Part of my reading for this morning
was Hebrews 9. It's a lengthy chapter and - to be honest - I fell asleep four
or five times while reading it. Needless to say, it is NOT an exciting chapter.
It compares the 'Old Covenant' to the 'New Covenant', comparing their
similarities and noting their significant differences. Don't get me wrong, it's
essential truth and vital for the established believer to understand; however,
it is not action-oriented or memorable.
HOWEVER, there is always something
new to be observed or learned - right?
While talking about the 'Old
Covenant' the author writes:
But only the high priest could go
into the second room, and he did that only once a year. He could never enter
the inner room without taking blood with him, which he offered to God for
himself and for sins the people did without knowing they did them.
[All quotes from the NCV unless
otherwise noted.]
Did you catch it?
The high priest entered the inner
room [the Holy Place] only once a year and when he did so, he offered
God blood to cover his own sins and the sins the people did without
knowing they did them.
God had covered all of the bases -
even in the 'Old Covenant'.
God knew the weaknesses of humanity.
He knew that people would end up sinning inadvertently. He knew that they would
mindlessly, without thinking, unintentionally, while distracted and on
automatic-pilot - say, do or think things that would be displeasing to Him!
So - once-a-year, God provided for a
way to cover sins that fell in this category! Imagine the general feeling of
relief felt by the people on the Day of Atonement! A clean slate!
_______________________________________
But, what about those of us who live
under the 'New Covenant'?
Have similar provisions been made
for our unintentional, mindless sins?
There is much that could be said on this topic, but let me try to distill some basic truth.
- First and foremost is the reality of the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life!
In John 16:8-11, Jesus teaches that part of the
Holy Spirit’s role is to convict the world of sin.
I Corinthians 3:16 says, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” [NKJV]. Therefore, believers have the Holy Spirit living within them!
So, when we sin inadvertently, the Holy Spirit – living within us – is able to immediately make us aware that we have violated God’s holy ways.
That’s when we fall back on the believer’s bar of soap:
I John 1:9 [NIV]
This describes what many Christ-followers have come to refer to as ‘walking with God’! He is always with us – no matter where we are! His grace is available to us 24/7!!!!!!
But, theologians believe there is even more…
2. They use a theological term to describe it – Prevenient Grace!
It has been put forward by many noted theologians, but has become a hallmark of Wesleyan theology. Simply put, it is considered the grace that goes before!
I have friends that would be far abler to describe this in deep terms, but I’ll try to give a simple explanation:
It represents a firm belief in the prevalence of God’s grace! Consequently, His grace is so persistent that it even goes before us!
One example would be the discussion about the age of accountability. At what point does a child become responsible for his/her sin? And, if there is an age when they do become accountable for their sin, what about the sins they commit before they reach that age?
I don’t care to discuss these questions here, but simply use them to give us a basis for understanding prevenient grace!
The grace that goes before [prevenient grace] is a way of understanding how God can accept a child who sins without knowing fully or understanding fully that it is displeasing to God! It is a manifold expression of the goodness and kindness of God!
If we can accept this plausible situation, then it is also a small step for us to believe that God’s marvelous grace also may go before us in cases of inadvertent sins!
These might be represented as times when our guard is down, when we’re overly weary and depleted, when we’re depressed, when we’re remarkably stressed, etc., etc..
Is it so hard to believe that our amazing God would care so much for us that He would create a special provision for those who follow Him closely and seriously?
Is it a stretch to think that – out of His great love for us – He would create a caveat of grace that would go before us to secure our commitment of faithfulness to Him?
The fourth verse of the most famous hymn of all time [Amazing Grace] seems to speak of this kind of grace:
The
Lord has promised good to me,
his word my hope secures;
he will my shield and portion be
as long as life endures.
It seems perfectly fitting to me that the depths of His
measureless grace are so designed to go ahead of His most committed and
faithful followers to protect them from the effects of incidental sins.
If He made provision for them in His ‘Old Covenant’, wouldn’t
He likewise make provision for them in His ‘New Covenant’?
_______________________________
Kind and Gracious God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Thank You for manifesting Your amazing, marvelous, generous, free, abundant, prevenient, wonderful, matchless grace!
How like You to make such a provision for us!
We don’t want to take advantage of Your
grace!
However, we are SO THANKFUL for it!
Where would we be without it?
We don’t deserve it – we’re well aware of that!
It is clearly a gift You provide for us as a result of Your benevolence and love!
Our part seems to be two-fold:
First to be grateful for Your provision!
Second, to not take unhealthy advantage of Your provision!
Help us in both of these areas, Gracious God –
That we might honor Your purposes and enter into Your eternal rewards!
AMEN.
