The scandal of grace: A sermon on Romans 6:1-14

First, I'd like to tell you a story about a man who considered the Gospel of grace scandalous. Amir was a highly educated young professional in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Amir invited our family over for a traditional Bosnian meal. After supper, over Turkish coffee, he told me his personal story of returning to Islam. I then shared my story of discovering the grace of God through Christ in college and explained passages from the NT book of Romans that make the case that the only way for us to be right with God is by faith in God's grace.

Amir's reply was one of frustration, "So, you think you do nothing to earn God's mercy?"

Most people I talk to in Atlanta do not quite share Amir's contempt, but they do share something in common with his confusion and suspicion towards grace.

We have a hard time holding together free grace with the truth that grace changes us. We are tempted to compromise; either in a relativistic or in a moralistic way.

Which brings me to the main question I addressed in a recent sermon I gave at St. Paul's Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, GA on Romans 6:1-14:
"Do you know how grace in Jesus Christ, though scandalously free, creates the freedom to change like no other way of life?"

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