A dignified lady who possessed a valuable diamond ring was once walking along the street in Paris, France. In pulling off her glove she dislodged her ring, which rolled along the ground and dropped through a grating into a drain. Greatly distressed, she peered down into the catch basin, which was full of black, watery mud. She tried to retrieve her treasure with the end of her umbrella, but her efforts simply pushed the ring deeper. In desperation, she finally rolled up her sleeve, plunged her arm deep in the black muck, and in a few seconds retrieved her ring.

Isn’t that a great illustration of God’s reaching down into our sinful lives to save our souls? He plunged Himself into the world of sin around us, took us out of the horrible pit of sin, positioned us in Christ, and set us among the princes in glory. As Jim Otis says, He saved us from the guttermost to the uttermost.

Tags: grace, lost, redemption

Pastor and author H. A. Ironside told about a new convert who gave his testimony during a church service. With joy in his heart, the man related how he had been delivered from a life of sin. He gave the Lorsd all the glory, making it clear that he had done nothing to earn salvation.

The person leading the service didn’t fully appreciate the truth that salvation is by grace through faith alone, apart from works. So he responded, “You seem to indicate that God did everything when He saved you. Didn’t you do your part before God did His?”

The Christian jumped to his feet and said, “Oh, yes, I did. Fore more than 30 years I ran away from God as fast my sins could carry me. That was my part. But God took out after me and ran me down. That was His part.”

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us” (Titus 3:5).

Tags: grace, Ironside

Before he enlisted in the Union Army to fight during the US Civil War, Joshua Chamberlain was a quiet and unassuming college professor. In the crucible of military combat he distinguished himself for his heroism in holding the line on Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg. He was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

To recognize Chamberlain’s contribution to the Union victory, General Ulysses S. Grant designated him to receive the first flag of surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. The defeated troops of the South expected to be ridiculed and humiliated. Instead, Chamberlain showed them kindness and respect. For this, the Confederate commanding officer wrote in his memoirs that Chamberlain was “one of the knightliest soldiers of the Federal Army.”

As a committed Christian, Chamberlain reflected the grace of Christ. We too need to stand for what we believe but also to be kind to those with whom we disagree. Paul noted, “as a good soldier of Jesus Christ…be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition” (2 Timothy 2:3, 24-25).

When was the last time you helped an opponent “save face”?

Tags: Civil War, Gettysburg, grace, saving face

Dwight L. Moody illustrated grace like this in a late 1800s sermon:

“Remember, salvation is a free gift, and it is a free gift for us. Can you buy it? It is a free gift, presented to “whosoever” will accept it.

Suppose I were to say, I will give this Bible to “whosoever” will take it; what have you got to do? Why, nothing but take it. But a man comes forward, and says: “I’d like that Bible very much.”

“Well, didn’t I say ‘whosoever’ will can have it?”

“Yes; but I’d like to have you mention my name.”

“Well, here it is.”

Still he keeps eyeing the Bible, and saying, “I’d like to have that Bible; but I’d like to give you something for it. I don’t like to take it for nothing.”

“But I am not here to sell Bibles; take it, if you want it.”

“Well, I want it; but I’d like to give you something for it. Let me give you a cent for it; though, to be sure, it’s worth about five dollars.”

Suppose I accept the cent; the man takes up the Bible and marches away home with it.

His wife asks, “Where did you get that Bible?”

“Oh, I bought it.”

Mark the point: when he gave the penny, it ceased to be a gift. So with salvation. If you were to pay ever so little, it would not be a gift.

Tags: Bible, grace, Moody, works

This week we’re going to look at the subject of grace = unmerited favor; favor we don’t deserve. The airline had mangled Debbie’s luggage. Then her purse disappeared. Instead of entering the airport through an enclosed corridor, she stumbled off the plane in the pouring rain. She was drenched, far from home with no money, no identification, and no dry clothes.

Under normal conditions Debbie would have been furious, but that night it didn’t matter. She had just survived the crash of Flight 1420 in Little Rock, Arkansas. “When I walked off that plane,” Debbie said, “I walked off with nothing, then I stopped and thought, I have everything.” She had suddenly realized that her life was more important than all she had lost.

The fact that God allows me to continue to breathe is grace, considering my past failures. Let’s quit griping about what we’ve lost and focus on what He has permitted us to keep. That’s God’s grace.

Tags: favor, grace, life

Another of my heroes of the faith is St. Patrick. Today is St. Patrick’s Day and I always try to wear green. Although I have Irish ancestry (my ancestors had such Irish names as Carnahan, Gillespie, McNabb, Hobson, and Mackey), St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish. Patrick was taken prisoner as a child by raiding Irish pirates from his English home. Sold into slavery, he had a hard life. He prayed and told God that if He would deliver him, he would serve Him the rest of his life. He then found an opportunity to stowaway on a departing ship. The ship was destined for France, and Patrick arrived safe, and immediately entered a monastery to become a priest, keeping his word to God.

Patrick was not the best student, and when the pope sent out a plea for missionaries to go to rugged Ireland, Patrick immediately sensed God was leading him to go back. But the religious leaders were convinced that Patrick’s grades were not good enough for him to carry out such an endeavor and denied him. However, when none of the other priests volunteered to go, they reluctantly approved Patrick as the candidate. The rest is history.

Patrick becomes a hero because he went back to those who had put him in bondage and offered them grace. Isn’t that exactly what Christ did for us? No one had a passion for the wild Irish like he who had been there. Wear green today in honor of St. Patrick.

Tags: grace, hero, missionary, St. Patrick