“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.”
Nearly everyone recognizes this first line to the song "Amazing Grace". But did you ever wonder what it really means? What exactly is grace?
The word "grace" as it is used in the Bible simply means undeserved kindness. When you forgive someone who has wronged you, that’s grace. When you bail a friend out of jail who did something very foolish, that’s also grace.
And so, in the song "Amazing Grace", when the former slave-ship captain John Newton wrote that he’d been saved by grace, he meant that God had saved him solely out of mercy and kindness, and not because he deserved it. But that brings up another question. What did Newton mean when he said that he had been saved?
Being saved is when God comes to live inside of you to be your friend, changes your character, gives you eternal spiritual life, and writes your name in the Book of Life, so that you will be admitted into heaven when you die. The grace that transformed Newton's character truly was amazing, because it changed him from a slave-trader into a kind pastor and abolitionist who fought valiantly for the freedom of slaves.
While most of us have not committed the sin of slave-trading like Newton did, all of us who are accountable have done things that are wrong. None of us is good enough to deserve salvation. In order to be saved, we ALL need God’s undeserved love, mercy and kindness—His grace.
But that raises yet another question, and it is the most important one of all. How do we get God's grace? The Bible teaches us that God’s saving grace is made available to us only through faith (trust) in Jesus. Why is this? Is God narrow-minded? No, and here's why.
You have heard before that God is Love, and He is. But He is also just and holy. He cannot allow sin to go unpunished—and that is for our sake. Just think of the terrible heart-condition that humanity would sink into if we could sin without consequence! That is why all of us get sick and will eventually die. It is the consequence of sin. Death and sickness came upon the entire human race because of the sin of our father Adam, since we were "in" him, or a part of him, when he sinned. This is why innocent children sometimes die who have not yet sinned - because they are descended from mortal Adam.
Well, if one man's sin brought death and sickness to all of mankind, it only seems just that God would allow another man's righteousness to bring life to us, doesn't it? Yes, and that is part of God's plan, but there is another problem. God doesn't just have to deal with Adam's sin. We have all sinned too. No problem is too difficult for God, however. In His great wisdom and love, God came up with a way to solve that problem.
Since the just penalty for sin is eventual death, only someone who is sinless could die for our sins. Otherwise, his death would only be the penalty for his own sins. However, the death of a sinless person who was merely a man would only pay for the sins of one other person. But if that person was also God incarnate, as the Bible teaches us that Jesus was, then the sacrifice of a being of infinite worth would be more than enough to pay for the sins of all of mankind.
Jesus meets all of those requirements. Not only did He die for our sins, but He was sinless. Not only was He sinless, but He was God’s divine son. In Jesus, and in Him alone, God’s love and justice are reconciled.
After the very painful sacrifice that God’s own precious son Jesus suffered for you on the cross, which was done entirely out of love for you, if you were to ask God to save you on the basis of anything else—your belief in your own goodness, your faith in some other religious leader, or your faith in some man-made god, what do suppose God’s answer to you will be?
That’s why the Apostle Paul wrote to the people in the church at Ephesus,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (NIV, Ephesians 4:8-9)
Salvation is not something you can earn by doing good works. If it was, then God would be giving it to you because you deserve it, and that would not be grace, because grace is God's undeserved kindness. Salvation is a free gift—but like all gifts, you must be willing to humbly accept it.
Just like the Ephesians and John Newton, you too can be saved by God’s grace—His undeserved love and favor towards you—through faith in Jesus. So, if you have not already, why not trust in Jesus, and let God perform His transforming work in you, just like he did for John Newton? The world became a much better place after Newton was saved by grace.
But it will become an even better place for those whose lives you touch if you are saved. If not for your sake, then for their sake, place your trust in Jesus—and you too will experience God's amazing grace!
Rusty Entrekin
Biblical Counselor
Rusty is the founder & owner of PeaceBrooke Biblical Counseling, LLC
(Your feedback is welcome. Write to rusty@peacebrooke.org.)