Grace Is Pardon

August 9, 2022

But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. Romans 5:15-16 NLT

Pretty quickly, in learning about faith and the relationship with God now available to us, we discover two important figures. The first significant figure is Adam. Genesis tells us that Adam was God’s first creation, and Adam’s gift to humanity was sin and death. Understandably, Adam did not understand the long-term effects, the waves that would roar into all of creation with tsunami force when he disobeyed. But Adam ushered in sin and death for everyone who would ever breathe, as well as progressive destruction to the universe. Sin and God’s holy, perfect plan can never co-exist. What a terrible, unthinkable tragedy.

But there is despair-shattering news! Even greater than the sin and disobedience of Adam is the grace that IS Jesus. Jesus, often referred to as the second Adam because He gave us the opportunity for new creation, came deliberately into the middle of our sin-directed destruction with pardon and forgiveness. With arms outstretched, He provided the only way back to God for broken human beings, paying the way for every sin, every broken law, every failure to be wiped out. Jesus paid the full debt.

When He did that, Jesus showed us that His wonderful grace overcomes and overwhelms the devastating results of sin. It is “even greater” than the death brought by Adam’s disobedience. It is so incomprehensible that far more songs in every generation have been about this grace than any other. We call it “amazing,” “marvelous,” “wonderful.” We run out of words and metaphors attempting to describe the grace and pardon that is greater than all our sins.

As the Roman writer said, the result of this free gift is very different than the result of Adam’s sin. Sin led us to shame, condemnation, and a life of helplessly and hopelessly trying to attain a standard that God Himself knows is impossible for us to reach. We live in the shadow and curse of condemnation.

But God’s free gift leads us to being right with God, despite our obvious and indefensible guilt. We are invited to a shame-free life because our pardon is complete. What a gift! The grace that is Jesus is pardon.

• Spend a few moments thinking and thanking. How has God’s pardon impacted you?