God’s grace, love cannot be measured or contained
By Glenn Cummings
Key verses:
Romans 5:21 “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 6:6 “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
A great concern of the early church was the issue of grace. Most early believers came out of a Jewish background that was strongly rooted in works and tradition. Jewish believers could not quite grasp the idea of grace that proclaimed Christ’s death as the basis of salvation. Gentile believers were seen as followers of Christ, but there was a strong movement underway to require them to adhere to Jewish tradition.
Amazingly, many within the church still struggle with this today. Some think if they live solely by grace, they will wander away from God. Thus, they try to stay close by performing certain religious deeds. The opposite reaction is to take grace to the extreme and live any way you please under the guise that you are saved and on your way to heaven.
We should take the grace of God seriously by not doing anything that harms our relationship with Him.
Imagine the most beautiful waterfall you’ve ever seen. Now, in your mind, stand at its base and hold a thimble under the crashing water. This illustrates the measure of God’s grace in your life, covering your sin. You can no more contain a waterfall in a thimble than you can contain God’s love and forgiveness for you.
If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, then you have accepted His atoning work on the Cross. God set no limits on the effects of Jesus’ sacrifice, so why should you? If you are wracked with guilt over sin, remember God’s grace. This is not a license to sin but an invitation to accept God’s grace humbly and repent into an obedient walk with Jesus.
We could never produce one achievement that would warrant our Lord’s grace, and we could never produce enough failures for Him to take it away.
When you hold that thimble under Christ’s Cross and catch one drop of His blood, you have enough.
Prayer: Oh, God, thank You for the grace You extended to me, even though I didn’t deserve it. I humbly accept it and marvel at its sufficiency.
Dr. Glenn Cummings is a graduate of Union University and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He has been pastor of Madison Avenue Baptist Church in Maryville since 1996. For information about the church visit http://www.madisonavenuebaptist.org
