Because I use one of those paper clip sized iPods with no screen, I have no idea which podcast I was listening to this morning, but the mystery speaker made a good point about sin, grace, and the gospel.
He said something like this. . .
If you came to my house and saw a stack of bills on my desk then picked one up and paid it—I would not know how to respond to you, unless I knew which bill and how much you paid.
If you paid my Blockbuster bill, then I would thank you for covering my $10 late fee, but I would forget about it by the end of the day and go on with life as usual.
If you paid off the rest of my 30-year mortgage, then my response would be drastically different. I would not forget about it. I would remember what you did for me every time I walked in my house, and I would want to do something to express my gratefulness.
In the same way, if we suppose that the depth of our sin and separation from God is small, and thus the priced required was moderate, then our response to the gospel will be lukewarm at best. We will “respond” to the gospel one day and live as if nothing significant happened the next.
But on the other hand, if we even begin to see the magnitude of our sin and the great priced paid to redeem us, then our response will be to live the rest of our lives as thanksgiving offerings to the one who paid our debt.
We will only understand and appreciate the grace of God to the degree that we understand the seriousness of our sin and our separation from God.
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I will be preaching this weekend at all three Sunday morning services (8:15, 10:00, 11:45) at the Brentwood campus of Bethel World Outreach Center. My topic will be the grace of God. I hope my message will help people understand and appreciate what Jesus did for us on the cross. Probably won’t mention the above, but it got me thinking about the grace sermon I am preparing.