Privileges of Grace

Saturday morning, May 31, 2008
Unfortunately, most Christians see the Christian life as a tremendous burden of responsibilities added to their already overloaded wagon. The result is that most Christians live their lives, obviously burdened with these perceived responsibilities. Tragically, the list is never shortened; instead, it becomes longer and longer. Consequently, the burden of living the Christian life soon becomes too much and compromises of all kinds ensue.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could somehow learn that Jesus took all the responsibilities of the Christian life upon Himself and fulfilled them to God’s complete satisfaction? That is probably why He told us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
You see, because of the grace of God, the lavished grace of God, all the responsibilities that should have been ours, have been fulfilled in Jesus. In other words, He turned responsibility into privilege, and there is a difference. For example, rather than being responsible for winning the world to Jesus, we have been given the privilege of loving the lost in Jesus’ name; instead of being responsible for never causing another to stumble, we have been given the privilege of being honest, real, and transparent before them; rather than being responsible for our own spiritual growth, we have been given the privilege of resting in His finished work.
Actually, the more I think about it, the more I realize that those of us who are Christians are the most privileged people on the planet because we have been given the privilege of calling God—Father—an incredible privilege of grace!
Because He is our Father and, therefore, desires for us to be victorious as His children, He has graced us with several very significant and practical privileges. These privileges of grace, unique to His children, are especially designed by Him to give us a sure hope, as we live our lives in this depraved society.
Over the next several days, I will be sharing with you several privileges of grace; hopefully, they will prove meaningful in your life. I offer the following sneak preview for your perusal: (1) A new confidence ; (2) A new courage; (3) A new commitment; (4) A new purpose; (5) A new attitude; (6) A new interest; (7) A new priority; (8) A new way of thinking.