Rev. Don Campbell
THE POWER OF GRACE
Grace changed Paul from a passionate persecutor of Christ to a passionate preacher of the cross. Grace doesn’t just give us slight course corrections but causes 180-degree turns in our lives.
We might reason that this was true of Paul, but not of us. We were born into a Christian family, obeyed the gospel at a very early age, attended a Christian college or university, married a mate who came from the same background, and we are perpetuating the cycle. We are good people, needing only a nudge now and then from grace. I wonder what Jesus would say about this.
Wait! I don’t have to wonder. He did say something about this:
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk 18:9-14, ESV).
