My friends, if you want to be a magistrate, there is the matter of qualifications. If you want to enter a school, there is the matter of standards. If you want to be a doctor in a hospital, there is the matter of capability. If you want to do business, there is the matter of skill. Qualifications, standards, capabilities, and skills are indeed useful in certain things. But if man wishes to come to God, qualifications, standards, capabilities, and skills are out of the question. Only when I am a helpless sinner, standing on the lowest ground, can I receive grace. Man misses grace not because he is too sinful, but because he is not low enough. He is too proud and too moral. This is precisely where the greatest problem lies. We are great in all kinds of sins. At the same time, we are very great in the sin of pride. On the one hand, we have an absolute need; on the other hand, the ground we stand on is one on which we cannot receive the grace we need. This is due to nothing other than our pride.

Romans 5:20 tells us that "Where sin abounded, grace has super-abounded." The Word of God shows us that where sin is, grace is also. Where sin abounds—not that it has really abounded, for all men sin alike, but that sin has manifested itself more abundantly—the grace of God abounds even more. The word abound in the original language has to do with the idea of overflowing. I do not know if you have ever been to the seashore or riverside. When high tide comes, a water line is left on the shore or bank. But if a flood comes, it overflows the water line. When the water is at the water line, we say that there is only a normal rise of the tide, but if the water rises above the line, there is a flood. This is what abound means here. Sin is so high, but grace is higher and even covers sin. Hallelujah! Sin is high, but grace is even higher and has covered sin. This is God's grace. Man has the strange thought that to receive grace, he must be without sin or wrongdoing. But there is no such thing. Although our wrongdoings are quite serious and can rise quite high, God's grace rises even higher. Since the grace of God is here to deal with the problem of wrongdoings, they are no longer a problem.

What is the nature of God's grace? God's grace is just God coming in the sinner's position to take upon Himself the consequence of his sins. Please remember the definition that we gave earlier, that grace is God working for man. If we do not have any wrongdoings, we do not need God to do anything for us, and as a result, we do not need God's grace. But because we have sinned and because we have problems, He has to come and solve our problems. Hence, we need grace. If I say, "Since I have sinned, I cannot receive grace," it is like saying, "Because I am too sick, I am too shy to see the doctor. I will see the doctor when my temperature is down a little." Since there is no such patient in the world, there should be no such sinner in the world either. Thus our wrongdoings are the condition for us to receive God's grace.

Since the problem of sin is taken care of by God and since He takes the responsibility to deal with our wrongdoings, any sin we have, whether great or small, is no problem before God. Both great sins and small sins pose no problem, for both can be solved by God's work and by God's work alone. The great sin is taken care of by God's work. The small sin likewise requires God's work. If it were up to us to deal with our sins, we would distinguish between great sins and small sins. But if our sins are taken care of by God, they will be taken care of regardless of whether they are great or small. Since they are taken care of by God, it makes no difference at all to us. All that we are doing is receiving grace.

Earlier we saw why man cannot receive grace. Recall Peter's words in 1 Peter 5:5: "In like manner, younger men, be subject to elders; and all of you gird yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble." God gives grace to the humble. If you humbly confess that you are a sinner, your wrongdoings will not deter you from receiving God's grace; rather, they will cause you to receive His grace. As long as you humble yourself before God, God's grace will flow to you. Thank God that the grace of God flows down to us; it is not pumped up to us. No one can ever pump God's grace up to himself. Therefore, all those who are high have to come down.

Who are the sinners and who can receive grace? The Bible shows us clearly in Romans 3:23-24 that "all have sinned," but the all who have sinned are "justified freely by His grace." The Bible shows us that once man sins, spontaneously he can receive grace. Without being a sinner, he cannot receive grace. Man thinks that those who have sinned cannot receive grace. But God says that because man sins, he can receive grace. It is so obvious: since man has sinned grace comes. Never think that when sin comes, grace goes away. Sin is one of man's great mistakes, but to think that sin blocks man from receiving grace is a greater mistake.

Therefore, the first thing we must see is that man's wrongdoings cannot stand in the way of God's grace. With God's grace, there is no problem because of wrongdoings. On the contrary, God's grace is there to deal with man's wrongdoings. God is giving grace because man has sinned.