What's So Amazing About Grace?

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Second, let’s again look at Paul’s argument in Romans 5:12-21. Here Paul contrasts the universality of sin and the reign of death in the human race with the gift of righteousness through the one act of Christ, i.e., His death on the cross (5:12-17). God’s righteousness or salvation is based on the record of one, the Lord Jesus Christ and not our record. But the point that needs to be made here is on the great problem all people face regardless of the depth of their personal sin, namely, the reign of death in all of mankind. “So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned” (5:12); “For if, by the transgression of the one man, death reigned through the one…” (5:17). Legalism is an attitude, a mentality based on pride. It is an obsessive conformity to an artificial standard for the purpose of exalting oneself. A legalist assumes the place of authority and pushes it to unwarranted extremes. As Daniel Taylor states so well, it results in illegitimate control, requiring unanimity, not unity. 36

Grace: Why It’s So Amazing and Awesome | Bible.org Grace: Why It’s So Amazing and Awesome | Bible.org

Apart from grace, we are all on the same road. Some people just slide into the ditch and stay for a while. Others slide in, drag others in with them, and set up house. Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter into the kingdom of heaven, only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 7:22 On that day, many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?” 7:23 Then I will declare to them, “I never knew you. Go away from me, lawbreakers!” (Matt. 7:21-22).The governing factor for Christian freedom is the principle or the law of love as those under the law of Christ, but free from the requirements of the Law for either salvation or for holy living (sanctification). You sometimes hear the accusation that this kind of free-grace breeds license. Part of the answer to the license issue is that grace does not leave us as we were before salvation, but becomes the very foundation for the Christian life (see Rom. 5:1-2). With grace comes the motivation and ability (by God’s grace, of course), to produce good works. This is part of the aim of God’s salvation by grace as expressed in Ephesians 2.

Grace: An Interview with The Shock and Scandal of God’s Grace: An Interview with

But why does Paul call himself the foremost or chief of sinners? Remember, Paul was an extremely religious man, yet he calls himself the chief of sinners. Perhaps he wanted to make a point about self-righteous religious people. The point is that being religious does not exempt us from being terribly sinful with the ability to commit horrible crimes. The religious bigotry and murderous purges in history bear testimony to the atrocities carried out in the name of religion. You’ve said that your role as an author is to be a storyteller. Why do you think stories are such a powerful way to communicate truth? From a history of great religious pride and self-trust, cruel brutality, and unbelief, Paul was brought to faith in Christ and transformed into a servant and teacher of the gospel of grace. Two of the most profound statements are found in verses 15 and 16, the first of which Paul says is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance, Also, stories reflect raw life. When someone asked Jesus a direct question, they probably expected a direct answer. They rarely got one. Jesus understood that life involves complexity and mystery. For example, a person asked him, Who is my neighbor? Jesus responded with the compelling story of the Good Samaritan. You can’t legalistically define the appropriate objects of love and compassion—no, we become the neighboring ones in the way we behave. His convicting story makes that point.Use italics (lyric) and bold (lyric) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part With verse 20 Paul demolishes the stronghold of the Jew or anyone who thinks he might be justified by keeping the Law or any rule of righteous behavior as with the Sermon on the Mount or the laws of the Koran. Plainly put, keeping any form of law is not a means by which a person can be declared righteous before God. The Law, whether it’s the Old Testament Law or that written within the heart of man (Rom. 2:14-15), is simply God’s means of showing man his awful sinfulness and alienation from God. As Wiersbe writes: