Grace: The Door is Never Closed, Part 4
If we are ever to know the peace of God, we must realize that this amazing grace of God first flows toward us even though we’re rotten and undeserving of it, declares Pastor Chuck Smith. In this installment in our continuing series from his book, Why Grace Changes Everything, he describes how God has granted us a standing before Him—just as if we had never sinned.
Grace and Peace
If we are trusting in our righteousness as the basis for our relationship with God, we will never experience consistent peace. Trying to relate to God on the basis of effort and works is always a struggle, always a strain, always pressured. If we are ever to come to know the peace of God, we must realize that this amazing grace of God first flows toward us even though we’re rotten and undeserving of it.
Then, after accepting this glorious grace of God, the peace of God fills our hearts and lives. We know that He loves us—even though we are far from perfect, even though we have failed. Even when it seems as if nobody else loves us (and we don’t blame them, because we don’t even love ourselves), still God loves us.
Have you ever heard of the Siamese twins of the New Testament? They’re the two little words, grace and peace. They are always coupled together, in that order. We might say that the elder of the twins is grace. It is always grace and peace; we never read a salutation of peace and grace. Why? Because that would be putting the cart before the horse. The proper order is always grace and peace, because we cannot know the peace of God in our own hearts until we have first experienced the grace of God in our lives.
As Pure as Jesus
The Bible says that someone who places his faith in Jesus has been “justified”. What does that mean? It means that God has granted us a standing before Him just as if we had never sinned.
This was no small feat for God to accomplish! For if we have all sinned and missed the mark, how can God look at us as if we had never sinned and still be just? If He sees our lives as they truly are and must act according to His attribute of justice, how can He treat us as though we were perfect?
This is where the power of the gospel comes in. God made the sinless Jesus to be sin for us. The Scriptures declare that God laid on the innocent Christ the iniquities of us all. Jesus literally took my place and took the punishment that was due to me as a guilty sinner.
This is the glorious gospel of grace. We can have a standing of righteousness before God far superior to anything we could achieve under the law. For no matter how meticulously we try to keep the law, we always fall short. The righteousness which comes through faith in Christ, however, is imputed to us and is complete. There is nothing that can be added to it. In Christ, I have an absolutely perfect, righteous standing before God. There are no charges against me. In His eyes, I am perfect. That doesn’t mean that I am a perfect man—not by a long shot! It means that Jesus Christ is perfect and I have His righteousness credited to my account because of my faith in Him.
How I praise God for the knowledge of the grace of God that He brought to my heart and for the love relationship that I have with Him! It doesn’t alter. It doesn’t change when I am depressed, or wrong, or angry. It is a flowing relationship that is steady and always present. He loves me when I am sweet and He loves me when I am mean. How good it is to know the grace of God and the gospel according to grace!
Look out for our next installment, as Pastor Chuck illustrates how God has no favorites in His Kingdom and turns the unlikeliest of candidates into the trophies of His grace.
Follow “The Door is Never Closed” series at: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
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