Unreasonable Grace
by E.L.
There have been times in my life when I have felt irresistibly drawn to sin, and when denying myself forbidden pleasure, felt agonizingly unnatural.
Sometimes I've successfully resisted, others I've careened headlong into it like a car with no brakes.
The sobering reality is that no amount of warning signs were sufficient to save me. It was as if the compulsion to sin was greater than my desire to resist. In those times I felt like an observer to my own life. Reality did not surface until a
fter I had gone over the cliff and experienced the horrible consequence of my decisions.
Wrecked relationships.
Doors opened that could never be shut again.
The taste of sin forever seared upon my conscience.
That's how sin works. The Tempter works through the desires of our flesh. He confuses us with mixed signals. In time we mistake lust for love, temporary highs for joy and selfish aggression for righteous defense.
God, on the other hand, gently prepares a way of escape from every temptation. Jesus empathizes. And even when we do yield to temptation, sinning miserably and repetitively, His substitutionary atonement repairs every injury incurred during our sin wreck.
I am finding that the grace of God is currently even more irresistible than the sins which have stalked me for a lifetime.
I admit that I am in an out-of-control sort of "grace" tailspin, with no hands on the wheel.
Worried voices warn me to not fall too deep into grace, that God can't possibly forgive this much, love this much, cover this much.
And yet...what is there that is reasonable about grace? By definition it is unreasonable. It's the unearned favor of God.
The Bible is replete with commands to resist sin, but there are no admonitions to be wary of grace.
"For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:" Ephesians 2:8 (KJV)
This writing is the copyright of E.L. and is reprinted on this site by permission. View all of his available articles here.
Page added March 10, 2015
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