“There go I, but for the grace of God,” said Nancy Elizabeth Brooks, aka, my mom. She said it frequently, to remind us to be slow to judge others. I remind my ministerial students that I could make the same mistakes any other person has made. Praying the Lord’s prayer reminds us that we depend daily on God’s grace to forgive us and deliver us from evil.
Paul wrote to his protégé Titus to remind him that before Christ saved us, we were all sinners. We did not pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and save our own lives. God showed us kindness, love, and mercy when he saved us. This work of salvation was not a mere renovation project, but a rebirth by the washing of the Holy Spirit. God lavished the Spirit of holiness on us through Jesus Christ our Savior.
Karl Barth, the Swiss theologian wrote, “Every day we ought to begin, we may begin with the confession, ‘I believe in the forgiveness of sins.’” This confession enables us to receive God’s forgiveness and offer it freely to others.
God’s sovereign work of salvation gives us two additional gifts: humility and hope. How is humility a gift? It frees us from the silly thought that we are “self-made.” God justified us by unmerited grace. This leads to authentic hope of eternal life. Our salvation depends completely on God finishing what he started in us. He will sanctify us by unmerited grace. The same grace that started a good work in us will bring it to conclusion. We should thank him!
