Before modern modes of transport, it was a very rugged trip to cross the United States from the east coast to either Oregon or to California. Many people believed that there were great rewards to be gained in the West and with the desire in their hearts to make life easier for their families, they would set out on their journey to search for gold or other riches. Many were successful, but others were not so fortunate.
One man who left his wife and his son in the eastern United States and went out to California to seek riches prospered enough that he sent for his wife and son to come and join him. Instead of having them endure such a rugged journey as was involved in traveling on a stagecoach clear across the country, he arranged, as many did in those days, for them to board a ship for their journey. The Panama Canal did not yet exist, so the sea journey to California from New York or South Carolina took you all the way around the bottom of South America and up to Los Angeles or San Francisco. Tickets were purchased for this man’s wife and son to board the ship to California.
The straits at the bottom of South America are notorious for the violent storms that arise in that area. Unfortunately, the ship carrying this man’s precious cargo was involved in one of these storms and went down. As the ship was sinking, the passengers and crew scrambled to get on lifeboats. Looking desperately to save herself and her son, the mother discovered that there was only one seat left on the lifeboat. Without hesitation she lifted her son into that seat. As he looked up to her for the last time she said to him, “When you get to California tell your father that your mother died for you.” In order for him to live, she knew that she would have to die.
Grace is expensive
Grace is the most expensive thing in the world. Paul wrote, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).
Again he says, “You He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:1–9).
Grace is wonderful
Because of grace, your sins and my sins can be forgiven. In fact, Paul said that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15). Even if you are the chief of sinners, the worst sinner in this world, your sins can be forgiven. But friend, don’t ever forget that the forgiveness of sins came at a great cost.
“We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9). By grace your sins can be forgiven, but that grace is expensive; it cost heaven the greatest sacrifice that has ever been made. The sacrifice was not just one of money, but a sacrifice that involved suffering, separation, and the agonizing death of the dear Son of God.
Grace received changes people
We can never be the same or live the same after we have received grace. Why? Because it cost so much to give it to us. The little boy who took the last seat on the lifeboat would never be the same again because he knew that an infinite price had been paid for his life. He would be a different person for he gained life at the expense of another.
Writing to Titus, Paul said, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly [without being intoxicated], righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11–14). Notice especially verse 14. Jesus did not come to this world and die on the cross so that you could go on and just live the same as you did before. Notice why He did it. It says, “He gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” Receiving God’s grace will change you.
“He [Jesus] died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:15). As long as that boy lived, his most treasured memory would be of his mother, who gave her life for him. He could never live in a way that would bring dishonor upon her memory. Jesus died for all, so that we would no longer live for ourselves. Friend, if you’re living for yourself, you are living under the banner of the evil one and are still under his control. He claims you as his own (see The Desire of Ages, 130). The devil knows well that if he can get you to live for yourself then he’s got you; you are in his kingdom. Jesus died so that we would no longer live for ourselves, but for the One who died for us.
If that boy had lived his life for himself, lived a sinful life and brought dishonor upon his mother’s memory, it would have been considered a terrible crime. Jesus has died for all and whoever turns his or her back on Him, choosing to live selfishly commits a heinous crime. The Bible says, “If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace” (Hebrews 10:26–29)? It is an insult; it is an outrage to the Holy Spirit, to go on and live in sin after receiving the grace of Christ and acknowledging His sacrifice.
“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears” (Hebrews 12:14–17). Friend, grace is not something that can be trifled with. It is the most wonderful and generous gift in the world. It is expensive; it cost the greatest sacrifice that has ever been made. It shows that God is willing to save even the chief of sinners, but when a price like that has been paid to make grace available, it must be respected. Unfortunately, that is not what has happened in the Christian world for the last 2000 years.
Jude 4 says, “For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” In other words, it is the thought that because of the abundance of grace available, you can just go on and sin because all you have to do is ask for it to be forgiven. Sin and repent, sin and repent again. This doctrine has overtaken a large part of the Christian world. People think they can deliberately sin and then go and confess it to the priest, or sin and then go and tell the Lord that they are sorry. Friend, that is a dangerous game to play. That is an example of premeditated sin, turning the grace of God into lewdness, making God’s grace essentially granting permission to sin. It is not uncommon for people to think that they can sin and then come and ask God for forgiveness. That is what Esau did. He thought he could come and be forgiven at any time, but he found out God was not Someone who could be trifled with.
“We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain” (2 Corinthians 6:1). Evidently it is possible to receive the grace of God in vain or we would not have been given this counsel. The grace of God does not only provide forgiveness from sins that are past, but the grace of God brings you the power to make it possible to live a new life, free from sin. If you don’t ever live the new life, then the grace of God is in vain for you.
Grace stabilizes a person’s life
From the time that little boy arrived in California, he felt duty bound to bring honor to his mother’s memory. He would maintain a constant effort to do what is right. Paul says, “Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them” (Hebrews 13:9). Notice Paul says that grace will establish you; in other words, stabilize you so that you can’t be just blown about here and there by every wind of doctrine, till you are not sure what to believe.
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). Grace stabilizes a person’s life so they’re always attempting to do what is right.
Grace makes life serious, never a carnival – Life is precious because it has been purchased at an infinite price. Grace makes life serious. “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). Your neighbor’s life is also precious because of the infinite price that was paid for the entire race. Realization of that completely changes the way we regard and deal with each other. This is one of the main differences between Christian and non-Christian nations. Christian nations recognize that a human life is precious and will do anything that they can to preserve it. In non-Christian nations oftentimes life is cheap. Grace makes life more serious. True Christians recognize the infinite price that has been paid, not only for their own life but for the lives of all and affects the way they deal with each other.
A crude illustration is the way two different types of rock are treated. My house used to be on a country road about 300 feet back. To maintain the driveway, we would have dump trucks deliver rock which would be dumped on the driveway which I then smoothed out with the blade of my tractor. The reason the rock was brought in the dump trucks and dumped out and driven over is because that rock was common rock; it was not precious. But there are some rocks that are precious – a diamond for instance. You would not put diamonds in a dump truck and dump them on a driveway, smooth them out with a tractor and drive on them. Though they would make it a very hard road, diamonds are way too precious for that. Instead, you would place them in a velvet lined box and store them in a secure place, such as a safety deposit box or bank vault. Diamonds would be treated completely differently from the common rocks that you put on your driveway.
If I understand that all lives are precious, how then will I treat you? Some people, like rough diamonds, need their flaws removed and then to be polished. A diamond in the rough is still a diamond. It may need a lot of polishing and grinding in God’s workshop, but it’s still a diamond. Think about it. How do we treat each other? Do you treat your fellow men like gravel to be picked up and dumped here or there and driven on, or do you treat them like a diamond, though they still may be a bit rough?
Grace changes the way that we speak
There are many texts in the Bible about our speech. “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Colossians 4:6). “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29).
In an Old Testament prophecy of the Messiah, it says, “You are fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured upon Your lips; therefore God has blessed You forever” (Psalm 45:2). A Christian speaks with grace. “He who loves purity of heart and has grace on his lips, the King will be his friend” (Proverbs 22:11).
The path of grace leads to character perfection
“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14–16).
The Lord has promised that before the final outpouring of His judgments on this world, there is going to be a revival of primitive godliness among His people that has not been seen since the time of the apostles. We earnestly pray that we will accept the grace that has been freely offered, hold fast our confession, take up the armor of God and join with Him to take a part in this finishing work before Jesus returns.
(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)
Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.