Amazing Grace

“If you have a small view of your sin, God’s grace will be small to you.” — Tim Keller

I do not think that most will disagree with me that sin is bad. Although sin can be theologically complex, whether you are a Christian or not, it can be simply defined as “wrongdoing.” People have a hard time believing that all are sinners. Most of us do not want to be called a sinner and do not want to be called out on our sin. Many of us genuinely believe that there is some good in all of us and “love wins.” Even when we do sin, we think that we can cover it up by doing good. I confess that there are times when I think that if I do more good than bad, I’ll be okay. From a biblical view, this type of thinking is fundamentally wrong. Tim Keller said, “Sin is not just breaking the rules, it is putting yourself in the place of God as Savior, Lord, and Judge … There are two ways to be your own savior and lord. One is by breaking all the moral laws and setting your own course, and one is by keeping all the moral laws and being very, very good.” By focusing only on the good, we are attempting to save ourselves. This leads to complete destruction of our souls. King David confessed, “When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long” (Psalm 32:3, NLT). The wages of sin is death! Only when we understand the seriousness of sin, we will be able to taste and see that the LORD is good. God is love and he demonstrated his love for us by dying on the cross while we were still sinners. During this lenten season, let us focus on our utter need for Jesus and depend on his amazing grace.