For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. —Titus 2:11
You are invited to the kingdom of heaven, and the invitation is called "the gospel" (good news) because it has no strings attached. You and I are invited to the kingdom of heaven in spite of what we have done! The body of Christ on earth is not the equivalent of an exclusive country club or a cloistered, highly restricted religious fraternity or union. Titus 2:11 says that God's grace is available to everyone—it does not promise or insist that everyone receives and accepts it —but grace is available, and it's for everyone.
There's a story I once heard that may help to illustrate how God's grace is for everyone, but not necessarily accepted by everyone. About 100 years ago, when Christianity and the Bible were very much a part of the curriculum of schools, the students at an exclusive, private school showed up for the final examination in their fundamentals of Christianity class.
Some of them were bleary-eyed, having studied all night in an effort to get a good grade. On the other hand, some of the students looked as if they not only were well-rested, they didn't seem to have a "care in this world"—they didn't seem worried about this test.
After all the students were seated the instructor finally entered the room and he slowly made his way around the room, placing the final test face down on the desk of every one of the 40 students in the class. As he passed out the tests he told the students not to turn the test over and begin until everyone was ready. After he had passed out all the tests, he stood at the front of the room and instructed everyone to turn the test over and look at the first page.
To their absolute amazement, every student discovered that their name was already on the first page and the test questions had already been answered—and not only had all the questions been answered, each one of the students already had a grade assigned. Each student discovered an "A" written in red ink on the first page of their test.
The instructor told them that he had taken the test for them. He told them that their preparation and study did not earn them this "A" because he wanted to give them a final lesson about the grace of God. Therefore, they each received an "A" that they did not earn, and they were all free to leave the room with that "A."
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