Too often, we become lured by the religious substitute of grace ... which is not grace at all. You see, I know what it is to desire an understandable explanation of this amazing grace by which we have been saved through faith, but I'm telling you that such understandable versions of grace are all smoke and mirrors. After all, we've been brought out of the bondage of a world that has no idea as to the true nature of the bondage that dictates everything to its inhabitants.

I know we often think of salvation in terms of a destiny change, but such a concept pales in comparison to the reality of deliverance in Christ. Let the world grapple with its concepts and questions regarding grace and final destiny, for we have received something so far removed from those earthly formulations as to be expressed as being as far as east is from west ... which means that despite any attempts to bridge the gap, they never touch.

Regarding the bondage of the world, we've all been there. And rather than letting the experience highlight the vast distinction between the light we've been brought into and the darkness we've been removed from, we too often let those in the darkness help us understand a light they know nothing of! That, my friends, is the formula for confusion. I say to you, let those of the world run to the world for understandable versions of grace, for we have been brought into a life that cannot ever be understood by the world.

ShovelAudio

How we as Christians picture sin is often related to our imaginations of the face of Jesus. Does your motivation to stop or at least curb your sinning involve the face of an angry Jesus, a morbid Jesus, a humble Jesus, or perhaps an eye-rolling Jesus? What if all we've done with these expressions is to motivate ourselves according to a fleshly version of Jesus rather than who he truly is?

Pictures of Sin (Download Audio - right-click and save as..)