30 Days of Thanks & Praise Day #9 A Great Sinner and A Great Saviour

30 Days of Thanks & Praise - Day #9 - A Great Sinner and A Great Saviour (Romans 5:20)

Romans 5:20, “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound…”

The word “abounded” that Paul uses to describe this abundance of sin means more. It refer to something that exists in abundance. This describes an abundance that is growing larger and more expansive with the passing of time. This proves that sin is never stagnant but continually grows, increases, and expands. This describes the growing nature of unrestrained sin. Paul added, “…where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” The words “much more abound” describes something that is growing out of measure, beyond proportion, and out of its banks to a far-stretched extreme. It is like a giant river that is being flooded with waters from upstream. Those waters are coming downstream so fast that the river can no longer hold the raging current in its banks. Its water rises, rises, and rises until it finally begins pouring out of its banks and begins to flood everything in sight. This is exactly the idea when Paul writes, “…grace did much more abound”.

John Newton lived a wicked life until he met Christ as Saviour. He had previously been a captain of slave ships and was an investor in the slave trade. He served as a sailor in the Royal Navy (after forced recruitment) and was himself enslaved for a time in West Africa. He is noted for being author of the hymn Amazing Grace. After his salvation he spent the rest of his days promoting and living by the grace of God. Those famous words in the iconic hymn reveal the attitude and disposition Newton had toward God’s unmerited favor: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me…”. Those words would summarize the entire scope of his life. On his death bed, Newton told his loved ones, “My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: That I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.” Indeed, we are all great sinners. Our nature, our decisions, our birth, our attitudes, our mind, and our flesh are sinful to the core. We may think we are “good” and “decent” beings, but the Bible says no one is good, not one. We have all fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:10, 23). All have gone astray; there is not one person who is righteous enough to be accepted of God. We are great sinners. But in the same breath, we delightfully see that Christ is a great Saviour. His nature, His decisions, His birth, His attitude, His mind, and His flesh was holy, righteous, and acceptable unto God. His death secures our birth. His cross secures our life. His resurrection secures our glory. No wonder Newton died with those words upon his lips; we are all great sinners, but thankfully, we have a great Saviour!

If we forget where we were and where we were headed before God saved us, we will not be as grateful as we should be. The very best that we are able to do on our own is disgustingly filthy in His eyes because it is measured against His perfect holiness. Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” In order to have the proper gratitude toward God for His salvation, we must never forget that we were once wretched sinners with no hope apart from His grace. During Newtons days of slave trading from the coasts of Africa to Europe, the slaves who died on the voyage were thrown overboard. It is said that the sharks still swim the same route today that Newton and other salve traders used centuries ago because they fed from the dead souls cast overboard. Newton did not write Amazing Grace in the beginning but when he was much older when he could understand the grace of God deeper. I, too, can say that the older I get, and the more mature I grow in the Lord, the more I can understand the grace of God and am amazed that a Great Saviour could ever love a great sinner like me.

Jesus is able to say to us in our trouble, “believe in God; believe also in me” and, “be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 14:1; 16:33). We who believe in him have every reason to “be ye thankful” (Colossians 3:15). For an empty cross and empty tomb speak this to us:

• In all our trouble, God makes known the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10).
• He is working all things together for our good (Romans 8:28).
• He will complete the good work he began in us despite how things look now (Philippians 1:6).
• If we trust the Father in the worst, darkest, most horrible troubles we face, he will make us more than conquerors (Romans 8:37–39).
• Every troubled tear we shed over the effects of the fall are kept in God’s bottle (Psalm 56:8) and will be wiped away forever (Revelation 21:4).

PRAYER: Father, thank You for all that You have done for me. I am so grateful! Thank You for Your grace, Your mercy and Your love. Thank You that I can trust my life to You! In Jesus' name. Amen.

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