GRACE
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I’m found
Was blind, but now I see.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
This hymn by John Newton is probably the best-known hymn in Church history! It extols the wonder of God’s grace, which lies at the very heart of the Christian Gospel. To understand the Gospel and the message of salvation we must get to grips with Grace.
V 11. We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.
The very first dispute to be settled in the early days of the Christian Church concerned the connection between the old Hebrew ways of thinking and living, and the new way of following Jesus. There were those who felt that to be a genuine Christian you first had to become like the rest of the disciples – become a Jew – and that meant circumcision. This chapter in Acts records the first ever meeting to debate and come to an agreement over a fundamental point of Christian belief. Did membership of God’s family, and salvation from the consequences of sin, demand that a person should first be a Jew?
The answer was loud and clear – NO – it is nothing to do with what a person is by background. We all start from the same point and we all depend on the grace and kindness of God, who rescues from the law which would condemn us. Grace gives us a fresh relationship with God. This new relationship is based on the incredible quality of the love and kindness of God. Such Grace is the undeserved kindness of God that reaches out to us in spite of our background and then welcomes us into His family.