I REMEMBER…
A SINNER SAVED BY GRACE
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph 2:8-9 KJV).
When I remember late Rev S.K Beckley, I remember a sinner saved by grace! Yes, a sinner save by grace. That was who you were. I remember you telling us times without number the encounter that brought a U-turn to the direction of your life. You told us, if not for that encounter, the story of your life would have been a different one entirely! Your life, without the saving grace of God would have been a story of shame. You were never ashamed to testifying before all your manner of life before the grace that brings salvation appeared to you.
The testimony of your life was akin to that of Saul of Tarsus who later to turn to Paul the apostle, “who was once before a blasphemer, and a persecutor and injurious: but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of I am chief.” (1Tim 1:13-15).
You told us about an unforgettable day of encounter that brought a repentance never to be repented of. You said it happened to you in 1976 at a gospel crusade organized by some Christian group to which you were invited. There you had a major encounter with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and your life never remain the same thereafter! Your life is a reminder of the transforming power of the gospel of Christ. There is no man beyond the reach of the grace of God. Your life stands as a testimony of how the grace of God can transform a harmful person to a harmless saint. And beyond that to even a vessel of honour for the proclamation of the same gospel of grace.
This is what the grace of God can do: it takes a life from the mud of sin and places him in the glorious liberty of the son of God. Grace at work in the life of a sinner wrought a conversion within. Grace delivers a man from the kingdom of darkness and translates such into the kingdom of the dear son of God. This is the experience of all them who have been born of spirit with life from above. Every saint can sincerely say, I am a sinner save by grace! No man today, no matter how great he has attained in the kingdom of Christ became great outside the grace of God. “By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast” Ephesians 2:8-9.
Through the fall of Adam, all men became sinners in nature and by practice. All sinners are children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2; 5:6; Colossians 3:6); children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3; 5:6); children of transgression and iniquity (Isaiah 57:4; Hosea 10:9); and children of Satan, the wicked one (Matthew 13:38, John 8:44; 1 John 3:10). But conversion to Christ gives the erstwhile sinner a new nature, the very nature of God. He thus becomes a child of God. It is only through the new birth that a sinner can become a son or daughter of God. “But as many as received Him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12).
The grace that saves is the free, undeserved goodness and favour of God; and He saves, not by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus. Grace in the soul is a new life in the soul. A regenerated sinner becomes a living soul; he lives a life of holiness. Being born of God: he lives, being delivered from the guilt of sin, by pardoning and justifying grace. The goodness of God in converting and saving sinner, therefore, encourages others in after time.
The late Rev. S.K Beckley was a sinner saved by grace! Whatever height he rose to in life is a product of the grace of God. And this is the mystery of the grace of God: it makes a person appears bigger, better, popular, and greater than he is in real life. For this reason should no man of God arrogate any power to himself; neither should any man fall victim of the dangerous tendency of accepting the worship of men by the reason of the outworking of the grace of God. Whatever we think or know about Paul the apostle today, he boldly and repeatedly confessed, “I am what I am by the grace of God.” The thought of this should keep every saint in Christ perpetually humble.
When I remember the Late Rev. S.K Beckley, I remember a sinner saved by grace.
The tributes continues, watch out for the next episode…
