What if God truly does love us without measure?
What if there genuinely is no limit—none whatsoever—to God’s grace?
What if all our sins—past, present and future—are entirely and absolutely forgiven?
What if God is always smiling over us—no matter what?
What if there isn’t anything we can do to make God love us any more or any less than he already does?
What if we never need to fear his wrath?
What if God’s discipline is always an act of molding and training rather than one of punishment?
What if all our fears about letting God down are ridiculous because it’s not possible to disappoint him since we are always in Christ?
What if our performance as a Christian (good or bad) never impacts our position in Christ?
What if the part of us that is screaming, BUT, BUT, BUT! is an echo of our former selves that makes our Enemy giggle with glee?
What if the hypocritical Pharisees around us screaming, BUT, BUT, BUT! are wrong that somehow grace can be cheapened?
What if the arguments made about “cheap grace” actually cheapen grace?
You see, the longer I live, the more I realize how I’m never going to have it all together. I will never have a perfect day. I’m always going to be in process. Always.
The older I get, and the more I learn about the unconditional love and goodness of God, the more I am humbled. His mercy and grace never cease to amaze me. Never.
As it turns out, God is good. Like, unbelievably good. All the time.
Do you and I deserve his favor? Nope. Not even a little.
But that’s why God’s goodness is called unmerited grace. We never deserve it. Not even on our best days.
For the record, I know we are to choose to walk in the light. Yes, we need to learn to cooperate with the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Certainly, we must grow. Of course.
But we must stop seeing grace and our relationship with God like a yoyo—sometimes we’re up and sometimes we’re down. Sometimes we’re close to God and sometimes were not. Sometimes we are good and loved, and sometimes we are bad and not.
No matter what, we are in grace. We always live in grace. We are always covered by it without exception and without fail.
We are humans, so our currency of exchange—with God and others—must be grace.
I love this quote by Brennan Manning:
“Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion. To live by grace means to acknowledge your whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting your shadow side you learn who you are and what God’s grace means.”
Remember, God knows us better than we know ourselves. He understands our nature and how humans are frail. So, stop hiding in fear and living in shame.
One more thing, for those of you wondering what sin I’m guilty of that has prompted this article, trust me, it’s serious. In fact, it’s daily. There’s hardly an hour that I don’t think, say or do something that I shouldn’t.
I’m broken.
I’m defective.
I’m damaged.
But here’s the good news (and it’s why we call it good news), being wrecked isn’t the end of my story.
I am chosen.
I am a new creation.
I am holy in Christ.
I am God’s work of art.
I am forgiven.
I am loved.
I am all these things, and so much more, because I AM says I am.
Drop the mic.
“So now the case is closed. There remains no accusing voice of condemnation against those who are joined in life-union with Jesus.” —Romans 8:1
This article originally appeared on KurtBubna.com and is reposted here by permission.