Amazing Grace

Why does one man’s life end in defiance of God’s free offer of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ’s atoning work on the cross and resurrection from the dead, while another man turns from self reliance and doubt, trusting Jesus as his Savior and Lord as his life nears its end? Surely this change of heart can only be attributed to God’s amazing grace!

This past weekend I attended the funeral of my very special and beloved Papa Denz. He represents the second man in the scenario mentioned above. At 87 years of age, exactly two weeks to the day before taking his last breath, his self-reliance ceased and his supposed ‘intellectual’ resistance crumbled. He clung to Jesus as his only hope for peace with God.

Chapter 2 of Ephesians explains that before faith we were “dead in our trespasses and sins” and “children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Thankfully our condition doesn’t end there as the passage goes on to say, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved.”

This side of heaven, Christians will never universally agree how God carries out this miracle of grace through the Holy Spirit. However, we can all stand in unison and give God all the glory as we sing these words from that great hymn by John Newton:

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.