September 13, 2020 (Sunday)
Glenn McCollum was my good friend who conducted graveside services for my wife, Wanda, in 2002. A few years after that act of kindness, he, too, passed away. At one time Glenn was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Aransas Pass. He was a beloved pastor and, to his fellow ministers, a joy and delight to be around. He had several hobbies, one of which was carving ducks which could be displayed as art or utilized as decoys. Another of his hobbies was collecting barbed wire samples and using them to create works of art.
He and I went to South Texas Children’s Home one day and, on the way home, drove by many ranches that had barbed wired fences. Suddenly he called out, “Stop! So I stopped the car, he got out, walked over to the side of the road, and returned with some barbed wire pieces. He was always busy. His favorite activity was visiting with people. He was a genuine “people person,” ideally suited to his work as a pastor. He also left behind works of art that remind people of who he was.
I just watched a movie in which a very disturbed minister does penance by wrapping himself in barbed wire. It is a disturbing scene of an act of mental instability as the minister succumbs to some of the pressures to which his profession makes him vulnerable. Sad to say, such acts are common practice in some places as religion takes a weird turn and numbers of men punish themselves with whips, etc., hoping that self-flagellation will bring forgiveness.
If you understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, then you know that Jesus’ death on the cross paid the full penalty for your sins and mine. As the hymn declares, “Jesus Paid It All, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.”
The word, “grace,” means “unmerited mercy.” If we are saved today, it is by grace. Here’s what the Bible (Ephesians 2:8-10, New Living Translation) says about that: “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When Jesus died on the cross, he proclaimed, “It is finished!” which means the redemptive plan of God to save people by his grace was finally and fully accomplished. His resurrection which followed shortly was inevitable because He is the Divine Son of God. Salvation is now available to all who will believe. You cannot save yourself; it is entirely the work of God. We serve God because we are saved–not in order to be saved.
Of course, there is probably no one reading this who wraps himself in barbed wire, but some may be punishing themselves by condemning themselves for sins that God has forgiven. The Bible goes so far as to say that God has forgotten your sins because He has forgiven you in Christ. If you are saved today, keep your eyes on Jesus and keep moving forward, not backward. Your self-punishment is unnecessary and insulting to God. You are saved by grace.
If we sin as Christians, we confess our sins and accept the Lord’s forgiveness (1 John 1:9 KJV).
If you are saved today, you are saved by grace. There is no other way.
Grace Greater Than Our Sin
Julia H. Johnston
1911
1 Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,
Yonder on Calvary’s mount out-poured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
Refrain:
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within!
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.
2 Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,
Threaten the soul with infinite loss;
Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,
Points to the refuge, the mighty cross. [Refrain]
3 Dark is the stain that we cannot hide –
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! there is flowing a crimson tide;
Whiter than snow you may be today. [Refrain]
4 Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe!
You that are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive? [Refrain]
Hear the entire song by the choir of the First Methodist Church of Houston