Every day when I approach God's Word, I do so with fear and trembling. The entirety of God's Word must always be our reference when communicating to others about Him. There is a tendency to cherry pick certain verses to the exclusion of others and in the process misrepresent God. Many fail to ever come into a relationship with God because they feel that they are "pretty good" and are in no need for a Savior. For those that do see their sinful ways, repent and come into a relationship with Jesus, another potential error must be avoided. It is easy to falsely start believing that we are "pretty good" again. What begins as grace must continue as grace. Once we see ourselves as anything but unworthy sinners and recipients of grace, we will start elevating ourselves and become poor representatives or ambassadors of Jesus. In the 1980's we had what amounted to one of the most current examples of those same lepers that Jesus loved and touched.

Multitudes of AIDS victims, especially from the homosexual community had no place to go. They had a disease which was deadly and at the time, had no cure. They were kicked out of their homes and rejected by their former lovers, their families, their co-workers, etc. No one wanted them. Christians, if they were following Jesus' actions would have loved them. This does not mean that we would have agreed with their homosexuality, but our eyes would have been on the individual rather than the sin. But the Christian community failed miserably. These modern-day lepers saw anything but the love of Jesus. Holding signs like "It is Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve", others with signs quoting Leviticus 18:22, others yelling that they were receiving what they deserved, etc. I can't think of anywhere that Jesus ever spoke like that to anyone. Even when He spoke harshly to the religious leaders in Matthew 23, He concluded in 23:37, by stating that all He ever wanted to do was to love them.

Jesus gives a wonderful example of abiding in Him in John 15. We read in John 15:1-2,4,6, "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit...Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me...If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned." In like manner, in Ezekiel 15 we read a similar example where Israel is likened to a vine that does not bear fruit. We read concerning them in 15:6-8, "Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will set My face against them. They will go out from one fire, but another fire shall devour them. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them. Thus I will make a land desolate, because they have persisted in unfaithfulness,' says the Lord God." God's purpose for Israel had been to demonstrate to the world the blessings that came to those who made God their Lord. God's purpose for us as free recipients of His grace are to be God's ambassadors to a world that doesn't know Him. We are to live in such a way that others might see Jesus in us. As written in Matthew 5:16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

Some come to Christ after an emotional experience. Others do so more slowly but come to the realization of the disparity between His character and their own. Either way, we are saved by grace, and grace alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). As such we must realize that we were not and are not, "pretty good". Only by abiding daily can we keep this reality in perspective. Jesus said in John 8:31-32, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." The misrepresentation of Jesus by the majority of the Christian world during the AIDS crisis in the 1980's is because they forgot they were recipients of grace, and instead felt they were in a position to judge these individuals. There are only two groups, and we would do well to remember this. There are unworthy unsaved sinners and unworthy saved sinners. Staying in God's Word will keep this understanding real and make us more effective ambassadors for Him (Philippians 3:20). Grace is receiving something that we do not deserve. It is the unmerited favor of God. Once you add the word, "and" to grace, such as "and works", or "and personal goodness" it is no longer grace. We have been recipients of His grace, in return we should be extensions of this grace to both the unsaved and the saved world.