Over this past month, I think I’ve come to know the most important truth that the Lord has ever taught me. It has been a period signified by joy in freedom. I am certain that the Father orchestrated my time in Africa just for me to understand this one thing:
We live from his grace, not for it.
Consciously most of us grasp this concept, but I believe that a strong majority of us live in a sub-conscience lie. A lie that tells us we still need to earn our freedom. I was unknowingly a slave to this idea for too long. I have been trying to work off my past, trying outdo my sin with good, in hopes of evening the slate between me and God. I knew that Jesus paid the full price, but still felt that retribution was needed. To everyone who asked I would claim Christ’s victory over my sin, but deep down in my heart I had a drive to deserve. This passion only led me to discover the extent of my depravity, and ultimately brought me into shame. I was spiritually shattered, trying to self-repair my brokenness, and missing the great truth of grace.
When I took a look at the Word, this sub-conscience lie was brought to the surface and destroyed by the cross of Christ. In 2 Corinthians we see that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away: behold the new has come” (5.17). Jesus didn’t die for restoration, he died for new creation. If I was to be made whole again from my broken pieces, I would still be the same person as I was before. But Christ wanted to make something new, he wanted to start again with me. Therefore, my old life that’s filled with my past, that’s stained by my sin, has been done away with through the blood of Jesus. I am new, the slate is wiped clean and God has no recollection of my wrongs. Scripture says that “as far as the east is from the west,” he has removed from me my sins (Ps. 103.12). Since the Lord has no memory of my past, there is nothing to work off. He paid in full. The truth of His grace is that it’s more than forgiveness, it’s the power of Jesus, the love Jesus, that pulls us out from where we are and sets us in freedom. And who the Son sets free, is free indeed.
I believe that when Christ said “It is finished,” he was talking about the new lives that God was preparing for those who surrender their old ones to him. It was HIS sacrifice, what HE did that brought reconciliation, and through God’s abundant love we are new creations.
So, stop trying to earn the grace of God, live from it. Know that if you are in Christ, you are a new creation. Understand that if you are not, He calls you to become one…for free. Let his love transform your life, it has radically changed mine.
