Grace is the Only Difference

“LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.” (Isa 26:12 AV)

It is important to remember there is no moral difference between the righteous and the wicked.  That is, in our human nature.  Reading Isaiah, and books like it, one might be tempted to believe the righteous are so because they have done something to make them such.  Yet, as we see in our passage, we are righteous because God makes us so.  It is He that works in us.  It is He that produces the fruits of righteousness.  If it were not for the grace of God which shown in our hearts when we humbly repented of our wickedness, trusting in Jesus Christ to save us and change us, there would be absolutely no difference between us and the wicked.

The other day, I was watching program called Live PD.  It is a program that follows different police and sheriff departments across the country, and as the name implies, it is done so live.  I began to muse on the criminal psyche.  One stop involved a car which was idling in the parking lot of a motel which had problems with armed robbery in the past.  The young man sitting in the passenger seat was a juvenile offender.  He was on probation for armed robbery.  As the inspected the car, they found a loaded pistol under the passenger’s seat.  Right where the probie was sitting.  Along came all the sad stories of how it wasn’t his car and he just came out of his room to sit with his mother’s boyfriend.  Yada Yada.  But them my mind went to the officer.  And I tried to understand what made their psyches so different.  What would make a policeman’s thinking different than a criminal’s.  The world wants to blame it on environmental factors.  But the truth is, we are all born sinners.  Even the cop was in rebellion against God.

Which brings me to my point.  If it wasn’t for the grace of God, there would be no righteousness.  I am no different than that criminal.  In the core of who and what I am, without Christ, I am no different.  The only thing that makes me different is salvation in Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  That is all!  God have mercy on us all!