The Story: Earning Points with God
A few years ago I was standing in line at the grocery store with one item—a loaf of bread.
The lady in front of me had about 200.
You know that line you always pick because it looks fast but somehow turns into a hostage situation?
So I’m standing there while she rifles through her purse like she’s digging for gold.
Finally she says, “Just a minute, I have a rewards card.”
Out comes a stack of plastic—gym cards, gas cards, coffee cards, frozen-yogurt punch cards—she’s swiping like she’s trying to earn heaven one barcode at a time.
The cashier smiles and says, “Ma’am, this one’s expired.”
She freezes.
“Expired? But I’ve been saving those points for years!”
As I watched her, it hit me: that’s religion without grace.
Always trying to rack up enough points before the card expires.
And the sad thing is, we’ve all stood at that counter.
We think if we’re kind enough, patient enough, vegetarian enough, doctrinally correct enough, something will finally swipe.
Maybe we’ll hear a beep from heaven that says, “Approved.”
But grace doesn’t work on a points system.
Grace throws away the scanner and says, “It’s already paid.”
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The Human Ledger
Every culture has its version of the cosmic scorecard.
The ancients called it karma.
Moderns call it justice or balance.
We even say, “What goes around comes around.”
Karma sounds fair, but fair isn’t enough—because if the universe gives us exactly what we deserve, we’re all in trouble.
Romans 6:23 says it bluntly:
> “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Karma gives wages; grace gives gifts.
Karma says, “You earned this.”
Grace says, “You can’t earn this.”
If karma is a mirror, grace is a window.
One shows you yourself; the other shows you God.
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The Problem with Keeping Score
Have you noticed how exhausting it is to keep score with God?
We start each day like accountants: “I prayed; that’s a plus. I snapped at someone; that’s a minus.”
We tally our deeds like spiritual calories, always checking if we’re under the limit.
But Ephesians 2:9 says salvation is “not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
The gospel ends the competition.
Grace levels the field, then lifts the fallen.
Here’s the irony:
The Pharisees were masters at the point system.
They tithed mint and dill and cumin.
They had theological punch cards for everything.
But when grace showed up wearing sandals, they called Him a lawbreaker.
They couldn’t handle a God who would rather forgive than grade.
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The Gift that Breaks the Ledger
Let’s read Titus 3:5 together:
> “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.”
Paul couldn’t say it clearer if he tried.
Mercy is God’s motive; grace is His method; renewal is His miracle.
We bring the mess—He brings the mercy.
We bring the debt—He brings the deletion.
Every other religion teaches you how to climb up.
The gospel tells you how God came down.
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Enter the Spoken Word – “Karma Was My Old Dogma.”
> Karma keeps receipts.
Every word, every thought, every stumble
scribbled on the universe’s clipboard.
Do wrong, pay later.
Do right, maybe balance the scales—
but never break even.
Karma says, “You earned this.”
Grace says, “I took this.”
Karma is math.
Grace is music.
One counts what you owe;
the other sings what’s been paid.
Karma chases you down the road.
Grace runs ahead and builds you a home.
Karma whispers, “Try harder.”
Grace shouts, “It is finished!”
Karma ends in exhaustion.
Grace begins in resurrection.
So yes—
I used to believe in karma’s symmetry,
but now I live in grace’s scandal.
The scales have been shattered by a cross,
and mercy has written the last equation.
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Grace Breaks the Scales
When Jesus cried “It is finished,” He wasn’t sighing in defeat.
He was announcing the end of scorekeeping.
The temple veil tore not only top to bottom, but heaven to earth.
The balance sheet closed, the ledger burned, and the accountant resigned.
Grace broke the scales.
Think about the cross mathematically:
One infinite righteousness weighed against the combined guilt of the world.
Result? The scale tips permanently toward mercy.
That’s why Paul could write in Romans 5:20,
> “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”
Grace doesn’t just meet sin—it overwhelms it.
It’s not a fair trade; it’s a divine overthrow.
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The Broken Scale Illustration
I keep a little balance scale in my office—the kind jewelers use.
One day a student knocked it off my desk.
When I picked it up, the arms were bent, and no matter what I did, it leaned to one side.
The weights wouldn’t settle; it was permanently crooked.
At first I thought, I should fix this.
Then I smiled.
I decided to leave it that way.
Because that’s grace—the scale broken forever in our favor.
You can’t fix it, and you shouldn’t try.
The cross bent the beam.
Every sin that once outweighed you now falls short of His mercy.
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Grace in Real Life
Let’s be honest — we still live like spiritual accountants.
We say we believe in grace, but deep down we fear an audit.
Every setback feels like punishment, every blessing feels suspicious, as if God might repossess it.
But grace is not a loan; it’s an inheritance.
You don’t make monthly payments on mercy.
The only thing you bring to the table is an empty plate.
Think of Peter.
He failed his final exam in the courtyard.
He denied the One who had just washed his feet.
If anyone’s card should have been declined, it was Peter’s.
But when Jesus rose, He didn’t say, “Tell the disciples I’m back—except Peter.”
He said, “Go tell My disciples—and Peter.”
Grace singles out the one most likely to hide.
That’s what breaks me every time: God doesn’t grade on the curve.
He grades on the cross.
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Grace versus the Older Brother
Remember the parable of the prodigal son.
One boy wasted the inheritance; the other tried to earn it.
One sinned big; the other obeyed small.
And both were outside the party.
The younger one said, “I’m not worthy to be called your son.”
The older one said, “I’ve never disobeyed you, yet you never gave me a goat.”
Same problem, different math.
Both were stuck in a point system.
Both misunderstood the Father.
But the Father steps out of the house for both.
He says to the younger, “Bring the robe.”
And to the older, “Everything I have is yours.”
Do you see it?
Grace goes out the door twice — once for the rebellious, once for the religious.
It’s not a pass for sin; it’s a promise of sonship.
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The Math of Heaven
God’s math doesn’t make sense to human calculators.
He leaves the ninety-nine for one.
He pays the last-hour worker the same wage as the first.
He forgives seventy times seven.
And when the books are opened, the Lamb’s name covers every debt line.
If karma is bookkeeping, grace is bankruptcy —
not moral ruin, but spiritual release.
When you file for grace, you surrender your assets and receive His.
That’s why Revelation says, “To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.” (Rev. 21:6)
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When Grace Meets You
Sometimes grace looks like failure redeemed.
Sometimes it looks like mercy you didn’t see coming.
Sometimes it shows up in hospital rooms, jail cells, or living rooms after an argument.
Grace walks in uninvited and refuses to leave.
It meets Saul on the road, the thief on the cross, the woman at the well, and the doubter in the upper room.
Grace doesn’t discriminate; it locates.
And maybe this morning, it’s locating you.
You who think you’ve out-sinned mercy.
You who feel invisible in church pews.
You who keep rehearsing your mistakes like a bad rerun.
Grace has your name on it.
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The Cross as the Great Exchange
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:21:
> “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
That’s the great exchange.
Jesus took our “debit column” and replaced it with His righteousness.
He didn’t just erase the red ink; He rewrote the ledger with His own name.
If you’ve ever stared at your own reflection and felt unworthy, remember this:
the Father doesn’t see your balance sheet; He sees His Son’s.
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Illustration – The Broken Calculator
Years ago, I had a cheap pocket calculator that started adding wrong.
2 + 2 would come out as 5.
I threw it away.
But God keeps using broken calculators.
Because even when our lives don’t add up, He still enters the answer: Grace.
Grace isn’t logical; it’s theological.
It’s the kind of arithmetic that multiplies loaves, cancels sin, and divides seas.
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The Reason Grace Offends
Let’s admit it — grace offends our sense of justice.
We want to see the wicked punished and the righteous rewarded.
We want bad people to get bad things.
But then grace walks in and starts throwing parties for prodigals.
It offends the self-righteous because it hands out medals to the undeserving.
But if grace isn’t scandalous, it’s not grace.
When the thief on the cross heard “Today you’ll be with Me in Paradise,”
he didn’t have time for restitution, tithe envelopes, or baptismal vows.
He only had time for one word: Remember.
And that was enough.
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Grace and the Advent Hope
For those of us who long for the second coming, grace isn’t the warm-up act — it’s the main event.
Because heaven isn’t a reward for good behavior; it’s a reunion with the One who behaved perfectly in our place.
The saved won’t be polishing their trophies; they’ll be laying them down.
Every crown cast at His feet is a receipt marked “Paid in Full.”
Eternal life isn’t the paycheck of obedience; it’s the overflow of grace.
That’s why Revelation 21:4 says, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more.”
Grace doesn’t just forgive sin; it annihilates death.
The last enemy to be destroyed isn’t the devil—it’s debt itself.
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The Call — Step Out of the Ledger
Maybe today you’re tired of living under the math of merit.
Maybe you’ve been calculating your worth by your record.
Jesus is inviting you to close the book and walk into freedom.
Hear His voice:
> “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28)
Grace doesn’t just forgive the guilty; it rests the weary.
And you don’t have to earn a thing.
If you’re still trying to pay spiritual bills you can’t afford,
come stand on the side of grace.
Because the scales are broken, and mercy has already been measured out in full.
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Closing Benediction
> “May the God of all grace,
who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ,
restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”
— 1 Peter 5:10 (ESV)
Let us pray:
> Lord, thank You for bending the beam of justice until it pointed toward mercy.
Thank You that what we could not earn, You freely gave.
Help us stop keeping score with You, and start walking with You.
Let our lives be songs of gratitude, not ledgers of guilt.
Until grace turns to glory, keep us near the cross where the scales were broken.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
