I’m convinced that the greatest inconsistency in the church today concerns the grace of God. Our souls must be intensely guarded in this one vital area. Every doctrine and every precept should come under the government of grace. If you detach a particular spiritual truth from grace, you cease to propagate the gospel. Grace is the main rule of our new and better covenant.
God’s grace places everyone on a level playing field. No person is a cut above any other – whether Christian or not. By grace we were saved, and by grace we are being sustained. One of the biggest traps any of us can fall into is the belief that in some way we as Christians are better than (or superior to) the unbeliever. This supercilious and condescending attitude is denying the obvious truth that everyone has sinned (Romans 3:23). The apostle Paul had some strong words to say in this regard. In Romans 2:1, he condemned idol worshippers, homosexual practices, and violent people. But then he surprised his Christian listeners when he turned on them and in effect said, “You are just as bad, and you have no excuse!”
Paul was emphatically stressing that we have all sinned and there is no way apart from Christ to be saved from the consequences of our sin. If it wasn’t for Jesus dying on the cross, your sins would still be held against you. It is by grace that you can stand in God’s presence without guilt or condemnation. It is by grace that you do not reap your just rewards for breaking His commandments. It is by grace that you are not judged for your rebellious attitude. We, as believers, must totally rely on the grace of God, and in so doing, treat everyone with the same consideration and loving-kindness that we’ve been dealt.
