Leeds Vineyard

Grace 

God's grace for us is the antidote to our sin - our imperfect state of being and our imperfect actions. There is good news, the gospel. The antidote to sin is that God sent His only Son Jesus to live as a man, to experience the temptations and pain of mankind and yet, in purity and holiness to be punished on our behalf. All the sin of the world, before and after, is rolled up and placed on the cross. In Jesus' death we can all die to sin. And in His resurrection the power of sin is defeated forever.

God will credit righteousness [being right with God] to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification [legal term meaning clearing wrongdoing]. Romans 4:24,25

Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was the condemnation of all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:18-19 

We have a condition known as sin because we continually turn away from God. And this illness is going to kill us. But there is a miracle cure, an antidote. When God sent his own Son Jesus, in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering, he paid the price and he suffered the punishment that righteousness demands so that we may be set free and cured of this disease. So that we may have a new life. You can be born again.

There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. Romans 3:23 

The good news is that God loves you so much that He has sent a Saviour to redeem you and set you free from sin. All that is required is for you to recognise your need - it’s called repentance. 

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9 
cycle of grace

 

The gospel is the antidote to sin and in believing in Jesus your illness can be healed, 

the empty void filled, you can be set free, saved and redeemed. Knowing there is nothing you can do to make God love you, means that God loves you for who you are, not for what you do. As the diagram below illustrates, if you start from a place of knowing you are accepted completely, unconditionally, fully and by God's grace, you won't be striving to seek his favour through trying to make yourself better. it allows God to confer on you the significance of being loved by him and in doing so, it gives you the freedom to achieve so much more than relying on your own strength.