Have you ever heard somebody say, “There but for the grace of God go I,”? Keith Urban even had a hit song based on that phrase. It’s a phrase that expresses humility. It’s saying that if God in His grace hadn’t intervened in my life, my life would be so much worse. Keith Urban sang, “Oh, I’d be lost, but for the grace of God.”

Well, that particular phrase “there but for the grace of God go I” is attributed to a 16th-century English preacher named John Bradford. But ultimately, the idea comes straight from the Bible.

Apostle Paul quotes Prophet Isaiah in Romans 9, “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.” He’s saying, there but for the grace of God, I would be given over to sin like Sodom and Gomorrah and would be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah. In 1 Corinthians 15:10, Apostle Paul said, But by the grace of God I am what I am. In other words, but for the grace of God go I.

Beloved, where would you be today without the grace of God? It’s hard to fathom, but it would be nowhere good. And that’s true of me as well. God’s grace has changed my life. And if you are in Christ, it has changed yours also. And if you are not in Christ, you can be if you will only turn from your sins and trust in Christ as your Savior and Lord. And then God’s grace will pour in and change your life forever. And then you’ll be able to look back and say with others, “There but for the grace of God go I.”

Change begins in you!