One of the most renowned hymns of all time, “Amazing Grace,” emphasizes the glory of God’s gift of grace:

“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.”

The message is clear and powerful: We are saved by His amazing grace. God grants this boundless gift of redemption the moment we believe and accept salvation through Christ for our sins. But, for some reason, many Christians deem themselves unworthy of God’s ultimate gift. Why is this, when we, as Christians, are entitled to freely walk in the power and glory of God’s grace through faith in our Lord and Savior?

Understanding Grace

In being able to accept God’s grace in our lives, we need to understand it. People commonly mistake God’s grace for His mercy and they are two different things. Mercy means we don’t receive the judgment we deserve. In giving us grace, God freely and abundantly gives us His love and unmerited favor.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

In other words, we can’t “do” anything to earn God’s grace. We can’t accumulate reward points with our good works and cash them in for grace. It’s a gift, given by God. He gives it to us freely, so, there is no purchase price. We can’t buy it.

It’s also important to realize being covered by grace doesn’t mean we’re free to do whatever we want Grace is something we need to receive. And, we receive it by accepting salvation and freedom from sin through Christ’s death on the cross. Once we’ve done this, we need to commit to living a life that honors God’s amazing gift.

Being Worthy of God’s Grace and Love

Christ paid the price for our sins, so that we, as sinners, could have redemption and eternal life via God’s Scriptural promise.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

Many people who feel unworthy of God’s grace also feel unworthy of His love. But, He loves us so much that He gave His only Son so “whoever” believes in Him can be spared judgment from sin and spend eternity with God in His Heavenly Kingdom.

This promise is universal. He doesn’t put any qualifiers on it. “Whoever believes” means anyone who believes in Christ will be saved. You don’t have to be good enough or popular and you don’t have to earn your way into Heaven. God meets us where we are, and loves us just as we are.

But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) Ephesians 2:4-5

We just have to reach out, with a repentant heart and receive God’s grace and gift of salvation. God’s love is vast and steadfast. His hope is that all hearts will open to repent from sin and begin a relationship with Him.

The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but is patient with us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.2 Peter 3:9

God is patient and his love endures forever. We are worth so much to Him that He gave His own Son’s life so we could share eternity with Him. That’s a pretty deep and profound kind of love. We just need to open our hearts and receive it.

God Really Does Forgive – and Forget

Finally, we easily deceive ourselves by thinking God’s forgiveness doesn’t apply to us, that our horrible past deeds render us unworthy of His mercy and love. And, feeling guilty about things we’ve done often prevents us from allowing God to heal and transform us through Christ’s redemptive grace and love.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. —1 John 1:9

Scripture is clear in the hope we have in Christ. If we confess our sins God will forgive us. Our past no longer matters because the Holy Spirit washes and renews us and we become a new creature in Christ.

However, many of us torture ourselves with constant memories of what we did wrong. We should follow God’s example instead.

I will remember their sins and their iniquities no more. –Hebrews 10:17.

God forgives our sins and forgets them. So, we should confess our sins and let them go, so we can walk freely and victoriously in Christ’s redemptive grace.

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