During a conference held in Britain on comparative religions, experts from around the world gathered to debate what the unique belief in the Christian faith is. They began by eliminating possibilities. As they consider different religions, they realized that other faiths also have incarnation, life after death, love, morality etc as part of their belief system.

The debate went on for some time without any breakthrough until CS Lewis walked into the room. "What’s the debate about?" he asked. They told him the thorny issue at hand and he replied: "Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace."

After some discussion the meeting agreed that CS Lewis was right. The doctrine of God coming and dying for us free of charge, no strings attached, goes against all instinct of humanity. The Buddhist 8-fold path, the Muslim code of law, the Jewish covenant of Law, the Hindu doctrine of karma - they each offer a way to earn approval. Only Christianity audaciously declares that God’s love is unconditional.

That is why we can say that all religions is man trying to reach God through our works but only Christianity is God reaching out to man out of grace.

So let us be reminded of the challenge that our speaker brought to us last Sunday – let grace come before truth. But most importantly, let us not only defend grace as a doctrine but let us live grace as a lifestyle!

Have a great week!

Benny Ho
Senior Pastor