Hollie’s Story of Grace

Jan 18, 2012 by desiringvirtue

My testimony to Christ’s saving grace in my life can be summed up into one line: “I was a sinner, then Christ saved me.” Isn’t that truly the story of every believer? And what an amazing story that one line is! One short sentence is full of so much mercy, grace, and love. Amazing.

Unlike many Christians I know, I was not saved as a child. I grew up in a church that taught a three-step and false path to salvation. These steps included repentance, baptism in Jesus’ name, and speaking in tongues. By fourteen I went through the motions of the first two steps, but the third step (the one that sealed the deal) never happened. No matter what I tried, the gift of tongues would not come. So, by age fifteen I resigned myself as one destined to hell and gave up hope on eternal life in heaven.

Of course, in all those years I never truly desired to be saved. Not in the biblical sense. How could I? That desire comes to the people of God alone. I desired to be saved from Hell, not from my sin. My church preached heavily on the Rapture and Hell and my motivation to obtain citizenship in Heaven was prompted by fear of the horrible things that I would have to endure after the Rapture. Sin was something I never clearly understood. Repentance was taught as apologizing to God only. I certainly was never even aware of my sin let alone grieved over it. I knew I was pretty much a “good” person. I trusted in what I had been taught and lived in fear of Hell and death because, as I said, speaking in tongues was something I could not do. I was serving an idol I created; a god that served me and was not sovereign. The years went by, and like anyone who doesn’t have Christ, I was a slave to various sins.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. (Romans 6:21-22 NKJV)

But, God. Ah, what a sweet phrase! What if there were no “But God”? What hope would we have? But God had other plans for my life.

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8 NKJV)

His plan involved giving a wretched, Hell-bound, hopeless sinner hope. His plan involved redeeming grace for the person that least deserved it. His plan involved unimaginable mercy for someone who hated Him and His laws. God’s plan was to, one night, give this sinful woman eyes to see and ears to hear. So, in the late hours of a night in January of 2009 I picked up my old Bible and read the book of Romans. Through God’s kindness I had eyes to see my sin and His holiness. Because of His mercy He opened my heart to His word and sent the Holy Spirit to give me an understanding of it.

I grew up in a church that preached on the “rapture” and being “left behind” almost every Sunday. And I lived in a fear of that for my entire life before being saved. I had nightmares about the rapture frequently and they were terrifying. But nothing–nothing–is as terrifying as having a realization of your sin and helplessness before the eternally Holy God. That night was spent in tears, pleading for repentance, and finally peace and trust. Trust that Christ had died for me. Trust that He conquered death by rising again. Trust that He had lived perfectly and trust that God would now look at me and see Jesus’ righteousness because I had been covered by His blood.

He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,

Out of the miry clay,

And set my feet upon a rock,

And established my steps.

He has put a new song in my mouth-

Praise to our God;

Many will see it and fear,

And will trust in the LORD.

(Psalm 40:2-3 NKJV) 

One cannot find peace in false religions, vain good works, or any other trick of men. It is the saving Grace given to us by faith in Christ alone that brings peace. Jesus wasn’t lying when He said His yoke was light and His burden easy. On June 24, 2011, I was finally baptized biblically, in the name of the Trinity. This enabled me to seek membership in a local, Bible-believing church, and share in the Lord’s Supper with the other saints.

My journey is far from over, but my destination is guaranteed.

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 5:13,14  NKJV)

Hollie and her family live in a small village in the Piedmont region of Virginia. She spends her days keeping home and home-schooling her children. In their spare time they enjoy reading, taking historical field trips, hiking and serving their local church. You can find more from Hollie on her blog Reformed Redhead

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