Amazing grace how sweet the sound.” We sing about grace. We believe in grace. We preach grace. But do we understand grace? Now all who have even the barest knowledge of the Bible know that the pinnacle of God’s grace is Christ dying for the world’s sin. They know the CONTENT of the message of grace. Yet many do not seem to understand the CONDITION of the message of grace.
Make no mistake. Grace has a condition. Every where in the Gospels Jesus preached that men must “repent” and “believe” if they want to obtain the blessings that he came to give man. Not merely believe, for that leads to dead religion without right living.
Make no mistake. Repentance is part of the grace package. We read in Titus, “The grace of God which brings salvation to all has appeared, teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires.” We also read in Romans, “It is the goodness of God that leads you to repentance.” Jesus himself said, “Unless you repent, you shall likewise perish.” This is a far cry from the views of some that grace is essentially a “get out of jail free” card that allows men to continue in sin. If we really believe that grace is amazing — an amazing offer of eternal life based on an amazing display of grace on the cross — then let us respond like we really believe that grace is amazing.