Grace Greater than Our Sin

Recently, a hymn has been on my mind:


Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled.

Refrain:
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!

Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,
Threaten the soul with infinite loss;
Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,
Points to the refuge, the mighty cross.

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide;
What can we do to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide,
Brighter than snow you may be today.

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe!
You that are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive?


As with many concepts of the New Testament, grace is an often used and often misinterpreted word. Most people understand grace in much of the same way that Old Testament individuals understood it- simply God's favor. Most people interpret it as God's forbearance of sin and use it as a reason to overlook various sins. Other Christians look at grace as a vague notion of forgiveness. However, scripture is quite clear: grace and truth only came through Christ Jesus. Look at the distinction that John made

For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. John 1:17

As much as the Law was introduced by Moses, grace was introduced by Jesus. Therefore, this grace is understood primarily through the New Covenant introduced by Jesus. It is generally understood by many believers that the Law introduced by Moses is good because it reveals God's holiness and as a result, it produces the knowledge of sin in a believer, demonstrating their need for repentance. However, what many do not understand is that without the Law, this grace from Jesus is not understood. Paul explains this the connection:

And the Law came in that transgression might increase, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:20-21

The reality of the Christian life is that without a deep revelation of the power and nature of sin, there will not be a true understanding of the power and abundance of grace. Without understanding the nature of sin, a believer will live their life, declaring that God's grace is cheap and weak. However, the closer one comes to understanding the holiness of God and the more they see their own sinfulness, the more they will understand that the grace of God is costly and expensive. I do not believe that it is a coincidence that Paul considered himself "the chief of all sinners" (cf. 1 Tim. 1:15), yet understood the meaning of grace (cf. 1 Tim. 1:12-14). Personally, I struggled to truly grasp the concept of grace until God gripped me with Romans 5. It was in this passage that I understood the nature and power of sin.

Therefore, just as through one man, sin entered into the world and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned- Romans 5:12

This is a passage worth re-reading slowly. How powerful must sin be if it has such a strong residual effect! One act of disobedience by Adam so fundamentally changed his nature that he hid from God and one of his children became a murderer after his transgression. This sin is so powerful that it caused mankind, who was created in His image, to become so fundamentally corrupt that God repented in His heart for making man (cf. Genesis 6:6). One initial act of disobedience by Adam changed the nature of man to the point where "every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually". Sin affected mankind to the point where Jeremiah claimed that the human heart is "deceitful wicked" (cf. Jeremiah 17:9). Because of sin, David said that mankind lacks understanding and has no desire to seek God (cf. Psalm 14:2). All of this is the result of one act of disobedience. It's amazing to fully understand that sin has produced such effects.

In many ways, sin is the most deadly virus that has infected mankind and the Law introduced by Moses only excited the virus further. This virus destroyed everyone in its path; no virus in history has claimed as many lives as sin claimed, whether it was the Black Death of the 14th century that killed over 100 million or the current AIDS epidemic. This virus, sin, has destroyed everyone and death reigned over all of man. In reality, because of sin, every person on earth was born with a death sentence on their life because of its destructive effects. In current times, those who have contracted the AIDS virus understand that death is near and out of desperation, they desperately seek doctors who would offer them a glimpse of hope for a cure. However, sin is infinitely more damaging than AIDS, yet so few believers understand its seriousness and seek God for the cure with true earnestness. There was no cure for sin until Christ came and introduced this grace to us.

But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one, the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ abound to many. And the gift is no like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand, the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. Romans 5:15-16

Despite the great power of our sin, look at what the grace of God has done through Christ! If sin is powerful enough to destroy mankind, how much more will the grace that comes through Christ produce? In our personal lives, we have seen how sin has ravaged our lives, past and present, but the grace of God not only cancels out sin... grace overwhelmingly conquers sin! The above passage states that while the power of one transgression produced death, the power of grace conquers a multitude of sins. So what is a practical definition of this grace? The following verse explains:

For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17

Grace is the power of God to overwhelming conquer the power of sin and death in our lives. We receive our introduction into this grace by faith in Christ(cf. Romans 5:2). So grace is not simply an act of God's forbearance or forgiveness- it is His power produced by the great sacrifice given by Christ. As much as sin produced death and ruled in our lives, grace produces life. Because grace overwhelmingly conquers the power of sin in our lives, sin does not have to be a master over our lives (cf. Romans 6:14). As mentioned in the above verse, because of Christ's sacrifice, this grace is abundant to all believers who will put their trust in Christ. So let us follow the exhortation in Hebrews 12:1; let us fix our eyes on Jesus and receive this grace so that we can lay aside every sin entangles us and causes us to stumble.

I ask the reader a simple question: have you received a deep understanding of God's holiness and sin in your life? Have you sought God to reveal this to you? If you haven't, then it is probably true that you haven't understood the meaning of God's grace and its abundance. When you read through the scripture about the holiness of God, I would ask for you to read it slowly that your eyes may be open to the seriousness of sin. Then, as you seek God for the cure for sin, the words of the popular hymn will ring true to you:

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!