Grace Alone

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 16th of August, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go to the Book of Romans 11:20-21: “Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.”I looked up the Oxford Dictionary to get the direct meaning of the word, “haughty”. It means arrogant and superior towards other people. My dear friend, you and I need to be very careful how we stand. If we look at 1 Corinthians 10:12: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” There is nothing worse for me than to see a young man whose father has worked so hard and built up a very powerful and huge business and then his young son comes into the business - he struts around like a cockerel, shouting the odds to all the employees, telling them what to do, completely arrogant, and yet he himself did nothing towards the building of that huge company. We need to be careful how we stand, lest we fall!Do you know that lovely old song? I am not sure if I have got the words correct, but it is a song that touched my heart deeply, and I want to sing it to you - just in case we start becoming a little bit haughty and thinking that we have done nothing special. Paul, the apostle, says, “Be careful how you stand.He paid the debt he did not owe, I owed the debt I could not payI needed someone to wash my sins awayAnd now I sing a brand new song, "Amazing grace"Christ Jesus paid the debt I could never payJust remember, we are saved by grace alone, undeserved loving kindness, unmerited favour from God, so let us not become haughty. Let us be grateful that the Lord has seen fit to save a sinner like us. Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day.Goodbye.