By Pastor Greg
One night in a church service a young woman felt the tug of God at her heart. She responded to God’s call and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. Even though she had a very rough past, involving alcohol, drugs, and prostitution, the change in her was evident. As time went on she became a faithful member of the church, eventually teaching young children. It was not very long until this faithful young woman had caught the eye and heart of the pastor’s son. The relationship grew and they began to make wedding plans. This is when the problems began. You see, some in the church didn’t think a woman with a past such as hers was suitable for a pastor’s son, so the church began to argue and fight about the matter. To decide what was right, the church scheduled a meeting. During that meeting people argued from both sides of the issue, and tempers began to rise. The meeting was getting completely out of hand. Of course, the young woman became very upset about all the things being brought up about her past. As she began to cry, the pastor’s son stood to speak. He stated, “Today you have put the blood of Jesus on trial. I ask you, does it wash away sin or not?”
This illustration asks a very weighty question. And it’s not a question about forgiveness; rather it is a question about Grace. How much of a person’s past sin does God still hold against them? Now, I think we all would agree that any sin can be forgiven provided the person seeks forgiveness in the name of Jesus and repents of that sin. But Grace, on the other hand, choses to no longer hold that sin against the sinner. This is the promise of Grace; a promise Jesus illustrated so beautifully in the story of the Prodigal Son (read Luke 15:11-32).
In this story, the young son comes to his senses and returns to the father (That’s repentance). Expecting one thing, he receives just the opposite (That’s Grace). The father did not hold the son’s past against him. Instead the father celebrated the life that that had been restored. What was lost has been found. What was dead is now alive.
In the Kingdom of God, this is what happens to all who turn to Christ in faith. All who come to their senses, confess their sin, and repent of their sin, will find Grace. They will receive not what they had earned through their sin or by their disobedience, but what God choses to do by His Grace. However, even though this is true, Jesus needed to remind a couple of religious big shots of this truth. They didn’t seem to understand Grace nor appreciate Grace. So in this story Christ identifies the difference between God’s attitude toward a repentant sinner and the Pharisee’s judgment against the repentant sinner. God’s grace looked forward, not backward at what HAD been done or what HAD been said. The story of the prodigal is a lesson of hope to those seeking forgiveness, and a scathing rebuke to those who continue to hold sin against those whom the Father has forgiven.
In this parable, Jesus is pointing to the Religious Elite as the elder son. The Pharisees and the religious teachers would not show grace. They would not forget what God had chosen to no longer remember. Okay, that being said, let’s jump ahead a couple of years. Jesus has ascended. The Spirit came and the Church was birthed. Now the tables are turned. Peter and James and John and the rest of the apostles had been with Jesus since the beginning. They had been with the Church and with Jesus all along. But one day this troublesome Pharisee named Paul comes along saying that he has become born again. He confesses to being a believer. So now you have a Pharisee playing the role of the younger son. How will the Church (the elder son) respond? This Paul had persecuted the Church. He assisted in the stoning of Stephen, a deacon in the Church. Would the Church become like the older son; holding Paul’s past against him? Would Paul’s past become a noose around his neck for the rest of his days, or would the Church celebrate Grace?
Thankfully, a man named Barnabas speaks on Paul’s behalf, and demonstrates the lesson of Grace which the Church needed to learn. Barnabas says, “If Paul has received Grace from God, then he will receive Grace from me” (okay, that’s my paraphrase of Acts 9:27). God then teaches Peter a valuable lesson about Grace; that Grace is granted to anyone, regardless of their sin (Acts 10:34-35). Later on, this recipient of Grace will write “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
Most of the un-churched people I’ve talked with remind me of the younger son in this parable. Feeding the pigs; broke, and starving, the prodigal son knew his life was a wreck. And it was in desperation that he came to the father. But he came expecting judgment. He came expecting anger for the way he destroyed his life. This is what the un-churched seem to expect from God. They expect wrath and judgment, which is part of the reason they stay away from church in the first place. They feel bad enough already. They already know their life is a disaster. Now, I hope we all know what they will find when they come to God. But I wonder what they find when they come to the Church. Sadly, even after finding Grace and restitution from God, some Christians never let anyone forget their past; as if there was no Grace or no forgiveness. Oh, I’ll admit that Grace does not remove the earthly consequences of sin. We cannot remove the way our sinful choices in the past affect us today, but the past does not determine who we are today or tomorrow. That privilege belongs to Grace.
Why do you suppose some Christians today struggle with Grace? Why do some Christians continue to hold sin against those who have received Grace? The problem is not with Grace. The problem is selfishness. Some Christians, acting just like the older brother in the parable, feel that Grace is unfair. Some complain to the Father that it is not fair to grant Grace. “What about all that sin”, they exclaim. “You’re just going to let someone say they are sorry and let bygones be bygones?” And the Father answers “Yes, that is My choice”. And so to the selfish, self-centered Christian, God’s choice seems unfair; a choice they simply cannot accept.
We cannot disregard Grace. Grace cannot be ignored. Grace demands to be noticed. It jumps from the Word of God and smacks us square between the eyes. The Word of God takes Grace and forces us to choose; either Grace works, or it doesn’t. There is no middle ground. Either a sinner is granted Grace when they confess their sin, or they are not. But if they are, then we, as fellow believers, must celebrate with the recipient of Grace, and help them look forward to a life lived in fellowship with the Father. He has chosen Grace. So too must we.
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