Digging Deeper: Grace Alone

39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him,[a] saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Luke 23:39-43 (NLT)
GRACE ALONE
We started attending NorthStar in early 2011. Some good friends of ours, who have since moved away, recommended it to us after the pastor of our old church had moved on.
We gave it a shot one weekend and have belonged ever since, considering it our church home. In the 14 years since, we’ve been part of several small groups, attended and participated in various volunteer events, and tried to serve in a manner worthy of a churchgoing believer.
When we become believers, there are often many discussions about what should follow. Is it baptism? Church membership? Small groups? Counseling? Some combination of all of these? There’s no debate that belonging to a church and a community of believers is vital to a healthy understanding of Scripture—and also to navigating the ups and downs of life.
However, there is an important distinction to remember: none of these things are required for your salvation. Not a single one.
Paul says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” Grace alone gets you into heaven.
Pastor Alistair Begg once spoke about grace, imploring his congregation to “preach the cross to yourself daily” so that we don’t forget it is grace alone that saves us. In that message, he references the passage we studied this week in Luke, referring to the thief on the cross. Begg wonders aloud what it must have been like that day when the thief showed up in heaven. This is what follows:
“Think about the thief on the cross… I can’t wait to find that fellow one day to ask him, ‘How did that shake out for you? Because you were cussing the guy out with your friend. You’ve never been in a Bible study. You never got baptized… You didn’t know a thing about church membership, and yet… you made it. How did you make it?’ That’s what the angel must have said, you know:
‘What are you doing here?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘What do you mean, you don’t know?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Excuse me, let me get my supervisor.’ They go get their supervisor angel:
‘So, just a few questions for you. First of all, are you clear on the doctrine of justification by faith?’
The guy says, ‘I’ve never heard of it in my life.’
‘And what about the doctrine of Scripture?’
He just stares… and eventually, in frustration, [the supervisor] says, ‘On what basis are you here?’
And he says, ‘The Man on the middle cross said I can come.’”
This is one of my favorite pastoral musings of all time, and I don’t know if there’s a simpler or more beautiful way to express the hope we all have who trust in Jesus.
Nothing we do will ever be good enough to get us into heaven. It is by His grace alone that we can one day say the same thing:
“The Man on the middle cross said I could come.”
Lee Wilson and his wife, Deanna, have been NorthStar Church members since 2010. They are parents to Everett, Henry and Roselyn. Lee is passionate about sports (Go Braves, Go Dawgs) and has the pleasure to serve on the worship team as a bassist.