There are two things that I will preach until I am no longer able to preach. One is The Love of God; the other is God’s Grace. I really think that the two are identical twins. I can’t seem to find in Scripture where Jesus offered anything less.

Preachers can get plenty of advice on what “those sinners” need to hear. One of the benefits of getting to be an older preacher is that kind of stuff stops. The truth is if you listened to people who constantly look for what is wrong in this world, you would never get around to the Gospel. It is also true that if we listen to God, we will never get away from the message that Jesus saves!

There is absolutely no place in scripture where Jesus ever condemned anyone. He came to save a world that had already condemned itself. Have you ever noticed that when we talk in terms of condemnation, or to point out a wrong, we use words like “they, those people” or “that person?” God save us all from the sin of measuring the faithfulness of others while using ourselves as the measuring stick.

Some say, “But then you are condoning sin.” Do you remember the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2? Jesus credited them for hating sin, and not the sinner. In the gospel, each time a sinner was set free; the joy of their new life condemned the sin of their past.

“This saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and I am the worst of them.” 1 Timothy 1:15

“I’ll praise him, I’ll praise him
Who saves me and calls me his own;
There’s no condemnation to them in Christ Jesus
That live by the Spirit alone.”