Gareth, a staunch atheist, was adamant: “There is no God.” But then he attended church and his belief system was “rocked”. He shared how, being Welsh, he “enjoys a good sing-song”. And although he wouldn’t normally consider the meaning of the words, this time he cried as he sang, “the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives”. Imagine! He who hadn’t shed tears after the death of his father or his son stood in the chapel and wept.
Then the congregation sang the hymn “Amazing Grace”. “I knew I was toast,” Gareth admitted. He suddenly realised that the “catastrophic” things he had done—including ongoing drug and alcohol use—hadn’t resulted for him in death, illness or prison. Rather, that grace had operated in his life. In that moment, “I realised that I knew Jesus, and I had to accept him.”
In his conversion experience, Gareth followed the apostle Paul, who considered himself “the least of the apostles” because he had previously persecuted the church (1 Corinthians 15:9). Yet Paul recognised God’s grace changing him: “But by the grace of God I am what I am” (v. 10), and he became a “new creation”, as he wrote to this church elsewhere (2 Corinthians 5:17).
When we accept God’s grace, we too receive a full pardon. God releases us from our sin and welcomes us into a relationship with Him. What amazing grace!
By Amy Boucher Pye
REFLECT & PRAY
How can you trace God’s grace working in your life? How has God changed you, making you more like Jesus?
Saving God, thank You for sending Your Son to live and die for me. Help me to share the gospel of grace with those I meet today.
