Grace, grace, grace, grace, grace??

I love these words by Shane and Shane, "An unfair deal on the part of Christ, he got my sin, I got eternal life."

A precious friend of mine was asking me what I believed....and we had a very good conversation. We were IMing, and my internet was being frustrating, so I just wrote her an email. Satan hated what I had to say. The whole internet not working was spiritual warfare, I have no doubt. Satan knows that she's in a battle, and that this battle is for her soul.

Anyway, she really made me think. Having to explain my views to someone who doesn't agree really put them in perspective. It really is all about Jesus' grace, not about what I have done/can do.

Here's what I wrote to her. She asked what I believed...and I also responded to a few questions like, "can't you have Jesus message of love and goodwill without the other stuff?" and "if that's true then Hitler could be in heaven."

"Okay, here's what I believe in a nutshell. Of course, there's more to it, but this is the essentials, k??


Sin was brought into God's perfect world when Adam and Eve chose to disobey. Because of their disobedience, sin entered the world, and it's consequence is death.

I was born into a world filled with pain, death and evil, just like you. As a baby the moment I chose to do something wrong (probably at just a few months old) I became stained with sin. As I got older, I got more and more stained as I did more bad things (lying, cheating, stealing, lusting, ect.) Even though I'm a pretty "good person" by the world's standards, even my small sins separate me from God. Like a white t-shirt with spaghetti sauce, I am stained beyond repair. None of the good deeds that I do can ever cover for my sin....I can not erase my bad deeds (big or small). However, Jesus came into the world and lived a perfect, sinless life, and because he loved me SO much, he took my sin and died for it. Jesus is "tide to go" and he is the only thing that takes the stain out of my white t-shirt. Nothing else works. He went to Hell, bearing your sin and mine, but because he was perfect, death(which is the consequence of sin) couldn't hold him down, so he came back to life! He rose from the dead.

Yes, Jesus preached love and goodwill, but that wasn't all. We can't just take part of his message, it's all or nothing. Just like any other leader (think Obama, Hillary, McCain...you can't take half of them, you either take their whole platform and you vote for them, or you don't). Jesus' main message was that he came to save us from our sins. Why do we need saving? Because the consequence of sin is death and death means Hell, eternal separation from God. Jesus came to spare us from that. It is for THAT reason that he preached love and goodwill (those are just the ways that we should act, they don't bring us salvation.) You can't take only half of his message.

Even Hitler could go to heaven. Isn't that amazing? Isn't it awesome to know that there is a God who would spare even Hitler from Hell? If Jesus' would forgive Hitler.....how much more can he forgive you and I? If Jesus' blood can wash away the HUGE spaghetti stains on Hitler's t-shirt, how much more can he wash away our sins?

It's not about what you do. It's not about living a good life. It's by the grace of Jesus Christ, a free gift that you cannot earn, that we are forgiven and given the chance to live in Heaven forever with God."


Wow. Thank you Lord. I learned a lot in that conversation. I'm learning more and more how UTTERLY helpless I am, and how completely powerful HE is. His grace covers me, I CAN't earn his salvation, love, approval or blessing! All that I have is by grace and his love for me, I don't deserve ANY of it. Amazing! The gospel is that much sweeter when put in those terms.

"An unfair deal on the part of Christ, he got my sin, I got eternal life."