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"I once was lost, but now am found.
Was blind but now I see.
So goes the hymn by John Newton. I suppose we all know the history of this man as a slave trader, living a lifestyle of iniquity. There came a time when he was so convicted of sin that it nearly broke him and also brought him unimaginable joy and worship and gratitude as seen in his writing of this hymn.
To sidetrack for a moment into Reformed theology, though it is relevant to the OP but not the subject of it, there is something to notice about it. Although I do not know if Newton was A'ist or C'ist, the specific words used express the core of what is so amazing about saving grace. When he was lost, he did not know he was lost. He only knew that after he had been found. He did not know he was blind until he could see. Otherwise he would have already been found and already seeing.
And the words do not say he found or he made himself able to see. They say he was found. And they say he was able to see, just as surely as Jesus touched and opened the eyes of the physically blind in the Gospels. Something happened to him and it had to be done by something outside of and greater than himself. That would be what we see in John 3. A new birth, born of God, born in Christ. Newton repented because he had been reborn. He did not become reborn because he repented.
Which brings me to what is so amazing about saving grace. "By grace you have been saved, through faith."
Grace is a word we know the meaning of. Unmerited, undeserved, favor. But is it far more than its mere definition? And should we come to the place of seeing this and it cause us to fall to our knees everytime we glimpse it, overflowing with unspeakable gratitude? Let's take a look. And I must say here, though I know I will get kick back and disagreement from those who believe that repentance comes first before the new birth, and that it is the individual who makes a choice to be saved; saving grace can never be grasped beyond its definition unless a person knows that salvation is all of God, that it comes about by Him through His giving us a new birth that changes our hearts.
By grace we have been saved.
All people are held captive by this fallen world, our flesh, (sinful desires) and the devil. (Eph 2:1-3) This is followed in verses 4-7 with the antidote to this condition, in the declaration of the rescue and the Rescuer. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved---and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
What did the very eternal Son of God who is God in the Trinity, do in order to rescue us from this darkness? He stepped down from this state of perfection and glory and became flesh like us. He came into the world of darkness that we live in, bringing light with Him. He came into our world where the influence of the devil is everywhere and against all people, just as he was against Christ. In the midst of this He remained obedient and faithful to the Father for the sole purpose of saving a people from their sins and sins penalty of death and facing the wrath of God in just judgment. God was under no obligation to do this for anyone.
Jesus went to His death on the cross, knowing all His earthly life that that was His destination. But He had a mission, a war to win, and He did not shrink back. He suffered and went boldly into the very maw of death, the very stronghold of satan, to conquer it and him. And conquer He did, both the power of sin to condemn those He purchased with His own life and shed blood, snatching them out of the kingdom of darkness, bringing them into His kingdom. He had no sin of His own but He went into the gnashing teeth of death carrying with Him the sins of those who would believe. But death could not hold a righteous man, and He rose from the grave and clothes His people with His robes of righteousness.
When we consider these things, and know that we are saved by grace, grace is more than simple unmerited favor. Grace towards us comes at a great price to the Savior. And when we look back to the beginning of the OP to this grace being bestowed on us for salvation as being poured out in the new birth, we something we maybe never saw before about grace and what grace is. This new birth that God gives, from our perspective is a miracle---or we certainly should see it that way, for it defies anything of the natural, no less so that our Savior being born of a virgin, the Holy Spirit His father, or Jesus rising from the dead. Do not the scriptures tell us that it was the power of the Holy Spirit who does both those things?
But our rebirth is not a miracle to God. It is grace pure and holy poured out, and overflowing.
Was blind but now I see.
So goes the hymn by John Newton. I suppose we all know the history of this man as a slave trader, living a lifestyle of iniquity. There came a time when he was so convicted of sin that it nearly broke him and also brought him unimaginable joy and worship and gratitude as seen in his writing of this hymn.
To sidetrack for a moment into Reformed theology, though it is relevant to the OP but not the subject of it, there is something to notice about it. Although I do not know if Newton was A'ist or C'ist, the specific words used express the core of what is so amazing about saving grace. When he was lost, he did not know he was lost. He only knew that after he had been found. He did not know he was blind until he could see. Otherwise he would have already been found and already seeing.
And the words do not say he found or he made himself able to see. They say he was found. And they say he was able to see, just as surely as Jesus touched and opened the eyes of the physically blind in the Gospels. Something happened to him and it had to be done by something outside of and greater than himself. That would be what we see in John 3. A new birth, born of God, born in Christ. Newton repented because he had been reborn. He did not become reborn because he repented.
Which brings me to what is so amazing about saving grace. "By grace you have been saved, through faith."
Grace is a word we know the meaning of. Unmerited, undeserved, favor. But is it far more than its mere definition? And should we come to the place of seeing this and it cause us to fall to our knees everytime we glimpse it, overflowing with unspeakable gratitude? Let's take a look. And I must say here, though I know I will get kick back and disagreement from those who believe that repentance comes first before the new birth, and that it is the individual who makes a choice to be saved; saving grace can never be grasped beyond its definition unless a person knows that salvation is all of God, that it comes about by Him through His giving us a new birth that changes our hearts.
By grace we have been saved.
All people are held captive by this fallen world, our flesh, (sinful desires) and the devil. (Eph 2:1-3) This is followed in verses 4-7 with the antidote to this condition, in the declaration of the rescue and the Rescuer. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved---and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
What did the very eternal Son of God who is God in the Trinity, do in order to rescue us from this darkness? He stepped down from this state of perfection and glory and became flesh like us. He came into the world of darkness that we live in, bringing light with Him. He came into our world where the influence of the devil is everywhere and against all people, just as he was against Christ. In the midst of this He remained obedient and faithful to the Father for the sole purpose of saving a people from their sins and sins penalty of death and facing the wrath of God in just judgment. God was under no obligation to do this for anyone.
Jesus went to His death on the cross, knowing all His earthly life that that was His destination. But He had a mission, a war to win, and He did not shrink back. He suffered and went boldly into the very maw of death, the very stronghold of satan, to conquer it and him. And conquer He did, both the power of sin to condemn those He purchased with His own life and shed blood, snatching them out of the kingdom of darkness, bringing them into His kingdom. He had no sin of His own but He went into the gnashing teeth of death carrying with Him the sins of those who would believe. But death could not hold a righteous man, and He rose from the grave and clothes His people with His robes of righteousness.
When we consider these things, and know that we are saved by grace, grace is more than simple unmerited favor. Grace towards us comes at a great price to the Savior. And when we look back to the beginning of the OP to this grace being bestowed on us for salvation as being poured out in the new birth, we something we maybe never saw before about grace and what grace is. This new birth that God gives, from our perspective is a miracle---or we certainly should see it that way, for it defies anything of the natural, no less so that our Savior being born of a virgin, the Holy Spirit His father, or Jesus rising from the dead. Do not the scriptures tell us that it was the power of the Holy Spirit who does both those things?
But our rebirth is not a miracle to God. It is grace pure and holy poured out, and overflowing.
