Real Grace

I grew up in a church that was more interested in talking about hellfire and brimstone than anything else. They sure liked to highlight our depravity and unworthiness so much, but didn’t usually follow that up with the truth of the hope we had in Jesus. I remember a powerful turning point in my christian walk happened one Wednesday night at Bible Study.

On this night, we were studying Romans. The Holy Spirit (whom I really didn’t understand anything about at the time) opened up God’s word in a new way. We read

Romans 8:1, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”

And I stopped and stared at the page. “NO condemnation? Like, none?” I remember feeling giddy, yet confused at the same time.

When I got home, mom was doing the dishes and dad was around. I said “So why didn’t anyone tell me about what grace really is? Like God forgave me for all of my sin. ALL of it. Even the stuff I didn’t do yet. And He’s not mad at me.” Without looking at me mom said “well yeah, you know that hunny.” And I just stood there staring. I became absolutely furious. “WHY HAVE YOU LET ME LIVE MY LIFE NOT UNDERSTANDING THIS?” I was ticked and my mom seemed mildly upset that I didn’t know this simple reality.

That night I realized that God’s forgiveness was absolute. The reality of His grace was made real to me in a deep way. It changed everything, literally everything, about my life. I believe that was the first time, at sixteen, that I experienced true freedom.

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Submitted on 11/13/21