(I read this on a blog last week and just really loved it. It makes me think of this verse " For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."Ephesians 2:8-9 and reminds me that apart from Jesus I can do nothing.)
I am a scoundrel by nature--unworthy of life.
Like Adam my father—I was a sinner by choice.
Like Cain my brother—I was a sinner by birth.
Like Rahab the Harlot—I was a whore.
Like David the King—I was an adulterer and a murderer.
Like Jonah the prophet—I was a runner and a rebel.
Like Peter the rock—I have denied my Lord.
Like Paul the Apostle—I am still the worst sinner I know.
Dead in the guilt of my sin…
Bound in the shroud of my disgrace…
Buried in the grave of my choices...
Sealed in the coffin of my hopelessness…
Forgotten in the despair of my helplessness…
I was dead in my sin—unable to respond.
But God, through the deep love and mercy of His compassion, for His own glory, granted repentance and faith in the gospel of Christ. And by the sacrificial exchange of the Savior on the cross…
I have been raised from the dead!
And Like Jesus—I am righteous!
In Him I am transformed—from scoundrel to saint, from prostitute to bride, from adultery to faithfulness, from murderer to rescuer, from running to standing firm, from rebel to obedient follower, from rejecting Christ to heralding the gospel, from worst of sinner to best of example…undeserving of it all.
This is grace!
