Thank God For Grace Alone

Grace. Undeserved. Non-perishable.

By grace. Grace alone.

Once I was caught in a circumstance where I was in the wrong. Facing a 3rd degree felony, a night in prison, and a court date where my admission of guilt would be weighed to find out whether I lost it all or would walk away with a fine.
Scared, penitent, admitting my guilt, I stood before my accuser and apologized. Heartfelt. I hoped his heart felt it.

The police officer said, “I’ve got you admitting to it on my body camera.” The accuser asked how long the body camera would be kept on file before it got deleted.
90 days. He had 90 days to decide whether or not to press charges.
For now, I was free. Grace. But temporary.

I waited 90 days. Still scared. Still penitent. But I knew the other foot could fall at any moment. This temporary grace could expire at any moment.

90 days came and went. I never got a letter. I never got a phone call. I never had an officer come to arrest me.

The body camera footage had been deleted. The proof of my guilt was gone. The opportunity of my accuser to press charges had expired.

I was still guilty. The expiration of the evidence did not mean I was not in the wrong. My sin had still occurred. But now the guilt that weighed me down was gone.

Over two thousand years ago, Christ went to the cross. He knew we would offend him. He knew we would break the law. He knew we needed grace. He knew that, without it, we would all be found guilty.

There is no 90 day ticker. There is no expiration date for the wages of sin.
But thankfully, there is no expiration date to his grace, either.

Today I stand justified. Not because I am not guilty.
But because of grace.
Grace alone.

Thank God for grace.