Living Under Grace

The following checklist is from William Newell. He was a Bible teacher and pastor who died in 1956. He also wrote the hymn “At Calvary” if you are familiar with it. Anyway, a friend of mine sent me this checklist of things that Newell wrote about living under grace. He encouraged me to “soak them in.” After reading these several times over the last few days, they seem to go deeper each time. I’d encourage you to do the same—read over these and allow them to simmer with you for awhile. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this list.

1. To “hope to be better” is to fail to see yourself in Christ only.
2. To be disappointed with yourself is to have believed in yourself.
3. To be discouraged is unbelief, as to God’s purpose and plan of blessing for you.
4. To be proud, is to be blind! For we have no standing before God, in ourselves.
5. The lack of Divine blessing, therefore, comes from unbelief, and not from failure of devotion.
6. Real devotion to God arises, not from man’s will to show it, but from the discovery that blessing has been received from God while we were yet unworthy and undevoted.
7. To preach devotion first, and blessing second, is to reverse God’s order, and preach law, not grace. The Law made man’s blessing depend on devotion; Grace confers undeserved, unconditional blessing: our devotion may follow, but does not always do so, in proper measure.