Simple and Sufficient

Over the last two months, I have dealt with people both inside and outside the Bible Center family who are feeling the effects of sin. I have dealt with people who are struggling with addictions to alcohol and drugs, people whose lives have been ruined by infidelity, people who have lived in sexual immorality, people who have lied, cheated or stolen at work and have lost their jobs due to their sin, and people who are deeply broken because of the wayward wanderings of their children or grandchildren. Sin continues to do what it began to do in the Garden of Eden--corrupt people, destroy marriages, devastate families, and seize greater ground in human society.

Today, we celebrated the Lord's Supper which reminds us of the freedom Christ has secured for us from sinful addictions, actions, and attitudes. The Lord's Supper (or communion) has two basic elements given to us by Christ Himself. Both the fruit of the vine and the unleavened bread symbolize for us the work of Christ on the cross. The bread symbolizes the purity of the one who was the perfect sacrifice. The juice symbolizes the price that He paid for our forgiveness. Each element points to the work of grace displayed in Christ on the cross. Without the reality of the grace that these symbols represent, none of us could be free from the penalty, guilt and consequences of our sin before God.

The grace of God of which we are reminded each time we participate in communion is sufficient to forgive every sinner and to cleanse away every sin. What's so amazing about God's grace is how simple it is to receive--by faith, but yet how sufficient it is to free us from sin--completely!

Tonight, I thought not only of my sin and God's grace being simply sufficient to cleanse me, but also of those with whom I have cried, counseled and prayed in the last two months. In each case, my method of ministry was to take them back to the concepts of the cross. If they did not know Christ, I sought to win them to Him. If they did know Christ, I sought to help them see that through confession of their sin they will discover that He is faithful and just to forgive them.

Truly, His simple and sufficient grace is amazing!