All religions convey a general impression to people looking in from outside.
This impression is influenced not only by encounters with practitioners of religion in everyday life, but also the opinion of the media and how it presents religion to the public.
So – what is people’s impression of Christianity nowadays?
If it had to be summed up in one word, what might it be?
Some people might suggest the word church. This would be understandable, as church buildings and cathedrals are a prominent part of British architecture, and also the places where Christians gather to worship.
Others might suggest rules, primarily the ten commandments and our need to adhere to a moral code.
Still others might say hypocrisy, perhaps as a result of experiences from their childhood or a reaction to some of the recent scandals.
And yet all of them are wrong.
Christianity is about GRACE.
“For the law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1 vs 17)
But what is it? What does GRACE mean?
GRACE is nothing to do with natural elegance or the short prayer sometimes said before meals.
GRACE teaches that all of us regularly cross a line and do things the Bible describes as sinful. We may not have used this word, but all of us can remember things we have said or done for which (at least secretly) we’re very sorry.
GRACE continues by saying that while these things shouldn’t be forgotten by God, but ultimately result in us receiving His punishment, they cannot extinguish God’s love for any of us and, in fact, for the entire world.
GRACE then proclaims that God displayed this love by sending His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into this world two thousand years ago. The Lord Jesus lived the life we should have lived, and then he bore the punishment from God that our sins deserve when He died on the cross. He then signified to all humanity that His offering had been accepted by rising from the dead on the third day!
This message of GRACE is spreading across the world, and offers full and permanent forgiveness to all who turn from a life of sin in sincere repentance and place their trust in the Lord Jesus and what He did on the cross.
Revealing, as someone once said, that Christianity is not so much about what we should do, but rather about what someone has done on our behalf!
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3 vs 16