We like to insist all sins be immediately repented of.
Grace has two hands: one to bring the sinner home and one to train the saint how to live in the home. Both are needed for the full embrace of salvation.
Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery, “Neither do I condemn you”. But those were not His last words. “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” (John 8:1-11)
Grace comes to the undeserving, but once it's freely received it begins to require changes. It begins to make us holy and to train us in holiness (Titus 2:11-12; 1 Peter 1:14-16). We find fullness, not dullness of joy as we begin to live as we were destined and created to live.
This offer of salvation by grace through faith is so simple that a child can believe and receive (Romans 10:9-10). It is Jesus who said, “ ‘Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.’ And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.” (Mark 10:14-16)
Christians, though, often withhold the free offer of grace from those who are convicted of sin, because they are not convicted of every particular sin. Yet, no Christian can honestly say that they were fully aware of each and every one of their own sins when they first put their faith in Jesus. No child was first required to list and acknowledge all their individual sins before they could be held and blessed by Jesus.
It is not the disciples' job nor authority to give or deny permission to people to come to Jesus based on their level of understanding of the truth. It is Jesus, the Way, who draws all men to Himself, the Truth (John 12:32).
I undeniably knew that I was a sinner and that Jesus alone could save me from my sin. But it is little by little that I’ve come to realize, to confess, and to repent of the particular sins I needed (need) saving from. Change by grace has happened slowly, but surely in the full embrace of Jesus.
How do we parent? We intercept the bad. Our children are not always aware of the present danger around them or the future consequences of their decisions or actions. So we also impart the good. We teach and we train and we discipline them.
How does grace parent us? It intercepts sin and imparts righteousness. We are no longer condemned by our sin; we are welcomed home. And yet we are no longer to live in our sins; we are to live as children of God.
It is Jesus' grace that both intercepts our sin and imparts His righteousness.
“he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” (2 Corinthians 5:15)
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