In class tomorrow night I think I'm going to mention a Greek compound word that Paul uses in Rom. 7:24, the English translation of which is "wretched." We rarely use that word today. In fact, in the hymn Amazing Grace, people have changed the word "wretch" to "soul" or some other word because wretch feels too harsh for modern ears. Well, there's a Greek word to describe this. Hogwash. If Paul could call himself a miserable, wretched person, so can we.
John Newton used that word in his hymn Amazing Grace after leaving his life as a captain of a slave ship. He used "wretch" because he felt it matched his real state. That's why grace is so meaningful to Greek students like the ones I'll be teaching tomorrow night. God deals with wretches, and if you don't believe that, you've been hanging out with politically correct people too long. Truth be told, every mature believer in Christ ultimately comes to the place where they realize how wretched they are deep down inside. The good news is that we don't stay there because God's amazing grace lifts us above it.
If I live to be a hundred years, I will never be able to exhaust my praise for God's grace in my life. No one was less qualified to teach Greek when I was hired for that position way back in 1976 than I was. How wonderful and how marvelous that God saw me as I could be rather than as I was. As I entered the classroom I was humbled, and in humility I learned to accept the grace of my calling. I learned that apart from Jesus I could do nothing but remain awash in a sea of fear and doubt.
Students and teachers alike pay a huge price for the loss of their wretchedness. Jesus is not a coach or a prof who tells me to give it a try. He is a Savior who came to save and then use a wretched sinner like me. Grace was amazing for John Newton. May it be so for every one of us in class tomorrow night.