Grace greater than our sin

There was a king who was so wicked that he burned his own sons as a sacrificial offering. He filled the city with innocent blood. He practiced sorcery and witchcraft, and dealt with mediums and psychics. He worshiped the stars and set up idols in the temple of God. His detestable practices also led the people far away from the Lord.

There was another king who, rather than going out with his men to battle, stayed home and soon began lusting after a beautiful, married woman. He sent to have the woman brought to him, and she became pregnant. In a desperate attempt to cover up his wrongdoing, the king called the woman’s husband home from battle to be with her. The soldier honorably refused, so the king plotted and had him killed.

There was a man who brimmed with hatred toward the followers of Jesus. He nodded in approval as Christians were stoned to death. He locked up many saints in prison. He punished them severely, tried to make them renounce Jesus, and was so full of fury that he chased them down in foreign cities with violent intentions. And all the while he thought he was doing God a favor.

There was a woman who had earned quite a town-wide reputation as, let’s say, a woman of ill-repute.

There was a tax collector who cheated the people out of their hard-earned money. He betrayed them, defrauded them, and indulged his life with stolen goods.

There was a man who said he’d lay down his life for Jesus, but when things didn’t go like he thought they should, he quickly and cowardly claimed his didn’t even know the man. Not once. Not twice. But three times.

There was a whole church full of people who came from lifestyles of sexual immorality, idolatry, prostitution, homosexuality, thievery, greed, drunkenness, lying and cheating. 

What do all of these people have in common?

For one, they all deserved to suffer the consequences of their sins. The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). And if God, in His perfect righteousness and holiness, gave them up to their depraved hearts, dishonorable passions, debased minds then they wouldn’t stand a snowball’s chance in…well, hell.

But that’s not how their stories end.

Each of these crooked and corrupt characters discovered that’s God’s mercy and grace reaches even the most notorious of sinners. Each one of these biblical individuals was drawn by the loving-kindness of the Lord to humble themselves before God in repentance and faith in Christ. Each one God rescued from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of His beloved Son, who purchased their freedom and forgave their sin (cf. Colossians 1:13-14). Each of them received the “free gift of God [which] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).   

Friend, whatever your struggles, whatever your sin, even though we all likewise deserve death, your story doesn’t have to end in anguish. You, too, can find freedom and salvation in the mercy and grace of Christ Jesus. You, too, can share in the gift of life that’s in Christ Jesus our Lord. Why not humble yourself and turn to the Lord today?