“But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
Titus 3:4-7
Romans 5:8, “but God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. While we were yet sinners, God the Father sent His own Son, Jesus into the world with one purpose: to save us. Luke 9:56a, “for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” Knowing that we could do nothing to save ourselves, Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sin by His mercy and His love.
As Christ’s followers we must know in our heart that God did what we could not do for ourselves, restoring our relationship with Him, now and forever; saved by His love, mercy, and grace.
There was a man named George Wilson who was sentenced to hang after he was convicted of killing a guard while robbing a federal payroll from a train. Public sentiment against capital punishment led to an eventual pardon by President Andrew Jackson. Unbelievably, Wilson refused to accept the pardon. The courts had never experienced this, and were naturally confused as to what should happen; eventually the Supreme Court was called to make a ruling. Chief Justice John Marshall delivered the following verdict: “A pardon is a parchment whose only value must be determined by the receiver of the pardon. It has no value apart from that which the receiver gives it. George Wilson has refused to accept the pardon. We cannot conceive why he would do so, but he has. Therefore, George Wilson must die.”
The truth is that we all stand in a similar position before God. Through Christ, He offers us forgiveness and pardon from sin, but it is only effective as we accept His grace personally in our lives. John 3:36, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Friend, if you are yet to accept this grace; I plead to you today to accept His grace.
Garment of Praise
Monthly Insights for Spiritual Growth, Encouragement and Personal Victory.
Oluyemisi Onanuga
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version of the Bible.
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