God’s Lavish Grace to Save Sinners
- I think sinful thoughts all the time
- My sin makes me feel guilty
- I need forgiveness for. . .
Do you think or say these things about yourself? You are not alone. In fact, Paul, one of the writers of the New Testament, was so overwhelmed by his sinfulness that he cried out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Roman 7:24). God’s lavish grace to save sinners will grant them eternal life.
We are all sinners. We commit sinful acts, think sinful thoughts, and assume sinful attitudes. Therefore we are guilty of breaking nearly all of the Ten Commandments. And, our lawbreaking and sinfulness create an insurmountable chasm between us and God. Something has to change in order for us stop feeling so guilty and shameful. Fortunately, God has a plan that makes it possible for him to both forgive our sins and cleanse our hearts.
Step 1. Admit you are a sinner.
Jesus condensed all of God’s commands into two. He said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength . . . You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30-31). We have broken his commands many times. As a result, we are caught in the deadly quicksand of sin and cannot get out by our own efforts.
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God . . . no one does good, not even one.” Romans 3:11-12.
Step 2. Admit your inability to save yourself.
You might think you can clean up your life and make yourself good enough to belong to God. But it is impossible. Your sin separates you from God. In fact even if you lived perfectly from now on there would still be all the sins you previously committed. That means we need God’s lavish grace to save sinners. And he offers salvation as a gift.
“Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear” Isaiah 59:2
Step 3. Accept God’s gracious gift of salvation.
God has a plan to forgive you and save you from the punishment you deserve because you sinned.He sent his perfect Son Jesus to earth in a human body to live a sinless life so he could be the sacrifice you need because of your sin. Jesus died in order to pay your death penalty so God can justly declare you not guilty, accept you into his eternal kingdom, and adopt you as his child.
Jesus is the rescuer we all need, because we are all lost. He throws out the lifeline and provides the spiritual power necessary to pull us out of the quicksand of sin. And, we don’t even have to clean up our lives before we cry out to him to save us. In fact, we can’t do anything to earn salvation. God grants it to us as a gift even though we don’t deserve it. We just have to accept the gift of forgiveness and salvation he offers.
“He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy.” Titus 3:5
“God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast,” Ephesians 2:8-9
Step 4. Confess Jesus as Lord of your life and believe in him.
When you agree with God that you are a sinner and ask him to forgive you, he will answer “yes.” That’s because he accepts Jesus’ death as payment for your sin. When you accept Jesus as your Savior, God changes you from the inside out. He replaces your sinful nature with a new heart that desires to love, worship, and serve God.
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come . . .For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:17, 21
Step 5: Be confident in your identity as a rescued and redeemed child of God.
God has a plan to reconcile sinners to himself. He has promised that anyone who believes in Jesus as the Son of God and trusts in him for forgiveness of sins has eternal life and becomes his beloved child. When we become God’s child, we are welcome to enter his presence at any time. And when we die, he will take us to heaven to live with him eternally.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”(John 3:16).
‘To all . . .who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.’John 1:12.
Because of God’s Lavish Grace, you can cry out to him and be saved right now.
If you sincerely desire for God to forgive you and grant you eternal life, you can pray to him from your heart using words like these:
Lord, I know I am a sinner and I don’t deserve your help. But the Bible says if I believe in Jesus and ask your forgiveness, you will save me from my sins and give me eternal life. I believe your Son Jesus died to pay the penalty I owe because of my sins. Then he rose again so I can have eternal life in heaven with you. Please, Jesus, come into my life. Forgive me and cleanse my heart. I trust in you alone for my salvation and give you control of my life. Thank you, Lord, for your free gift of eternal life. I am thankful for God’s lavish grace to save sinners. Amen.
If you have questions or have prayed to ask Jesus to be your Savior, please contact martha@lavish-grace.com. We would love to send you some material that will help you understand your new relationship with God and introduce the Bible to you as your guide for life from now on.
- Author of Escape From The Land of If Only