Exactly Enough

The picture in this post is of Archuleta Mesa, taken from behind our house and looking north.  I took it late in the day, near sunset.  The top of the mesa is perhaps 3 miles from home, as the crow flies.  Dulce sits at about 6800 feet of altitude, while Archuleta tops out close to 9200 feet.  As far as Dulce is concerned, Archuleta Mesa is the dominant geographical landmark.

During my sermon on Sunday I talked about God's grace, but in order to understand God's grace we first have to have a sense of why a person would need grace.  And the Christian standpoint is that grace is needed because humans sin, and they sin a lot.  

How much do Christians sin? That is where Archuleta Mesa comes in.  If each of the sins that I have committed throughout my life to this point were represented by a rock the size of my fist, and those rocks were stacked at the base of the mesa, the pile would probably be taller than the mesa.  A big pile, and one that grows bigger each day.

That is a whole lot of sin.  By comparison, how large is God's grace? 

God's grace, His forgiveness of my sin, is exactly enough.  Paul, writing to the church at Corinth, puts it this way:

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Christ Jesus, who had no sin, took all of my sin, every last bit, every boulder and pebble, and exchanged it for His righteousness.  The grace He had for me, the forgiveness of my sin, was exactly enough.  Or given the fact that while forgiven I remain a sinner living in a fallen world, so that I continue to sin each day, I could say that in both the present and future tenses as well.  He has forgiven my sin, He forgives my sin, and on the last day, He will forgive my sin.

I might be writing this in reference to myself, but being a pastor gives me no exemption before God as a sinner.  The number of my sins is great, but the forgiveness that comes by God's grace is exactly enough so that one day I will stand before God in the righteousness of Christ.

And this isn’t a gift that is only available to a few people, for He has exactly enough grace to forgive each and every one of your sins too.  All you need to do is to place your faith in Christ as Savior and Lord, and you, too, will know the forgiveness that He freely gives.  The grace He has for you is exactly enough.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.