Understanding God’s Grace

“For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-21

When convicted serial murderer Ted Bundy publicly shared his religious beliefs days before his execution, many Christians doubted the reality of his conversion. Their reasoning is not necessarily based on his lack of sincerity or on erroneous doctrine but on the repulsiveness of Bundy’s crimes. How could someone who perpetrated such murders possibly by forgiven? - is their fundamental question.

This thinking fails to understand the complete inability of man to receive God’s forgiveness apart from a personal faith in Christ’s work on the cross. Mankind’s greatest need is forgiveness of sin because all men are lost. Moral men are guilty; immoral men are guilty.

When Christ died as our Substitute at Calvary and paid sin’s penalty, which is death, our righteous Judge was free to forgive men based on Christ’s full payment. With the sin debt paid, mankind can receive God’s pardon and gift of eternal life based completely and solely on Christ’s redeeming work.

God saves a Ted Bundy or a Good Sam on the same grounds: personal faith in Jesus Christ who shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sins - no matter how despicable they may be. The questions is not - is God able to save the worst of sinners?...But did the sinner genuinely receive Christ?

“...Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29