So many misunderstand grace which is essential for our salvation. Grace was just as crucial in the Old Testament as it is now. Grace has everything to do with God’s benevolence, love and mercy. There are many ways to phrase it: “God’s favor toward the unworthy”, “God’s benevolence on the undeserving”. We must never forget that grace is a gift, it is not earned, and as recipients of this gift we don’t deserve it. So many struggle with this. Someone may say: “You mean David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) is heaven-bound And my mother who went to church every week, says her prayers every morning, lights her candles and was a good wife and good mother is hell-bound?” The answer is yes, if your mother and her family believe she has earned salvation based on the good life she has lived. Though David Berkowitz was a serial killer, he accepted the gift, while so many “good”, law abiding citizens have rejected the gift in favor of their own goodness. We read in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We didn’t have to become “good” first. We read in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast”. Once offered, our works are not required for the transaction to occur. In 2 Corinthians 8:9, we read, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” Grace is a gift, but it is not cheap. It cost us nothing, but cost our Savior dearly. This transfer is complete upon our repentance and acceptance, and our standing is permanent as children of God as long as we ABIDE IN HIM, His righteous heirs, based on His perfect sacrifice, as we read in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

We read in Isaiah 65:1, “I was sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am’, To a nation that was not called by My name.” This made no sense to many Jewish people who were steeped in their religiosity, who chose religion over relationship. Most then, just like most now, simply go through the external manifestations of religion without engaging their heart. We read in 65:5, “Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, Do not come near me, For I am holier than you!’ These are smoke in my nostrils, A fire that burns all the day.” We read a little further in 65:15, “You shall leave your name as a curse to My chosen; for the Lord God will slay you, And call His servants by another name;”. This new name came approximately 750 years after this was written as we see in Acts 11:26, “...And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch”. This was actually given to the believers in a derogatory fashion, calling them, “little Christs”. Similar to calling us “Jesus freaks” or “Born agains”. But it is a name that we who know Him should wear with great humility and responsibility.

The remainder of the book speaks clearly of Jesus’ second coming. It then goes on to describe the New Heaven and the New Jerusalem. Unfortunately, most who have the name “Christian” given to them seem to be living in a state of stupor. Do we not believe His Word? Do we not really believe that Jesus will return and everything as recorded in His Word will proceed as stated? We read in 2 Peter 3:9-10, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” This truth needs to be front and center for us, with nothing else being more important. None of us know when Jesus will return. The only thing we know is that it is one day closer than yesterday, but it will indeed happen. May nothing delay us from reaching those around us with the only message that really counts: the gospel message of salvation, the gift of Jesus Christ. May we stop making assumptions and allowances for those we know and love that surround us alluding to their goodness. For without a decision for Christ all of this “goodness” will mean nothing.