No Such Thing as Too Much Grace

Grace is really hard to get.  What a mean trick of sin that it keeps us from grasping and clinging to this gift.

And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him —provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

Colossians 1:21-23

  

We who were once estranged and hostile in mind have been reconciled sovthat now we, who should be filthy and despicable, are presented before  God holy and blameless and irreproachable.
What astounding amazing good news of God’s love grace and forgiveness.

 And what a tragedy that sin and this harsh broken world has turned us into such cynics that we don't don't believe it.  It can't possibly be that simple.   It's too easy.  "You shouldn't say that to people, Pastor because people are going to think that it is a free pass"  No free passes in this world.  You only get what you deserve.


But nobody gets what they deserve in this life.  Most of us with healthy self-esteems think we probably deserve a lot better that what life has dealt us.  Most of us think we deserve the good things we have. We've worked for them --we earned them.  Nobody likes to acknowledge the gifts we've received,the good things that came because we were just plain lucky or even at the expense of others.   If we dare take a good hard long look inside we will see that we don't really deserve anything good.

 

And yet we are promised to be presented before God holy and blameless and IRREPROACHABLE.  That'sright IRREPROACHABLE - so why are you reproaching others or yourself when Christ himself has declared us irreproachable?

But

There must be a catch. 
There must be something we have to do. 
Surely we have to prove that we are worthy of such amazing grace. 

There is a catch.  Do not waver from this promise.  Cling to this promise.  Trust this promise.  Do not go looking for other ways to make yourself worthy.  Do not shift from this hope that is promised in the Gospel to some other hope, some other promise, some other lie that there is any other way you can appear holy and blameless before God other than clinging to this astonishing gift that he has given us for no other reason than his boundless love for us.  God loves you.  Period.  That is the gospel.  Believe it  or die.

My hope is built on nothing else but Jesus blood and righteous. 
No merit of my own I claim, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. 
On Christ the solid rock I stand.  All other ground is sinking sand.