The Saved Sinners and the Grace of God!

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” – 1 John 1:8,10, Romans 5:15, Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV

First of all, we have to know that we cannot able to run away from sin, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23) even though Jesus Christ was crucified for our sins (Colossians 2:13-15) However, we are possible to be different kind of sinners that will not go to the eternal punishment at the end of the age (1 John 5:17-18), only if we believe and have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. The reason for this is that our citizenship has been transferred into the kingdom of heaven at the moment of believing and accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour (Philippians 3:20-21, 2 Corinthians 5:1), as the kingdom of heaven is where we are supposed to belong, since we are part of God’s creation (Genesis 1:1-2:7) This means that if we are not God’s creation and if we have been created by Satan, the enemy of God—God would probably not saved us through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and all of us are not going to experience afterlife. Overall, Jesus Christ can be the gift of life from God. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) In addition, the word of God announces, ‘If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.’ (Romans 10:9) However, we are not going to experience eternal life from the end of the age, if we are not willing enough to obey the Holy Spirit, whom God has poured into us. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

Therefore, through the faith in Christ Jesus—we have to abide in the Holy Spirit to do the will of God (John 14:15-17,26-27), instead of abiding into our worldly desires and passions if we want to be taken by the angels of God into our original home at the end of the age. This is why the word of God states,

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. (Galatians 5:24-25)

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. (Romans 8:1-11)

Furthermore, the grace of God hovers over us if we are being obedient to Jesus Christ and abide in the Spirit of God, that the power of God within us can do anything even if it is beyond our comprehension and expectation (Romans 5:15, Ephesians 3:20-21). Thus, we are able to live in Christ Jesus with satisfaction, that we can confidently declare, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:13-14) To be specific, the grace of God has hovered over me from a while ago. This is because Jacqui Caetano who writes weekly prayer reflections for the church and Richard Pierce, the pastor of spiritual formation suggested me to become a devotional writer for the church, relating to the sermons of Windsor Park. In addition, I have found that I passed all of my exams except speaking, which I was not able to do, and was asked to be in the media team for the Korean Worship ministry on Tuesdays, due to the fact that I have some PowerPoint skills.