6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8
A large, prosperous downtown church ministered to three mission churches. On the first Sunday of the New Year all the members of the mission churches came to the city church for a combined worship service. In those mission churches, which were located in the slums of the city, were some outstanding cases of conversions of thieves, burglars, etc. But on that day they all worshipped side by side.
On one such occasion the preacher saw a former criminal kneeling beside a judge of the Supreme Court of England. It was the judge who had sent the criminal to jail for seven years. After his release this burglar had been converted and became a Christian worker. The judge and the former convict worshipped side by side and neither one seemed to be aware of the other.
After the service, the judge was walking home with the preacher and the judge said to the preacher, “Did you notice who was sitting beside me at the worship service this morning?”
The preacher replied, “Yes, but I didn’t know that you noticed.” The two walked along in silence for a few more moments, and then the judge said, “What a miracle of grace.” The preacher nodded in agreement and said, “Yes, what a marvelous miracle of grace.” Then the judge said, “But to whom do you refer?” And the preacher said, “Why, to the conversion of that convict.” The judge said, “But I was not referring to him. I was thinking of myself.” The preacher, surprised, replied, “You were thinking of yourself? I don’t understand.”
“Yes,” the judge replied, “It did not cost that burglar much to get converted when he came out of jail. He had nothing but a history of crime behind him, and when he saw Jesus as his Savior, he knew there was salvation and hope and joy for him. And he knew how much he needed that help. But look at me. I was taught from earliest infancy to live as a Christian; that my word was to be my bond; that I was to say my prayers, go to church, and so on. I went through Oxford, took my degrees, was called to the bar and eventually became a judge. Preacher, nothing but the grace of God could have caused me to admit that I was a sinner on level with that burglar. It took much more grace to forgive me for all my pride and self-deception, to get me to admit that I was no better in the eyes of God than that convict that I sent to prison.”
…Borrowed