GIVING GRACE EVEN TO THOSE WHO DO NOT DESERVE IT — IS THE WAY OF THE NEW COVENANT.
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“For the law was given through
Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”—John 1:17
One time Jesus sent messengers ahead
of His arrival to a Samaritan village; however, the village people rejected
Him. When two of Jesus’ disciples, James
and John, saw this, they were so upset that they wanted to call fire down from
heaven like Elijah the prophet had done. “…Lord
do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just
as Elijah did?” Jesus turned to them rebuking them saying,
“You do not know what manner of spirit
you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save
them…” (Luke 9:51-56).
What the disciples had said was
under the Old Covenant; however Jesus rebuked them because what they wanted to
do was not in line with the grace of God that He came to bring to humankind
through the New Covenant. Jesus did not
come to destroy people’s lives, but to save them. “For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes
in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). “…I have come that they many have life and
that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
To understand about grace, it is important to know that “…God was in Christ reconciling the world to
Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the
word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19).
Jesus was just in doing this because He bore our sins and the
accompanying wrath of God. “Surely, He has borne our griefs, and
carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and
afflicted. But He was wounded for our
transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our
peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of
us all” (Isaiah 53:4-6). “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out
with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachtant?’ that is ‘My God, My
God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower
than the angles, 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). The Scripture tells us that He did not
reject God’s judgment against sin; He willing took it upon Himself. “For He
made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Therefore He was able to extend the grace
and mercy of God to those who would have been doomed under the Law of Moses. “Therefore let it be know to you, brethren,
that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him
everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be
justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-39).
The Old Testament Law was like a
judge passing sentence upon sin. Not
only did Jesus become our advocate (lawyer); but He also, became our
substitute, “...bearing our sins in His own body on the tree…” (1
Peter 2:24). He did not destroy God’s
judgment; He fulfilled it in Himself so that we could go free. This forever changed God’s dealings with
sinful people.
Prayer—Father
today I choose to grow in Your grace; help me to learn of your ways and to
extend Your grace to those who reject Your son, Jesus, in Jesus Name. Amen.
