God’s Grace: Who You Really Are In Christ

Ever had the feeling you let God down? That your iniquity kept you miles from the person you want to be? Well if so you fell short of the glory of God. The Bible says we all have because God’s standard is nothing but perfect holiness. The truth is even if we lived well and sinned only once in our latter years (which in itself is not possible) it would not be sufficient. There is an aspect of God’s nature that cannot tolerate dwelling with sin. And if one entered His presence without the cover of grace, that individual would be consumed. Throughout the Old Testament, prophets and priests were given a kind of grace that foreshadowed Christ’s new covenant. It was based on faith and sacrifice. They were justified because of their faith in God. These men would have believed in Jesus if he was physically present in their time.

Today we are under the New Covenant and therefore all believers are justified by their faith in Jesus (Romans 5:1). So why are so many Christians troubled by their iniquities? The simple answer is we always tend to slide back to a performance-based relationship with God. Perhaps because everything in our daily life seems to demand so. From our places of work to the relationships we are involved in, we get treated better after we have done well. When we falter, we are criticized. And in most cases looked down upon.

Then there is our self-criticism. It really is unreasonable for us to be critical of ourselves because we are flawed. I mean just try to go two days without making a single mistake in all that you do. It probably will not last an hour, you could pick up your device and enter a typo in your search page.

God knows us better than we know ourselves. It is the reason He sent Christ to give us the opportunity to be perfect in His sight. We do not have it in us to live flawless lives, so in His mercy, the Lord provided a perfect righteousness that comes through our faith in the Son He sent.

We sin everyday when we do things our way, hold grudges, tell lies, have wrong thoughts or do anything contrary to what Scripture tells us is right. But when God looks at us, He only sees the righteousness of Christ. We were clothed in pure white robes of perfect holiness when we gave our lives to God. And it will remain so as long as we are on this earth.

The question that inevitably comes up is, does that mean we can live the way we want and God will still love us?

I will answer in this way, if you know sin is bad for your well-being, (I mean when we do wrong we tend to get in trouble) – that’s why it is often called falling, if you know it can be harmful, why would any one want to use the freedom God gives to live in sin? The grace is there because we will inevitably stumble, but God of course prefers we walk as well we can. He provides us with the ability to tread more in the right path.

Will He still love us when we do sin: YES
Will He hold us accountable for our sin after we’ve asked for forgiveness: NO

You will receive the grace of God always, you will be perfect in His sight always, He will always love you and He will never leave nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). Let this always encourage you whenever you feel bad about anything you may have done. Do not feel guilty about things God does not know about: yes He chose to forget your iniquity. As far is He is concerned, it does not exist, because of your faith in Christ.