We found ourselves in an impossible situation. We couldn't make ourselves do what was right and we couldn't please God. Blood sacrifices covered our sin but only till the next time we sinned. (We sin about every five minutes.) It was a very hopeless situation.

But then grace walked into the picture. The love of God sent to earth in the form a baby who would grow up and give his life as a sacrifice to cover our sins.

When we were without hope... Grace.

When we were without hope... Jesus.

We are living in the Dispensation of Grace. That means that for a period of time we get off without having to pay for our sins. Under the law, animal blood was used to cover our sins temporarily. Now the blood of Jesus covers us once and for all. We don't have to keep going back for more. His blood is the only cover acceptable to God.

Does that mean we don't ever sin? No. It just means that God has chosen not to see it. When God looks at us he sees Jesus and the finished work of the cross. It is true that we aren't perfect in the natural but in God's eyes we are. It is mind-boggling but true.

It is impossible for us to never sin. It makes no difference how holy you look, how often you are in church or how much you give away. We sin by not being thankful, by letting our feelings get hurt, by saying something unintentional that hurts someone. Thank God for grace or we would all be lost.

Sometimes we think that one sin is worse than another and if we don't do "it" we are ok. What sin we do makes no difference. If we don't commit adultery but we tell a lie, we have sinned and become guilty of breaking the entire law. If we take pleasure in watching other people sin on television, we are just as guilty as if we did it.

You see sometimes we think that we are "good" because we don't commit adultery or kill our spouses off or assault the neighbor who borrowed our lawn mower without asking. Yet we feel the same emotions watching it on television or reading about it in books. Why do you think pornography is so popular? People get sexually stimulated by looking at pictures. Pornography is a sin and so is taking pleasure out of watching someone kick-box another person to death.

This has all been said to point out how useless it is to think we are better than someone else because we don't do what they do. Maybe they are looking at you and thinking they are "sooooo" glad they aren't like you.

We all sin and if we say we don't we lie (1 John 1:8). The law is the law and whether we break it a little or a lot doesn't matter. It is a fact that we all sin in one way or another, even if it is just in being prideful that we are so perfect.

You see, no matter how hard you try you will never be able to please God with your own efforts. There is only one thing you can do that will please him and that is putting your faith in the work Jesus did.

When you are trusting Jesus you have stopped trying to take care of yourself. Does that mean we can do anything we want? Pretty much but when you know the love of God and get wrapped up in him you don't really care about anything else.

Once you know and understand the grace of God, it is really easy to let him take control of your life. We are often afraid of making mistakes in our walk with God. We want to go to the right church, believe the right doctrines and have the right friends. If we can lay all that aside and just let him lead us we will be in the right place at the right time, believe right and have the right friends. It's a win/win situation with God in control.

Believe in the finished work of Christ and let him take care of everything else. How comforting to know that he is in charge. He is in control whether it looks like it or not. It is good to know that we aren't ultimately the example for others to follow. We can relax and stop trying to impress them with "me" and start pointing them to Jesus.

Jesus is the only hope we have so why trust anything else? Thank God that we live and move and have our being in him. Thank God for grace.