Chapter 12 ~ Saved By Grace

Have you been passed over for some position you thought you should have gotten?

Years ago, back in MI I got passed over a number of times for a management position I knew I could do, but, because I wasn't a business major, the passing over continued...

UNTIL...

A conversation between me and my supervisor.

At this "conversation" my temper got the best of me and I made the following statement... "I learned more in the last year and a half of engineering school than your business majors learn in four years!"

I got the promotion. I should not have, but I did. For reasons unknown my supervisor took a chance on me and gave me the job that I felt I DESERVED.

I would imagine that somewhere along the way he had seen me get passed over for nearly a year and felt it was "fair" to give me a chance. I am thankful he did. It was that job that led me to one of the most challenging periods in my life and thereby creating the circumstances that led me to come to IN, and the rest is history. One man's choice and it led to my sitting here with my computer talking to you about grace.

I think I can identify with the workers in Andy's illustration. It would be hard to work all day and only get paid what someone else did when they had only worked for one hour. But I can’t think of a more clear illustration of what grace provides to anyone, at any time, who is willing to look to Christ for salvation.

As I read the chapter 12 I thought different portions of the chapter to be intriguing here are a few of the examples that I found captivating…

Take a moment and give me your thoughts of each of these ideas/sections from chapter 12

“Fortunately for us, the kingdom of God does not operate according to the principles of fairness. At least not the way we measure fairness. When I think about all the things I’ve done wrong, when I consider all the times I’ve promised God I wouldn’t and then did, I’ve concluded that I don’t really want God to be fair in the fairest sense of the term. If fair means I get what I deserve, I don’t really want fair. I would opt for grace instead. I bet you feel the same way.” ~Page 182

“If the kingdom of heaven was reserved for good people, this man didn’t have a prayer. Well, he had a prayer, but he didn’t have a chance. Repentance from a cross is meaningless. Rededication when you only have hours to live doesn’t count for anything. We are all sorry once we’re facing the penalty of our actions. There is nothing to promise. He had nothing to offer. Restitution for his crimes was impossible. He had no bargaining power. He had earned the cross, and he had earned and eternity separated from all that was good. He was on his way to receiving exactly what he deserved.

But then Jesus disturbed the proper order of things. He interfered with this man’s karma. He trumped justice as justice was understood. He decided to be extravagantly unfair.” ~Page 187

“I know this is naïve, and I really don’t understand why people are so resistant to the gospel. I realize it has been mischaracterized through the years. Some of us Christians certainly haven’t helped the cause with our less than consistent behavior. But once someone gets past us and looks at the offer of grace, it just seems too good to pass up… Why would anyone opt for a religious system based on personal performance? Who thinks they are really good enough to earn heaven? And then there’s the question, earn it based on what? There really isn’t an objective standard of behavior to go by. Americans like to lean into the 10 Commandments as the standard. But as we’ve discussed the 10 Commandments weren’t given for that purpose. So where does one even go to find out how good you have to be?” ~Pages 188 – 189

“Religion highlights our inability to live up to a divine standard, thus creating a gap. But experience does as well. We fall short of our own expectations; we don’t need religion to tell us that we really aren’t all that good.” ~Page 190

“That’s what makes Christianity so unique. That’s what makes grace so powerful. Jesus came into the world and did what nobody else could do. He affirmed the list. He kept the law. He declared God’s law good. When he offered himself as the answer to the question no one else could answer: now that I’ve messed up what do I do? What the rules and the rule givers could not do, Jesus did by laying his life as the full and final sacrifice for sin. Christ death and resurrection signal to the world that the kingdom of God is not reserved for good people. It is reserved for forgiven people.

Good forgiven people. Pretty good forgiven people. Not so good forgiven people. And people like the criminal on the cross who didn’t have any good to bargain with.” ~Page 190 – 191

“The gospel is actually the fairest system imaginable. It’s fairer than fair. Think about it: everybody is invited. Everybody gets in the same way. Everybody can meet the requirement…And it was Christ’s death on the cross that makes the kingdom of God available to you and me as well is that fair?

No. It’s far better than fair.

It’s grace.” ~Page 191