Grace Alone

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Grace Alone

By David Block

The one song that has transcended the most barriers, touched people of all backgrounds and is the most recognized around the world was written by a slave trader turned preacher. Amazing Grace is that song and its author, John Newton, well understood how amazing God's grace really is. In his early years, Newton was a vile man and prided himself in being more depraved than his companions. But one day as his ship was being tossed by the sea, the grace of God fell upon him. He would never be the same.

When the grace of God enters a persons life it is always disruptive, jarring, unnerving. Like John Newton and the rest of those that have experienced God's grace, it broke into their lives like a blind person awaking one day to find that their sight has been restored or a person that is lost in the wilderness one day being found by the rescue team. It is unexpected and leaves the recipient changed forever.

The pages of the Bible are filled with God's grace. It is his grace that killed the animals that made Adam and Eve's first real clothes. It was by grace that Noah knew to build the ark and was saved from the flood. It was by grace that Abraham and Sarah received a child way past their child bearing years. It was by grace that the promise to Abraham continued through Jacob and not Esau. It was by God's grace that Joseph was sold into slavery that he might save the lives of many, including his own father and brothers. It was by grace that David, a common shepherd boy would become ruler over all of Israel.

As followers of Christ, we too have experienced this unmerited favor of God. Ephesians 2:5 says that, “even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved.” Romans 5:8 says, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And Romans 5:10 says that, “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.” We were enemies of God, sinners wallowing in our evil and dead in our trespasses, but for those of us that follow Christ his grace broke into our lives made us his friends, pulled us out of our sin, and made us alive. All of this according to his own grace. Not because of who we are or what we have done but by his grace alone.

In another song of John Newton's he wrote these words concerning our salvation by grace:

Weak is the effort of my heart,

And cold my warmest thought;

But when I see Thee as Thou art,

I'll praise Thee as I ought.