I used to be addicted to not showering. Luckily, I've been clean for five years.

You know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windshield, it said ‘Parking Fine.

All joking aside, it’s not beneficial to go through life ignorant about things that matter.  This is especially true when it comes to grace.

Grace is such a wonderful thing in life.  It brings hope, blessing, and promise and is powerfully transformative.  But I have encountered some who think of grace as something it is not.  They morph it into being something they wish it were while ignoring what Scripture reveals it truly is.  This happens when grace is made out to be about or to do something that it was never intended to be about or to do.

It can also happen if we ignore the passages that offer a different point of view on a subject we hold dear, but the point of view is not quite complete.

Such is the subject of grace.  I’ve found it often is misunderstood regarding its full effect.  It is either not viewed as having the depth of reach it is meant to have, or it is viewed as going so far in its reach that nothing we do matters anymore.

I believe in a grace that is so powerful that it can be seen as being scandalous while, at the same time, it is so powerful that it is transformative.

Titus 2:11  For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age, 13. At the same time, we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.  15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

Grace appeared when Jesus arrived on the scene and went to the cross to pay the penalty for the sin of the world.  Your sin and my sin.  That act of grace offers salvation to anyone who believes and receives it.

Interestingly though, that grace teaches us something.  It is a tiny but powerful two-letter word, “No.”  Grace empowers us with that word as it applies to a specific thing.  We can now say no to ungodliness and worldly passions because of grace and what it teaches us.

But more than teaching us to say no to those things, grace teaches us how to live!  We get to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.  Grace reveals to us an even deeper purpose to the death of Christ on the cross than just saving us from the penalty of our sin.

Grace reveals that Jesus died to save us from all wickedness and purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.  New Creation DNA is designed in this way.  Jesus did not go to the cross so that if someone wanted to continue in wicked behavior, they could do so without threat of consequence.  The purpose of the cross was to redeem and transform.  It is the gateway to becoming a New Creation in Christ filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered to live as a changed person who knows they are loved greatly.

This is what grace teaches us.  It lets us know that as we seek to live as whom He says we are and we find we miss the mark, we haven’t lost His love, and we still have His favor, and we are not left in the spot where we fell.  He is there with us to help us get back on our feet again and live as the person He says we are.  It is essential to be taught by grace, not just be fascinated with it.  I encourage you to allow the lessons of grace to be yours today and always.