Grace in the Gap

1 John 2:1-3 “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”

This impassable gapping chasm between the natural man in original sin and our Creator Father God has always been an accurate emotional illustration of your and my relationship with God, not only due to “original sin which all of us carry, but also due to the multiple sins of commission (the thoughts, words and actions that we do) and omission (the things that we should have done, but didn’t) against God, His creation and our fellow man that we willfully commit over the course of our lifetime. There are lists of many that we do in the Bible to bring this fact to light and in the forefront of our mind that we are far from perfect: i.e. Galatians 5:19-21, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and Matthew 5:21-37 for example. We have sinned against a just and holy God; our Maker. I even have this illustration on the right side of my Blog homepage as a reminder of what sin did to that relationship and what Jesus Christ did to restore it.

The gospel is made up of two parts: “(1) For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (2) being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” - Romans 3:23-24 and if that isn’t clear: (1) “For the wages of sin is death, (2) but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” - Romans 6:23. “Grace” is defined in the Webster’s dictionary as: (a) Appropriately, the free unmerited love and favor of God, the spring and source of all the benefits men receive from him, (b) Favorable influence of God; divine influence or the influence of the spirit, in renewing the heart and restraining from sin, (c) The application of Christ's righteousness to the sinner, and (d) A state of reconciliation to God. Our spirit was, not ill, but dead because of sin. God’s grace is not deserved, it is not earn and we cannot buy it at any price, but it is the “Gift of God” to those who believe and repent of sin.

Romans 11:6 “If by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace”.

We are coming up on Thanksgiving Day and if for nothing else, we have the gift of God’s grace to be thankful for. Because we had no way to free ourselves from the bondage of sin and death, no way to get back what was already gone, and no way to reconcile ourselves to God and make it “right” again, so God, who so loved the world, by grace, sent His only begotten Son to take our place on that cross to pay for the sins of the world, so that whosoever believed would receive forgiveness, restoration and eternal life. We must never lose sight of how deep and far the “fall of man” in sin really is, and deep and wide the love and grace of God really is to come to our rescue and salvation, providing “a Way, a Truth and a Life” for us all in Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:4-9 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

In Christ, Brian