Understanding the meaning of grace
Exploring the basics of salvation
Knowing your role in being saved
Defining the born-again Christian
Negating the idea of “hopeless
cases”
If you were to ask a random
sampling of people on the street to name a Christian song or hymn, chances are
that many of these folks – whether they are Christian or not – would respond
with “Amazing Grace.” This song is amazin’, not only because it’s one of the
most popular and beloved Christian songs of all time, but also because it so
perfectly captures the heart of what Christianity is all about.
“Amazing Grace” was written a few
hundred years ago but has certainly stood the test of time. I think it’s rather
fortunate that the song wasn’t written in this day and age when superlatives go
in and out of fashion at a moment’s notice. If the song were written today as a
teeny bopper tune, I can just imagine it would be entitled something like “Wicked
Cool Grace.” Or, if some marketing folks got ahold of it, you’d surely have “Super-Sized
Grace” or “Turbo-Powered Grace.”
When you actually start to think
about God’s grace, a legitimate question to ask is, Is it really worthy of the “amazing”
label? Or is this song title just another example of superlatives gone amuck? In
this chapter, you find out about the core teaching of Christianity – the grace-filled
message of Jesus Christ dying for the sins of the world – and explore what the
grace of God is all about. You can then make up your own mind on what
superlative to use.
Defining Grace
If Christianity is all about how
mere mortals like you and I can have an intimate, eternal relationship with
God, grace is what makes such a relationship possible. You could say then that
grace serves as the underbelly of the Christian faith. But to really understand
what grace means, consider three stories that illustrate what this concept is
all about. I tell you the accounts in the following three sections and explain
them in the fourth, so get a glass of milk and some cookies, because it’s story
time.
Grace is a costly gift
Les Miserables is the classic
Victor Hugo novel that has been made into a musical and several films. It tells
the story of Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for 17 years in France simply because
he steals a loaf of bread to feed his hungry family. Valjean starts off as a
well-meaning guy, but by the time he is released from prison, he’s transformed
into a hardened, embittered man with no hope for the future. After being
refused by an innkeeper on a rainy evening, Valjean knocks on the door of a
church’s parsonage and asks for a night’s lodging. In true Motel 6 fashion, a
bishop “leaves the light on” for Valjean, opening up his home, giving him a
warm meal, and offering a comfortable bed and pillow.
Valjean, however, isn’t of the
mindset to feel much gratitude for this display of kindness; he awakens in the
middle of the night, steals some silver plates, and runs off toward the edge of
town. In the morning, the police catch Valjean with the suspicious goods and
bring him back to the bishop for questioning. Valjean’s fate now seems sealed –
he knows that being found guilty of theft a second time brings a permanent
prison sentence.
Yet, when the bishop sees Valjean,
he does something completely unexpected. Rather than berating the thief and
turning him over to the police, the bishop greets him warmly and asks why he
didn’t take the candlesticks as well. As the police leave, satisfied that no
crime has been committed, Valjean looks at the bishop with an expression of
total disbelief: “Is it true that they let me go?”
The bishop then goes home to retrieve two silver candlesticks, the only remaining property of value that he owns, and hands them to Valjean. He challenges Valjean to use the silver to make himself into a new man, finishing with, “Jean Valjean, my brother: you belong no longer to evil, but to good. It is your soul I am buying for you.”
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