Accessing Grace

Imagine a man trapped in a stormy ocean. He flails and fights to stay afloat, struggling for breath each time his head rises above the water. He uses every muscle in his body as he continues to try, desperately, to swim, but the waves crash over him, pummeling him, driving him underwater. Coughing and sputtering, he struggles to the surface again, draws a breath that is far too short, then sinks below again, this time pulled under by the currents. He thinks about giving up, but his instincts for survival push him to burst through once more to strive for air to fill his lungs. With a deeper breath, he cries out for help, then sinks once more. His arms and legs, even in the cold blackness of the sea, burn from his struggles, and he aches as he endeavors to reach the top of the water. With his last breath, he cries out again, then gives up, his arms stretched upward as he surrenders to his fate.

Suddenly, a hand reaches out to him. As he grabs the wrist of this rescuer, he is pulled upward, and a voice now encourages him to hang on. As he is lifted into a boat, he realizes he has been saved, and he mumbles a quiet, but sincere, ""Thank you!"" When he comes to again, he is safe on land, exceedingly grateful to the one who saved him.

That is the story of all of us, for that is the state of the sinner. Flailing against the pull of sin, the pummeling of Satan, blindly fighting to keep from being destroyed, we cry out for some kind of help. We want to escape, but we fear that there is no hope, and eventually, we reach a point where we desire to give up, letting Satan sink us in destruction.

When we finally realize we cannot save ourselves, we are then ready for the help of Jesus. It is His hand which reaches and pulls us up from the degradation and shame and evil which seeks to overcome us. He is there, because He understands our pain and can sympathize with our struggles with temptation. ""For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need"" (Heb. 4:15-16).

It is by the grace of God that we are saved, for just as the drowning man in our story will die if his rescuer fails to help, we cannot be saved from sin by relying on our own abilities. Nothing man can do can eliminate sin from his life, and without the sacrifice of Jesus, man's sins drag him under, sentencing him to hell. God, through His Son, offers man an escape from this eternal death. With Jesus, we can live.

But imagine that our drowning man refuses to grab the one trying to save him. Imagine that he continues to fight, trying to save himself without help. He will certainly drown. This is the sinner who seeks to be saved without obedience to God. Some say that such obedience is an attempt to negate the grace of God with our own doing, but no rational person would say that a drowning man who reaches to take the hand of someone in a boat has saved himself, would they?

God has placed conditions on our salvation. One must have faith (Acts 16:31), must confess Jesus (1 Jn. 4:2-3), must repent (Acts 11:18) and must be baptized (Acts 2:38; 1 Pet. 3:21). In addition, one must keep his faith (Rev. 2:10). None of these things cancel God's grace; in fact, they bring us into contact with it. Nothing we do takes away sin, but these things let us access the blood of Jesus, which does.

Sin and its degradations will destroy us if we are unwilling to accept God's grace, but accepting involves much more than praying the sinner's prayer, or proclaiming ""I believe.""