The apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 1:16 of the power of the message we proclaim. He writes, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” The Gospel of Jesus Christ is powerful enough to take the most hardened of sinners and transform them into a powerful testimony of the grace of God.
The testimony of amazing grace includes some truly amazing stories of radical conversion. There’s the testimony of John Newton, a former slave trader who life was totally transformed by God’s amazing grace. There’s the story of a religious skeptic named C. S. Lewis whose conversion produced some of the most thought-provoking Christian literature outside of Scripture. There’s the story of Charles Colson, a chief player in Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal whose life was transformed to reach millions in prison.
I believe with all my heart God called me to preach, as amazingly improbable as that would be. I concur with Paul’s assessment in 1 Timothy 1:12. No one is more surprised than I that God would call a scrawny little kid from the hills of Huntington, West Virginia to preach His glorious Gospel. To think that He can see all my sin, faults and failures and still use me to declare His glorious riches is beyond me. The only way I can reconcile such an anomaly is to say, “Isn’t God’s grace amazing?!” I’m just a frail cracked pot, broken before Him so the glorious good news can be seen and heard in me.
Your conversion from sin to salvation may not be as dramatic as Paul’s; no one’s is. You may not have been called to a ministry of preaching the Word of God. But make no doubt about the fact that if you are a Christian, your life is a Testimony of Amazing Grace.
You recognize the Source of this grace is God Himself, Who has called you and equipped you for service in His kingdom. You freely acknowledge the Need for grace because previously your sin had separated you from Him. You recognize the Power of saving grace; so much greater than your sin. You understand the Measure of this grace because no one knows the depth of your sin like you do. You have come to appreciate the Purpose of God’s grace extended to you was so that others might come to salvation through your testimony. And you know deep in your heart that the only appropriate Response to the grace of God is adoration and praise.
Friends, if you are not amazed at His grace then you have never truly experienced it. If you cannot stand in sheer rapture at the glorious grace of God poured into your life then you have never been to Calvary. But if you have been there, the strains of amazing grace will flood your soul with adoration and praise.
Do you know that amazing grace? The Scriptures were written so you could know it, and that’s why we’re here…..That You May Know (1 John 5:13)
That You May Know Ministries 