John Newton’s popular hymn has that jarring line: Amazing grace, How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me. A wretch? Few of us would call ourselves by that term. We are far too respectable. With our advanced degrees and cultured upbringing, we are anything but wretches. However, one result of an awakened heart…
Tag: Grace
What Total Depravity implies
Total depravity is the sad but biblical idea that every person is morally corrupt and spiritually dead (Psalm 51:5; Ephesians 2:1-3). But rather than being a sour belief which hampers faith, it is a scriptural teaching which drives us to cling to the sovereign grace of God. It is an evangelical doctrine which ignites hope…
A present and future grace
1 Peter 1:8-17 After humanity’s fall, God made a promise – a promise to defeat Satan through the Seed of the woman. Satan would bite his heel, but Christ would crush his head. The promise becomes more explicit when God promised Abraham a heir through whom all the nations would he blessed. From this point…
A Meditation on Grace
The grace of God is a stream, coursing through the ragged rocks and broken terrain of human existence, bringing life, healing and hope. Grace sustains our universe and keeps it going. Grace began the day man turned against God and declared himself autonomous and free. Grace was the leather garment which covered man’s sinful nakedness…
The Grace of humility
1 Peter 5:6-11 Humility is a Christian grace. It is a quality which makes us much like Christ and so unlike the world. And it is a grace which yields more grace. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (v.5) Why does God oppose the proud? Because the proud person is living…
Grace in trial
According to Hebrews 12:3-11, trial and affliction are a part of the Christian life. Christ faced them, and every believer experiences them as a ‘sign’ of sonship. Here is a little prayer I wrote while reflecting on this truth early this morning. Lord, thank you for affirming, through my suffering, that I am your son;…
An Account of sovereign grace
I was born into a nominal Christian family as the last of 4 boys (no girls, sadly!). My family attended a large Pentecostal church (Christ Apostolic Church) in Kano in Northern Nigeria. We regularly attended church on Sundays, but there was little else besides that. At around 9 years of age, my mother and the…
Understanding Grace
Grace is central to the Christian worldview. At the core of the Christian understanding of reality is that although man has fallen from his exalted position in which he was created, God has stepped in to secure his salvation. And this salvation Paul has declared to be by grace: “For by Grace are you saved”…
Hope in troubling times
It is so tempting to withdraw into cynicism after all the events of the past few weeks. We might ask ourselves, “Is there still hope for our world?” “Can any person or society still speak positively of our universe?” It might seem all that is left is for the Great Judge to bring his swift…
The Christian Mind 