A lot of us get confused and use these words synonymously without truly comprehending the meaning. Jesus said to the woman who was committing adultery, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” for which she replied, “No one, sir…”. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Here you see the 2 fold gospel…forgiveness and no condemnation. To illustrate the difference, Bro. Zac used an example of a father and son. He warned his son not to go and play near a deep pit that was being dug near their home. The son doesn’t heed the warning and eventually ends up falling in that deep pit. The son cried out to his father and his father comes rushing down.
The son tell his father, “I am sorry dad. I know you told me not to play near pit but I did anyway”. Hearing this, the father tells his son, “Its alright son, I forgive you” and walks away. Has the son been forgiven? Yes, he sure has been. Has he been saved? No, he hasn’t been saved from the pit yet. This is where the key term, “Grace” comes into play as well.
Romans 5:20 tells us, “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more…”. Now does this mean we can continue in our sin since grace seems to abound even more. Absolutely Not! What it does mean is the clear illustration of how we were once under the law and how we now have ‘grace’ available to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So what is grace there for? Its there to give us victory. Under the law, we were condemned. We were sinners and there was no way out. But under His grace, we have strength given to us, to become over comers of our sinful life. It clearly states in 2 Corinthians 12:9 – But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
When we feel powerless in our sinful life and we have the grace of God to overcome, it simply means we have Christ’s power to rest on.
Jesus has come not just rescue us from our sinful life but to save us also. See Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.”