Guest blogger: Dawn Levene - God's amazing grace

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

At the beginning of the year, I decided to read through the Bible again. As I was making my way through the book of Leviticus, it made me stop and think about all the laws, and how detailed, demanding, and at times overwhelming they were for the Israelites. Every sacrifice had a purpose. Every ritual had a regulation. Every sin required atonement. Day after day, year after year, the people were reminded of God’s holiness and their own shortcomings. Leviticus, and God’s law, shows the gap between a holy God and a sinful humanity.

As I reflect upon these strict requirements, I cannot help but feel a deep sense of gratitude for God’s grace. In the New Testament, something awesome happens. Jesus steps in as our perfect sacrifice. What was once an ongoing process of sacrifice for cleansing and forgiveness is now finished in Christ, once and for all. As the writer of Hebrews puts it in Hebrews 10:11–12, “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.”

Grace is the undeserved favor of God. And so, as I continue to read through Leviticus, something stirs in my heart, a deep, sincere sense of thankfulness for grace. I began to realize just how much Jesus did for me. He fulfilled the law. He became the perfect, final sacrifice. He took the burden of sin and law and nailed it to the cross. We are no longer under the pressure of rituals to earn favor or forgiveness. By grace, through faith, we are saved. It’s not about performance, our perfection, or our effort. It is about the unearned, undeserved kindness and love of God offered to us in Jesus. And so, as I look back at the Old Testament, it makes me bow low in gratitude for the New Testament. The curtain was torn in two, and I am now welcome into the presence of God.

Leviticus shows us our need for grace, revealing the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. Grace shows us God’s heart, which is not to burden us, but to redeem us. What was once external obedience is now internal transformation by the Spirit. And so, I shout out with thanksgiving and praise to God, who requires holiness made a way for me to be holy.
Reading the law reminds us that we could never earn God’s love, but Jesus gave it freely. Grace it not cheap; it’s priceless. And in Jesus, it is ours.