Don't Talk About Sin Talk About Grace

If you don't realize how bad you are then you can't realize how good Christ is! Recently, a visitor at our church complained about the Sunday sermon. I had preached a sermon on repentance as one avenue toward the road to reconciliation with God. At the heart of the message was the grace of God. However, the visitor did not want to hear about sin or fearing God. They wanted to hear about the grace of God. They said something about their God not being "an angry God" but a gracious God. The truth is were we not all sinners deserving death and hell (i.e. the wages of sin) then we would not need the grace of God. Apart from understanding our own sinfulness we cannot understand the glory and wonder of God's grace. As Paul writes in Romans 6:23, the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. We deserve, we earn, hell but we all, in Christ, receive better than we deserve, God's unmerited favor: grace. Wanting to ignore our sin and our need for repentance, perhaps inadvertently, is wanting to downplay the grace of God. If we are not lost, then we don't need to be found. If we are not dead in our sins and trespasses, then we do not need rescue. If we are not sinners, then we don't need the Savior. But the truth is, we are not good people. We are terrible sinners, which makes Christ a wonderful, merciful Savior. Christ offers forgiveness to all people. He grants it to those who will not reject His gospel. We can only receive grace if we really, really understand our great need as we are revulsed and repulsed by the deformity of our sin. Jesus is a wonderful Savior to those who will receive forgiveness and a divine judge to those who reject Him. There's no away around admitting you're a terrible sinner in need a saving grace. It's at the heart of the gospel.

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