7:19. There the prophet Micah said of God, “You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” When I was a naval officer, I had an experience where equipment was lost in the depths of the sea through a small boat accident. I know what it is to drag grappling hooks across the bottom of the sea all day in a vain effort to recover the equipment. That ship’s gear was lost forever.

So it is with our sins. God has hurled them into the depths of the sea to be lost forever, never to be recovered, never to be held against us. Again, just as God said He put our sins behind His back, so here He says He will hurl them into the depths of the sea. They will not “fall overboard”; God will hurl them into the depths. He wants them to be lost forever, because He has fully dealt with them in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Do you begin to get the picture? Are you realizing that God’s forgiveness is complete and irreversible? Have you started to understand that regardless of how “bad” you’ve been or how many times you’ve committed the same sin, God completely and freely forgives you because of Christ? Do you see that, because God has already dealt with your sins in Christ, you do not have to do penance or fulfill some probationary term before God can bless you or use you again?

I once heard someone say he felt he could no longer claim God’s gracious promise of forgiveness in 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” He reasoned that he had sinned so many times he had used up all his “credit” with God. I believe many Christians think that way because we do not entirely comprehend the fullness of God’s forgiveness in Christ. But if we insist on thinking in terms of “credit” before God, we must think only of Christ’s credit, for we have none on our own. And how much does He have? An infinite amount. That is why Paul could say, “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more” (Romans 5:20).

BLOTTED FROM THE RECORD

The fourth passage emphasizing the complete and absolute forgiveness of our sins is Isaiah 43:25:

I, even I, am he who blots out

your transgressions, for my own sake,

and remembers your sins no more.

Here God uses two expressions: He blots out our transgressions —that is, He removes them from the record —and He remembers them no more.

A friend of mine, because of a teenage “prank,” had a felony conviction in Canada. Later, he received a Queen’s pardon. Now, if his past is ever investigated for criminal activity, the response given is, “We have no record of this person.” His record has not just been marked “pardoned,” it has been completely removed from the file and destroyed. It has been blotted out, never to be seen again. This is what God does with our sins. When you trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior, God removes your record from the file. He doesn’t keep it there or daily add the long list of sins you continue to commit even as a Christian.

God not only blots our sins from His record, He also remembers them no more. This expression means He no longer holds them against us. The blotting out of our transgressions is a legal act. It is an official pardon from the Supreme Governor. The remembering them no more is a relational act. It is the giving up by an injured party of all sense of being offended or injured. It is a promise never to bring up, either to Himself or to you, your sins.

Jay Adams, in his book From Forgiven to Forgiving, helpfully pointed out the difference between not remembering and forgetting:

Forgetting is passive and is something that we human beings, not being omniscient, do. “Not remembering” is active; it is a promise whereby one person (in this case, God) determines not to remember the sins of another against him. To “not remember” is simply a graphic way of saying, “I will not bring up these matters to you or others in the future.”[10]

Consider a rebellious, recalcitrant student in a classroom. His acts of defiance toward the teacher may have both legal and relational consequences. Legally, he may be expelled from school. Relationally, the teacher may feel a deep sense of hostility toward the student. Even if the student is allowed to return to school (the equivalent of a pardon), the teacher may continue to hold hostility toward the student, “remembering” his rebellion and defiance. In order to gain a good standing in the classroom, the rebellious student needs to be both pardoned by the school authorities and forgiven by the teacher. He needs to have the teacher give up all sense of being offended and agree “not to remember” —not to bring up —his poor behavior. (Obviously, for this to happen, the student’s attitude and future conduct must change. But still, the teacher must decide to not remember the past.)

This, then, is similar to what God does when He blots out our transgressions and remembers our sins no more. As the Supreme Governor and Judge, He pardons us. As the offended party, He forgives us and He promises never to bring up our sins again. Through His death, Jesus not only secured our pardon with God, He also reconciled us to God. But as Paul said, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:18, emphasis added). God, acting in grace through the giving of His Son to die for us, was the initiator of reconciliation.

If you have trusted in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation, you are both justified (a legal act) and reconciled (a relational act). You are no longer condemned by God. As Paul said, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1, emphasis added). In addition, you are no longer estranged from God. God is no longer against you; He is now for you. Again as Paul said, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (8:31). Both of these wonderful changes occurred because of God’s grace and despite our sin and guilt: “[For] where sin increased, grace increased all the more” (5:20).

FREE FROM ACCUSATION

The New Testament is replete with assurances of God’s forgiveness to those who have trusted in Jesus Christ. Just one Scripture will suffice to show again the contrast between our dreadful condition and God’s love, mercy, and grace in reaching out to us. It is, incidentally, another instance of God’s wonderful “buts.”

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.

COLOSSIANS 1:21-22

I want to call your attention to the last phrase of this passage, “free from accusation.” Does this phrase describe the way you think about yourself? Or do you often, in your mind, find yourself standing in the dock of God’s courtroom hearing His pronouncement, “Guilty”? If the latter is true, you are not living by grace.

If you have never received the free gift of salvation by trusting in Christ Jesus, then of course you are guilty. You certainly are not living by grace; rather, you are under the wrath of God, and you will eventually experience the full force of His wrath. This wrath is not that of a hot-tempered tyrant who has lost control of his emotions; rather, it is the calm, objective, legal wrath of the Judge who is meting out the stiffest sentence possible to the most violent and recalcitrant criminal. Your greatest need is to trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation, for the forgiveness of your sins, and for the free gift of eternal life.

On the other hand, if you have trusted Christ as your Savior, then all the expressions of God’s forgiveness are true of you. He has removed your sins as far as the east is from the west. He has put them behind His back and hurled them into the depths of the sea. He has blotted them out of His record book and promised never to bring them up again. You are free from accusation, not because of anything whatsoever in you, but because of His grace alone through Jesus Christ.

Are you willing to believe this wonderful truth and live by it? You probably reply, “I do believe it. I do believe my sins are forgiven and I will go to heaven when I die.” But are you willing to live by it today, in this life? Will you accept that God not only saves you by His grace through Christ but also deals with you day by day by His grace?

Do you accept the fact that the Bible’s definition of grace —God’s unmerited favor shown to people who are totally undeserving of it —applies to you not only in salvation but in your everyday life? This meaning of grace never changes. As I’ve said, grace is always the same, whether God is exercising it in salvation or in His dealings with us as His children.

Jesus said, “I have come that [you] may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). Do you have life, that is, eternal life? Have you renounced all confidence in your own moral or religious efforts and turned in faith completely to Jesus to be clothed with His righteousness? If so, you do have eternal life. But do you have it to the full? Are you experiencing both the peace of God that comes with salvation and the joy of God that comes with living by grace each day? If not, you may be saved by grace, but you are living by works.

GRACE TO OTHERS

Grace is not only to be received by us, it is, in a sense, to be extended to others. I say “in a sense” because our relationship to other people is different from God’s relationship to us. He is the infinitely superior Judge and moral Governor of the universe. We are all sinners and are on an equal plane with one another. So we cannot exercise grace as God does, but we can relate to one another as those who have received grace and who wish to operate on the principles of grace.

In fact, we will not experience the peace with God and the joy of God if we are not willing to extend grace to others. This is the point of Jesus’ parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18:23-34. He told the story of a man who was forgiven a debt of ten thousand talents (millions of dollars), but who was unwilling to forgive a fellow servant who owed him a hundred denarii (a few dollars). The unstated truth in the parable, of course, is that our debt of sin to God is “millions of dollars,” whereas the debt of others to us is, by comparison, only a few dollars.

The person who is living by grace sees this vast contrast between his own sins against God and the offenses of others against him. He forgives others because he himself has been so graciously forgiven. He realizes that, by receiving God’s forgiveness through Christ, he has forfeited the right to be offended when others hurt him. He practices the admonition of Paul, in Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”