Amazing Grace Part One: Grace Finds Us

-Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost but now am found.

Was blind, but now I see.-

 “That saved a wretch like me” The Bible agrees wholeheartedly with Newton's assessment of the human condition, apart from Christ:

     In the fifth chapter of Romans, Paul tells us that, through one man's disobedience all men fell into sin. (Romans 5:19) When Adam sinned, we, who were all in Adam, sinned. We share his guilt. We are all born sinful. David tells us that he was “brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5)

     Paul spends the first three chapters of Romans convicting the natural man, the moral man and the religious man. He concludes in chapter 3 with both Jews and Greeks, and indeed everyone, “under sin” (Romans 3:9) “There is none righteous, no not one.” (3:10) To drive home his point he continues, “ no one does good” (3:12) He confirms “no one understands, no one seeks after God.” (3:11) Apart from the intervening work of God, not one of us would even look for God or His approval. (To be sure, some look after a god created in their own image and to their liking or seek a righteousness of their own, but none seek after the true God and His righteousness.) 

     But to make sure that we don't miss the point or mistakenly think he is speaking about someone else, he personalizes it by naming members of our bodies and assigning each one its own particular sin. “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (3:13-18) Are you getting the point? He's talking about you! Me! Us!

     This doesn't mean that we are as bad as we can possibly be, before we come to Christ. There may be many sins which we haven't committed. Maybe your not an axe-murdering terrorist, but even for that you can't take credit. The truth is that we are not as bad as we could be, because even when we were “dead in our lawlessness and sins” God, through His common Grace, has protected us, restrained our evil desires and kept us from excessive sinfulness. (Genesis 20:6; Exodus 34:24; 1 Samuel 25:26; Psalm 76:10; Proverbs 16:7; 2 Thessalonians 2:7) 
     See?!  It really is Amazing Grace! But just wait, it gets much better!