Jesus is grace incarnate…
and the flesh…
(read that as “trust in man’s abilities”)…
is so offended by the free gift.
Grace offends religion…
because it sounds its death knell.
It signals the end…
of man’s dependence upon himself…
and his abilities…
and his complete dependence…
upon Jesus…
and the finished work of the cross.
I think each of us has an inner Pharisee…
who is secretly hoping…
that surely there is something we can do…
that we can add something,
some small part to our own salvation.
I have a great compassion for the Pharisees,
the law-lovers,
the performance-oriented among us…
because I still find my inner Pharisee…
my flesh…
my self-sufficient…
pull-myself-up-by-my-bootstraps…
“I can do it…just give me another chance..”
independent self…
rearing his ugly head from time to time.
But when I do…
I just remind him of the cross…
and the fact that he died there…
and now Jesus IS my life!
