But By Grace

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April 26th, 2012

Grace puts the past behind us. We cannot change what we did in the past, but God can forgive it. We cannot change the history of what we were, but God can change what we are in our hearts.

Saul of Tarsus had been a terrorist. He voted to put the deacon Stephen to death (Acts 7:60b). He went from house to house and “dragged off men and women and put them in prison” (Acts 8:3b). He even received permission from the high priest to go to Damascus, arrest disciples, and bring them back to Jerusalem as prisoners. He was a fanatic!

Then God was so kind as to reveal Jesus to him. God shattered his preconceived, wrong notions about Jesus. He amazed him with a fresh understanding of the Scriptures. He gave him a whole new circle of friends and family.

Jesus is the grace of God personified. In him, sin’s bondage is broken. In him, failures are not final. In him, the regrets of the past become a spur for serving God today.