Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations." - Exodus 34:6-7 (NASB)
The tendency of the human frame is to lower the standard when the standard becomes too difficult to achieve. (We do this with our children all of the time.) It is our way of showing mercy and compassion. We mistakenly conclude that our failure to achieve is because the goal is unattainable. So, we move the goal to a more “reasonable” level. We lower the bar so that everyone can win!
This reasoning has the subtle effect of thinking that God responds in the same way. He sees our struggle to live victoriously and walk in purity and because He feels sorry for us and is so full of compassion, He decides to lessen the “sin standard”. What He once called profane now becomes holy and thus no penalty is due. No penalty? No guilt and shame. We are feeling good!
Contrary to popular opinion, God exercises His mercy and grace much differently than we do. Rather than lessening His requirements, He stands pat. He is who He says He is and He does what He says He will do. The “good news” however is that He provides a way to deal with the just punishment that is due for our sin. He satisfies the demands of justice by standing in our stead and offering His life in place of ours.
I’m well aware that most people are very acquainted with the story. But somehow, I think it bears repeating. I don’t believe we fully grasp the fact that we have been cheating ourselves - cheating ourselves of the rich, ever-sufficient grace and mercy of God. Where there is no sin, there is no need for grace. With each lowering of the bar, the experience of grace is lost for we feel justified in our own mind. We effectively “trample underfoot the Son of God, regard as unclean the blood of the covenant and insult the Spirit of grace” (Hebrews 10:29).
Perhaps grace is no longer amazing because we are not (in our own minds) the sinners we once were.
Thanks for you thoughts brother. We do have a relationship with an amazing God. He is the All in All, the Lord Almighty, His ways are not our ways, the great I AM who has no beginning and no end, His mercies are new every morning. Thanks for the reminder that I am nothing without Him and His AMAZING GRACE!
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