His Grace and Mercy

FaithWalkDaily October 15, 2008

... he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. ~ Titus 3:5

Can you imagine what it must have been like to live as a Jew before Jesus came? Not only were they trying to live up to the laws given Moses, the priests had added law upon law upon law...to the point where a person could hardly move without sinning. There were laws governing what foods could be eaten, what colors were to be worn in certain circumstances, how to react when faced with difficulty (such as tearing ones clothes and covering oneself in sack cloth and ashes.) There were rules about when, where and how to pray, who could talk to God and where, even how to eat ones meals. Everything was managed by law.

There are religions that teach we must live up to the letter of the law IN ADDITION to believing Jesus Christ is the son of God in order to be saved. Today, we call that the impossible gospel. Jesus came that we could have life...

John 20:31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

1 John 5:12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Eph 2:7-8-10 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

So we see there is nothing we can do to be saved of our own accord. Only by the blood of the Lamb, the precious sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus, that we are promised eternal life.

Do we still have a responsibility to live up to the law?

Rom 6:14-15 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

What Paul means is, the man (or woman) who has truly come into the family of God through faith in Jesus, desires a life pleasing to God. Though tempted, we will seek God's strength to turn from sin because we love the Lord more than sin, which ruled the old nature. Now made new in the covenant of Christ's blood, we no longer lust after the things of this world, but are drawn to the things of God. We put away the childish things of our past and grow in faith through daily Scripture reading, prayer and meeting in fellowship.

Lord, we fall before Your throne in all humility, knowing we are unworthy. Still tempted by sin of every color, shape and size, the Holy Spirit is our victor who empowers us for every encounter with evil. By the blood of Jesus our sins are erased and You give new life. Grant that we would find our strength and hope in His name alone today and every day until You return to bring us home. In Your precious name we pray, amen.