Beyond All Shame

Beyond all shame—the grace of God,

Beyond all shame—is Divinity’s Nod,

Beyond all shame—is the sweetest peace,

Beyond all shame—is comprehensive release.

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No matter what people think of God, whether they believe or not, there is the irrefutable fact that there is no shame beyond the reach of God’s grace. Because of what the Saviour, Jesus, has done, no sin known to humankind puts humanity out of the scope of redemption.

Nothing we have done, or do, or will do puts us beyond hope. In God’s eyes we are never hopeless. This is one thing we ought to never forget: shame is just as easily converted into godly grief.

Godly grief, as the apostle Paul put it, sets our shame apart from hopelessness and reconciles it back to God via plain repentance.

The Induction Of Godly Grief

“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief brings death.”

~2 Corinthians 7:10 (NRSV)

Repentance is the vehicle that takes us from utter personal contempt, even to that which we transfer onto others in anger, or that which has us cowering, and projects us into the geography of grace. What that means in plain terms is peace becomes us, purely because we were authentic, before God and before humanity.

The induction of godly grief is the moral portion of honesty, targeted personally, that honours the truth and finds its way back into the realm of life.

Godly grief is the despicable moment pushing us toward repentance. It compels us to face our denial. It makes us face up to what is, essentially, our fault. There is no shame in being at fault, and as soon as we admit our fault, which was engineered by godly grief, we begin to experience the peace of grace meandering through our spirits.

The Experience Of Salvation

Out of definitive scope, presently, is the fact of salvation, though it equally applies. In scope is the experience of salvation: to experience the forgiveness of God that comes in a felt peace. When God forgives us, no peace compares.

The fact of salvation is that it occurs once: saved once, saved for all time. The experience of salvation, however, is more about feeling saved.

What is needed more and more in life, by all of us, is the experience of salvation—to know God can and does forgive every mortal sin.

There is no shame beyond grace. Grace covers all human lack—if we will let it.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.