But For the Grace of God

It is common for us to utter the well-known saying, ‘There, but for the Grace of God, go I’ when observing someone we believe to be in worse condition than ourselves. Few realize that these words were first spoken by the English martyr John Bradford, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London. He uttered them upon witnessing a criminal being led to execution for his wicked deeds in 1555.

On the morning of July 15, 1555, at 9 a.m., Bradford, then 45 years old and a 19-year-old named John Leaf were led to the stake to be burned alive as heretics under the bloody reign of Queen Mary. Among Bradford's final words at the stake were, "O England, England, repent!" Turning to the young man who would suffer with him, he said, ‘Be of good comfort, brother, for we shall have a happy supper with the LORD tonight.’ Embracing the wood of his execution, he quoted our Savior’s words from Matthew 7:14: “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

We should never exalt or revere men, even martyrs but rather learn from their words which are true to THE WORD, the Gospel. Long before John Bradford spoke, the Spirit directed the apostle Paul to write in 1 Corinthians 15:10: “But by the grace of God, I am what I am…” As children of God, we willingly give all the glory to God for His Grace.

• But for the Grace of God election would have passed us by, leaving us to our eternal condemnation, 2 Thessalonians 2:13.
• But for the Grace of God we would not have been counted among those sinners for whom Christ shed His precious blood, working out for us the very righteousness of God which the Father imputed to our account upon completion of Christ’s obedience unto death, Romans 5:9-11.
• But for the Grace of God we would not be among those who were called to Christ in time, separated from our mother’s sinful womb, with the Spirit of God revealing Him to us through the Gospel, Galatians 1:15-16.

God also grants dying grace to His beloved when needed. Bradford wrote from prison, ‘I have deserved much more than this affliction and fire prepared for me. Yet, my dearly beloved, it is not for these, or any of these things, that the prelates persecute me but for God’s verity and truth. Yea, even Christ Himself is the only cause of my condemnation and the reason I shall be burned as a heretic…counted as a dead member of Christ’s church, a rotten branch and therefore cast into the fire.’

Let us never grow weary of hearing the blessed Gospel of Christ and Him crucified nor take for granted the privilege of hearing Him in His Word. That too is only by His Grace! Pray that He grants us Grace to cherish Him and His finished work even unto death.