I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace in which you stand.
1 PETER 5:12
Billy Sunday was only a newborn when his father died. His mother, unable to cope with raising Billy and his brother, relinquished custody of her sons to an orphanage when Billy was 13 years old. At 15 he ran away from the orphanage and ended up in Nevada, Iowa. There he was taken under the wing of Colonel John Scott, who hired and housed the teen and sent him back to school. In school, Billy excelled at baseball. He was a fast runner and outshone the other boys with his ability to retrieve the ball and fire it to the various bases with lightning speed.
At one of his games, he was spotted and recruited by Cap Anson, who managed the Chicago White Stockings. Billy dropped out of high school, moved to Chicago, and began his baseball career in 1883. By his own testimony, he was a hardened young man. He gambled hard, played hard, and lived hard. Monday through Friday he practiced baseball with his team. On Saturday he played ball, and on Sunday he went to the saloon with his teammates. Billy only occasionally indulged as the other players drank themselves into a stupor, but he was constantly in their company.
On one of those ominous Sundays, Billy left the bar “tanked up” and walked to one of the street corners in Chicago. Across the street, accompanied by singers, a band played hymns on trombones, trumpets, and flutes. Someone invited Billy to follow the band to the Pacific Garden Mission. There Billy heard the gospel of grace and surrendered his life to Jesus Christ.
Billy played professional baseball for the Chicago White Stockings until he transferred to the Pittsburgh Alleghenies, finally ending up with the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1891 Billy was offered a lucrative contract of $3500 a year to return to the Chicago White Stockings. He deferred their offer to evangelize and counsel young men at the Chicago YMCA for $83 a month.
In 1893 J. Wilbur Chapman asked Billy to assist him as a coevangelist. Billy worked with Chapman for three years, until he struck out on his own in 1896. Billy Sunday became one of the most famous evangelists of the twentieth century. His sermons were colorful, impassioned, and full of colloquialisms. In many of his sermons, he highlighted the marvels of God’s grace toward him. Billy testified about being a gambler, a drinker, and a brawler before he met Christ. One of his most famous lines was his own paraphrase of Hebrews 7:25: “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Billy liked to say God saved him from the “guttermost.”
Think about it for a moment. What power could transform a young, hardened orphan, runaway, gambler, and professional baseball player into an evangelist for the cause of Christ? Grace!
Grace drew Billy to God. Grace forgave Billy’s sins. Grace cleansed Billy from the stains of his past. Grace qualified Billy to become a servant of God.
God’s grace not only reaches to the depths of human depravity and calls men and women to salvation; it also forgives, cleanses, and qualifies all those who come to Jesus by faith! It calls to the “guttermost” and saves to the “uttermost,” all by and through the grace of God!
The Generosity of Grace
It is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (Romans 4:16).
Grace is offered to sinners and saints alike, indiscriminate of social status, background, heritage, success, wealth, education, or talent. Grace offers the gifts of Jesus Christ to all who will believe by faith. Anyone who believes in the great qualifying work of Jesus, the Messiah, can be forgiven, cleansed, called, and used by God in His service!
When I was 12 I signed up to sing in the choir for the community’s Easter Sunrise Service. Placed as a second soprano, I joined my voice with the others singing the hymn “Wonderful Grace of Jesus.” I was so taken with the pure joy of singing the upbeat melody that I almost missed the glory of the lyrics I was proclaiming. As I practiced the song one day in the car, my dad joined in. As we sang together with gusto, the full force of the words began to sink in.
Wonderful Grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin;
How shall my tongue describe it,
Taking away my burden, setting my spirit free;
For the Wonderful Grace of Jesus reaches me!
Refrain
Wonderful the matchless Grace of Jesus,
Deeper than the mighty rolling sea;
Wonderful Grace, all sufficient for me, for even me.
Broader than the scope of my transgressions,
Greater far than all my sin and shame
O magnify the precious name of Jesus,
Praise His Name!
Wonderful Grace of Jesus, reaching to all the lost;
By it I have been pardoned, saved to the uttermost
Chains have been torn asunder,
Giving me liberty;
And the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.
Wonderful Grace of Jesus, reaching the most defiled,
By its transforming power,
Making me God’s dear child,
Purchasing peace and Heaven, for all eternity;
And the Wonderful Grace of Jesus reaches me.
Grace is God’s way of saving us, forgiving us, cleansing us, and transforming us so we can be qualified to be His instruments of grace! And grace is wonderful because it calls to everyone. Jesus said, “ ‘Many are called, but few are chosen’ ” (Matthew 22:14). God’s call goes out to all.
Jesus illustrated God’s great call by telling a parable, found in Matthew 22:1-14. In the story, a king invites all his friends and the nobility to his son’s lavish wedding. For various reasons, those invited refused to come. Some made light of the invitation. Others didn’t want to take time away from their businesses and farms to attend. Still others resented the invitation and abused those who invited them. The father was furious with the response, and he instructed his servants to go into the highways and invite anyone they found to the wedding.
The servants obeyed and gathered both the bad and good until the wedding hall was filled with people. The king came into the assembly to greet the guests. Among those in attendance was a man without a wedding garment; he had not changed his clothes into the proper attire provided. The man had no excuse for his behavior. The king was enraged and had the man thrown out.
Jesus was communicating the gracious generosity of God’s call. It goes to the highways of life and invites both the good and bad to come, be forgiven, exchange their old garments for beautiful ones, and enjoy the bounty of His goodness.
Those who respond to God’s call cannot, however, remain in their old garments. Grace redresses us in the garments of Jesus’s righteousness. By its very nature, grace changes us so that we are equipped and qualified to be guests in God’s great kingdom and partake of His goodness.
Grace isn’t for the worthy but for the unworthy. Grace qualifies those who could never qualify themselves. Grace did for Billy Sunday what Billy could never do for himself. Grace met Billy Sunday right where he was, on a street corner in Chicago. Grace wooed him just as he was, a sinner, and brought him to salvation. Grace offered Billy Sunday forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. When he believed by faith in Jesus, God’s grace forgave Billy, cleansed Billy, and began to transform Billy from the inside out. This drawing, forgiving, cleansing, transforming, and qualifying power of grace is wonderful indeed!
Grace—The Ultimate Transformer
The statistics concerning repeat offenders in the United States are disconcerting. Time spent in jail doesn’t make a criminal into a law-abiding citizen. Half of those released from prison are back in the criminal justice system within a year. Two-thirds of those released from prison return within three years. A staggering three-quarters of all released prisoners are jailed again within five years.1 Society has tried all sorts of different means to change these men and women, but punishment, fear of imprisonment, threats, laws, opportunities, education, and rehabilitation have failed to change at least three-quarters of all those who commit crimes. These efforts fail because they cannot change the heart.
On the other hand, grace is powerful because it goes right to the heart. Hebrews 13:9 states, “It is good that the heart be established by grace.” The outward forms of punishment, education, and reward do nothing to change or establish the heart, but grace does. Grace takes hold of the heart and establishes it in Jesus. This verse explains that rules can’t change us like we need to be changed. It’s impossible for those things to change us, but grace, as it’s established in our hearts, transforms us from the inside out.
Because grace pardons sin and gives leniency to our failures, some have wrongly concluded that grace is a license to sin. I’ve heard people say, “If you give people grace, you’ll have a big problem with sin!” Jude alluded to this notion in Jude 4 when he wrote, “Certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Notice that these men who sought to turn grace into a license to sin also denied the Lordship of Jesus!
Grace by its nature cannot be a license to sin. Why? Because the source of grace is God. He is the God of All Grace (1 Peter 5:10)! He is not the God of some grace or most grace, but of all grace. He’s the divine source. God, by His nature, can give only good gifts. As James 1:17 states, “every good gift and every perfect gift” comes from Him. God’s righteousness will not allow Him to give us anything that would cause us to sin or commit unrighteousness.
People have said to me, “Well, it doesn’t matter what I do. God will forgive me because of His grace.” Well, in Luke 4:12, Jesus reminded Satan that Scripture says, “You shall not tempt the LORD your God.” The apostle Paul addressed this misconception of grace in Romans 6. He began the chapter with the question, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” (verse 1). He then answered this question with “Certainly not!” (verse 2)! Grace is not a license to sin. It’s not permission to sin. It’s just the opposite. It’s the freedom, afforded by God’s power, to not be dominated by sin. In Romans 6:14, Paul writes, “Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
Grace turns life into a classroom. Grace uses mistakes, failures, and weaknesses as opportunities for transformation. Grace takes away the terrible pressure to perform, always be perfect, and never blow it. I don’t know about you, but pressure like that makes me more self-conscious and more likely to fail. Grace gives me the freedom to get it wrong and learn from my mistake.
Grace is an atmosphere so charged with constant love, patience, and mercy that you can freely admit your faults, weaknesses, and ignorance! It’s only in an atmosphere of grace that we have the freedom and ability to be changed. If you stay in a place where you can’t admit you’ve failed, you’ll never learn how to get it right.
A doctor once shared with me his frustration with patients who refused to admit anything was wrong with them. He could never really help them because they wouldn’t be forthcoming about where they were hurting and their symptoms. The doctor was left with no evidence to try to make a correct diagnosis. Without full disclosure, a wrong diagnosis was not only possible but probable.
Did you ever have one of those teachers in school who made you shake in your boots? I did. I remember her to this day. She demanded such perfection of her students. She was quick to ridicule any child who asked a question, missed a concept, or forgot an instruction. I was so terrified of her that I couldn’t learn in her class. I had to suppress all my ignorance and put on a show of understanding just to appease her wrath. I was so nervous that I would perspire on my papers, smearing the pencil lead. It wasn’t unusual to have my work returned with the word messy written on it in big bold red letters!
Two years later I had Mrs. Hartford. She was one of the most gracious women I have ever known. No question was ever considered stupid. In fact, she invited us to ask questions and always made the extra effort to ensure we understood the concept she was teaching. She filled the classroom with joy and creativity.
I had Mrs. Hartford in mind when I was teaching a doctrine class to young women at a Bible college. The subject of doctrine can be intimidating to students of the Bible, yet doctrine is the essential component to understanding the wondrous tenets of the Bible. We had just finished the final exam for the course, and I told the students they were going to grade their own papers. One of them, Jennifer, immediately objected.
“That’s not right. What if someone isn’t honest?”
I countered with, “Well, that would be their problem, not mine.”
She was dissatisfied with my answer and continued to challenge me. I was resolute. “Grading your own papers is in itself a test to see how much of this class you understood, absorbed, and applied. What you got out of this class was your responsibility.”
Together, as a class, we reviewed the various questions, and I offered the correct answer. One question was a bit obscure and over half the class got it wrong. I used this as an opportunity to explain the right answer in detail. I then rephrased the question, and this time the whole class knew the right answer. I said, “All right, class, I want all of you to circle the right answer for question five and cross out the wrong answer.” Everyone got it right—no one got it wrong!
Immediately Jennifer, the young woman who had argued with me earlier, shot up her hand. “No! I got it wrong. Many of us got it wrong. I should have it marked wrong on my paper. That’s not right.”
“Jennifer,” I said, “my objective is for you to know the truth. Do you know the right answer now?”
“Well, yes.” She said this with hesitation.
“Then you’ve got it right. That’s grace!” Ironically, the doctrine in question had been about grace. I thought Jennifer and the rest of the class needed just a bit more enlightenment, so I said, “God uses failure to teach us the right way.”
I went on to discuss the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15. Here was a young man who did everything wrong. He demanded his inheritance early; he abandoned his father’s home; he lived a life of debauchery; he wasted all his inheritance on prodigal living and ended up eating the scraps left by unholy pigs. Yet these factors brought him “to himself ” (verse 17). Only after all his failure did he begin to realize what he’d thrown away. Only then did he begin to appreciate his father’s house. His failure drove him to humbly return home.
Remember the father in this parable? He was watching the road for this son who had failed so miserably. He didn’t greet him with an “I told you so” lecture, a scathing rebuke, a scouring rebuff—or any punishment, for that matter. No! This father ran toward his wayward son. He fell on his neck and kissed him. He called to his servants to bring out the best robe and sandals for him, and he placed the family signet ring on his finger. He called for the fatted calf and threw a party to welcome him home (verses 20-24).
The prodigal was drawn back to his father’s home because of the grace he knew was there. The grace the father showed to the son transformed him. He now knew prodigal living was wrong, and he would never go that direction again. Lesson learned.
That was the lesson I wanted to communicate to my students that day. Grace provides the best classroom for change and transformation. Grace gives us the atmosphere to get it wrong so that in the end we can get it right!
In a letter to his protégé Titus, the apostle Paul wrote, “The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age” (Titus 2:11-12). That’s right. God’s grace teaches us. It provides the best atmosphere in the classroom. It provides the best learning environment, uses the best methods, and takes the lessons deep into our hearts.
Qualified for Service
Have you ever had the thought God can’t use me? What was the disqualifier? Was it because of your lack of experience? Your education? Your personality? Your heritage? Your nationality? Not having the right look? Honestly, I’ve thought God couldn’t use me on numerous occasions and for a variety of reasons. It seems I’m always disqualifying myself. Of course, I’m not alone in that. Moses, one of God’s greatest leaders, didn’t consider himself qualified for the position God was calling him to. When God called Moses into service, Moses recused himself by saying, “ ‘O my lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue’ ” (Exodus 4:10). What was God’s response? “ ‘Who has made man’s mouth?… Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say’ ” (verses 11-12).
God told Moses in no uncertain words that He would be the qualifier. God, who made Moses’s mouth, would qualify him for service. God would provide the eloquence, words, and authority needed to call, deliver, and lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
God is the qualifier. Just as God qualified Billy Sunday to become one of the foremost American evangelists, He qualified Moses, and He will qualify you! God qualifies the unqualified for His service! Paul took note of this awesome reality when he wrote to Timothy, a young pastor. In the first epistle to Timothy, Paul revealed the qualifying power of God’s grace to him. God transformed Paul from “a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man” to “enabled” and put him into the ministry (1 Timothy 1:12-13). Concerning this qualifying work of God, he writes, “The grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” (verse 14).
If God could do that for Paul, who called himself chief of sinners, just think what He desires to do in your life! Paul continued, “For this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life” (verse 16). Paul wrote that he was chosen by God to give hope to any and all who came to Jesus by faith. In other words, Paul’s rationale was this: If God can save me and qualify me for service, He can save and qualify anyone!
What have you allowed to disqualify you from God’s service? Was it a discouraging word? I’ve met a myriad of women to whom or about whom some ugly statement was spoken. For years they identified themselves by that statement rather than by the grace of God. What a rip-off!
I have a friend who for years hesitated to become involved in ministry. She felt a tugging on her heart from God, but every time she started to step into ministry she remembered an ominous word spoken over her by a pastor when she was a young woman. He’d said, “You will never do anything great for God.” Can you imagine someone saying that? Well, she believed it, and she limited her participation because of that word.
One day, quite by accident, she was propelled into ministry and used almost immediately in a tremendous way. This opportunity opened the door for more and more service. Soon she was leading a prayer meeting, teaching at retreats, and speaking at various venues. She confided to me that for a long time she let this negative word define the borders of her spiritual activity. As she was sharing with me, another woman overheard, and she, too, shared a negative word that had once kept her from active ministry.
Have you had a negative word spoken over you? Have you allowed that word to define the parameters of your qualification for God’s service? God’s grace is greater and speaks a greater word over you!
A woman at my church liked to critique every study I taught. A beautiful bouquet of flowers always accompanied her letters, but the critique was excoriating. She found fault with my clothes, my demeanor, my delivery, and of course, my message. Every missive began with Dearest Cheryl. In one of her communications, she told me I wasn’t truly saved and I’d never be unless I went under her strict tutelage. Although I knew the woman wasn’t mentally sound, her words still rocked me. I could take criticism about my clothes, my hair, my demeanor, and everything else, but I couldn’t fathom being disqualified by God. If loving God, His Word, and the work of Jesus Christ wasn’t enough, what was?
The day after I received one of her letters, my personal devotions had me in the first chapter of Colossians. As I read, all my misgivings gave way to joy. There in Colossians 1:12, Paul wrote about “giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.” That was my word from God. The Father through Christ had qualified me, and no one could take that from me. I’m not qualified by wearing the right clothes, by being eloquent, or by perfect behavior, but I am qualified by faith in the perfect work of Jesus Christ on my behalf.
The same is true for you. You’re not qualified because you received the perfect education, went to the perfect schools, have the perfect friends, always behave perfectly, wear the perfect clothes, or always say the perfect thing. You’re qualified because you believe in the perfect work of the only perfect Son of Man on your behalf. This is the grace that qualifies us by faith in God’s perfect work for us.
Hebrews 10 explores the means by which Jesus has qualified us to God. He has done it by His own perfect blood. He died on our behalf, offering His own body as a sacrifice for our sins. Then He took that perfect blood into the Holy of Holies, the very throne room of God, and presented it as an atonement for our sins. Jesus’s blood didn’t just cover our sins; it forgave our sins. His gift was so perfect that it forgave, purified, and qualified us to God. This was evidenced by the tearing of the curtain that barred the way to the Holy of Holies. Jesus granted us access to the throne of grace! We did not and cannot qualify ourselves. Our confidence in our qualifications is not because of who we are or what we’ve done, but rests entirely on who Jesus is and what He has done!
Transforming Grace
Are you ready for a quiz? Let’s see if you can guess the answer. What song is sung over ten million times a year all over the world and has been recorded over 11,000 times? It’s “Amazing Grace,” written by John Newton! This is undoubtedly the most well-known, well-sung, and well-loved hymn of all time. Its allure is the transforming and qualifying power of grace.
Perhaps you’ve read John Newton’s testimony.2 He was born in London in 1725. His mother, who taught him to read the Bible, died when he was only seven, and his strict seafaring father raised him. John began to accompany his father on voyages when he was 11, and at 19 he was press-ganged into service for the Royal Navy. John attempted to desert the navy, but he was caught and flogged. Then he managed to get himself transferred to a slave trade ship. For the next few years he became more and more immoral, impoverished, and degraded.
Then on a storm-tossed voyage from Brazil to Newfoundland, Newton was sure he would be swept overboard. He cried out to God for mercy, and God answered. Yet not even then did the hardened slave trader truly repent. He continued in the accursed trade for nine more years, incurring many near-death experiences—mutinous slave uprisings, fevers, storms—and many backslidings. Newton often retracted his faith, only to reclaim it when his life was threatened.
Finally, God’s conviction began to overwhelm him, and he started to loathe his trade and everything associated with it. Although he quit his maritime occupation, he still felt accursed by his former trade. Then he met George Whitefield, the famous open-air preacher of England. Newton accompanied Whitefield as much as possible. When he wasn’t with him, he was studying the Bible and fellowshipping in several small congregations, seeking to grow and be established in the faith. In 1764 Newton was ordained and made a curate in a small church in Olney, England. He remained in the parish until his invitation to be the rector of St. Mary Woolnoth in London in 1779.
During his time in Olney, John Newton wrote several hymns. He used them in many of his sermons to undergird the biblical assimilation of the principle he was teaching. He found hymns especially effective in teaching children the gospel, which was one of his greatest passions. One of the last hymns he wrote in Olney was “Amazing Grace.” It was not only a testimony of his life, but also a doctrinal statement about the divine quality of grace.
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace that brought be safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.
John Newton did not have a perfect past. He wrote in his own epitaph,
John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long laboured to destroy.
Even after John Newton made his first commitment to Christ, he continued to fail miserably until that fateful day when God called him to account and to follow Him completely.
Perhaps you’ve had a series of backslidings or failings. You think you’ve gone beyond the grace of God. Think again. God’s wonderful grace is higher than the mountains and deeper than the sea, and it reaches out to you and to me!
Now, I think I know what you might be thinking: Billy Sunday, Paul the apostle, and even John Newton did those things before they met Jesus. But I’ve done some awful things since I met Jesus—things that should disqualify me. So? God’s grace has no limits to forgiveness, cleansing, transforming, and qualifying. Consider Peter, the apostle. After Jesus called him to be His apostle, Peter declined, saying, “Lord, depart from me. I’m a sinful man” (Luke 5:8, paraphrased). The Bible records those times when Peter got it wrong. He even tried to rebuke Jesus (Matthew 16:22). Imagine that! Jesus said to him, “ ‘Get behind Me, Satan!’ ” (verse 23). Whoa! That’s a pretty big mistake, wouldn’t you say?
Then again, we read in Matthew 17, where, in a moment of absolute glory, Peter spoke out of turn. There he was in the presence of Moses and Elijah and beholding Jesus’s glory (Matthew 17:1-5). Mark records that Peter said this “because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid” (verse 6). Then in verse 7 God thundered from the cloud at Peter, “ ‘This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!’ ”
Peter was among the disciples who tried to keep the children from coming to Jesus (Matthew 19:13-14). He was also among the consortium that criticized Mary when she anointed Jesus’s feet (Matthew 26:6-13). He was the one who at first refused to let Jesus wash his feet (John 13:1-10). He also boasted that he was better than the other disciples and would never deny Jesus (Mark 14:29-31). He fell asleep in the garden of Gethsemane after Jesus asked him to watch and pray (Mark 14:37-41). At Jesus’s arrest, Peter cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant (John 18:10). He’s also the disciple who denied that he knew Jesus not once, but three times (John 18:15-27).
Yet none of these failures, lapses, or outright sins disqualified Peter for service. Jesus knew Peter would fail; he even warned Peter of his coming failure: “ ‘Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren’ ” (Luke 22:31-32).
Jesus knew Peter better than Peter knew himself. Jesus knew Peter would fail, but that failure would not keep him from the commission the Lord had for him. Afterward, when Peter had returned to Jesus, the commission to strengthen his brethren would be waiting for him to fulfill because of and by God’s grace.
Peter should have known better. Peter should have done better. After all, he had walked in the presence of Jesus for three years and seen Him perform miracle after miracle. He’d even walked on water to Jesus (Matthew 14:29). Yet Peter failed miserably on more than one occasion.
Perhaps you also should have known better, should have done better. After all, you’ve been walking with the Lord a long time and been a recipient of God’s goodness. Yet you failed miserably. The good news is that God’s grace continues to forgive, cleanse, transform, and qualify you for the commission God has for you. You are not beyond the infinite grace of God!
One day there was a knock at my front door. I opened it to find a dear friend of mine in tears. After deciding to leave her husband, she had walked to my house. I couldn’t believe it! I invited her to sit down on my couch, and I offered her a cup of tea, which she gladly accepted. She began to pour out the saga of the last few weeks of her life. Her marriage had been unfulfilling for a long time. Her husband was known to flirt with women at church, and at the same time he was never short of disparaging comments about her. His only exercise, by his own admission, was working his thumb on the TV remote control.
Because finances were tight, my friend had taken a job at a local store. There she met a wonderful Christian young man. He was everything a godly man should be, and a friendship developed between them. Soon she found herself enveloped by thoughts about him, and she began to feel attracted to him. Eventually she felt compelled to confess her attraction to him, and he was deeply displeased. He not only rebuked her, but threatened to tell her husband. My friend knew she had to confess everything to her husband. When she did, he flew into a rage. He called her all sorts of degrading names. His hostility was so great that my friend fled the house for her life and came to mine.
I told her I totally understood how she could be attracted to her coworker, especially given the condition of her marriage. She looked at me astonished. “No!” she declared. “I have always been a good, faithful, and loving wife. I don’t know what came over me!”
I started to laugh. Perhaps it was the tension of the moment. Then I replied, “No. You’ve never been that good. God’s grace was simply keeping you and holding you back. Your good character and behavior have been by the grace of God. God just let you go for a moment so you would know what your human nature is capable of and maybe to scare your husband into appreciating you more.”
I don’t know if my words were prophetic, but within hours her husband was calling our house and humbly asking to speak with his wife. He apologized profusely. It seemed that while she and I were talking and praying, God was dealing with him in no uncertain terms. He realized how awful he’d treated her, and they both moved to improve their marriage.
All this to say, you’re never out of the reach of your sin nature. It’s always there, ready to take advantage of your weaknesses. You’ll never reach perfection on earth. Like Peter, you’ll blow it again and again. Yet just as it did for Peter, God’s grace will be waiting to forgive, cleanse, transform, reinstate, and qualify you for His good work.
Yes, Jesus’s grace is worth fighting for! It’s worth battling against all the disqualifying voices. It’s worth fighting against our own feelings of unworthiness and instead pressing into His amazing grace.
God’s grace can qualify you for His service. His grace calls, forgives, cleanses, transforms, and qualifies us for His glorious plans.
Lord, thank You for the power of Your grace. Thank You that by Your grace You have forgiven and cleansed me from all my sin. Please help me to allow grace to continue to change and transform my life. Silence all the voices that condemn me and try to limit the power of grace in me. Thank You that You have qualified me by the perfect life and perfect sacrifice of Jesus so I can be used for Your great glory. In the name of the gracious Lord Jesus, amen.
For consideration:
1. List some of the reasons you’ve felt unqualified for God’s service.
2. What evidence of the transforming grace of God have you seen in your own life?
3. Why do you think grace is a better teacher than the law?
4. In what areas of your life do you need to see the transforming grace of God?
5. Read 1 Timothy 1:12-17 and briefly recount Paul’s testimony of grace. Write down any similarities you find between Paul’s testimony and your own.
6. If you were to write a hymn about God’s grace in your life, what would you title it?