Slideshow image

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people…” (Titus 2:11, ESV)

Pastor Abel’s sermon on this verse is titled, “I Deserve”.

Grace, put simply, is a gift we don’t deserve. To deserve something is to have earned it through our own merit. It means that our deeds, or perhaps our position in life, have made us worthy of the thing that we deserve. For example, a worker deserves a paycheck.

Paul’s simple statement here gets to the heart of Christmas, and Christianity: Jesus Christ, God incarnate, was born. He is the wonderful gift, the grace of God, that we don’t deserve.

There is a subtle trap here that Satan will often use as our fleshly minds try to make the grace of God once again about ourselves. It happens when we think that our sin is the only reason we don’t deserve God’s grace, as though we would deserve it otherwise. This is a trap because it leads us to try to earn God’s love through legalistic obedience.

Our sin does merit God’s wrath upon us, and it is further proof that we don’t deserve his love. It is only through his mercy (which is not receiving the terrible thing we deserve) that we are alive now. But grace was just as undeserved for Adam as it is for us today. Adam didn’t deserve to be created. He didn’t deserve a wife, Eve, even though he never sinned.

When you give someone a present at Christmas, a gift which they did nothing to earn, it would be strange if they were to receive it with downcast eyes, ashamed of themselves, saying, “I really don’t deserve this present. I don’t deserve your love because I am a sinner.”

Sure, that would technically be true. But the point of the gift is to show love. And the proper response to love is joy, gratitude, and returned love, not shame. Yes, you don’t deserve the gift. Of course! That’s why gifts are so great at communicating love.

God’s grace has appeared. Jesus Christ has come into the world, to save people from the misery of their sin, and all the loneliness and separation it brings. Salvation is a gift because God wants to communicate his wonderous love for us. Marvel at that this year. May it cause you to reach up with all your heart to the God who freely loves you.

 

For Further Study

  • Have you ever felt shame when considering God’s grace toward you? Is shame a biblical response to God’s love for us, a love we did nothing to earn?
  • Reflect on Deuteronomy 7:6-11, and 9:4-5. Why was God gracious to Israel?
  • Reflect on Ephesians 1:3-10 and 1 Peter 2:9-10. Why is God gracious to you?
  • Consider reading the sermon “Immeasurable Love” by Charles Spurgeon.