As a 13-year-old, I believed in Jesus for my salvation. I was saved by grace. Yes, I was in rebellion against God and separated from Him. But redemption was mine through faith alone in Christ alone.
My story wasn’t the dramatic, infamous kind. My testimony didn’t attract much attention. I never stole a neighbor’s bicycle, never smoked cigarettes, never shot anyone, and I cussed only when it was absolutely necessary.
But I was then and still am a sinful person. My sin put Jesus Christ on the cross. He took my sin, and the sin of every other person, on Himself and died as our substitute. He took our place. His grace is truly scandalous. We might even say absurd.
The couple came into my office ready to tell me why my view of grace and the Christian life was insufficient. “We must do more than just believe to get our salvation,” they argued.
“Not according to the Bible,” I suggested. “How much more would you need to do? And could you ever really know if you’d done enough?” I asked. It was a lively conversation!
When confronted with biblical grace, even Christians can get uncomfortable. Their defense against grace is often to insist on absolute commitment while using disparaging phrases like antinomian and cheap grace to describe a free salvation.
