Grace.
Amazing grace. How sweet the sound.
Truly.
But what is it, really, and what have we done to it?
Perhaps grace is hard to define. We try and explain it, but we can hardly understand it. So we come up with ways to help us comprehend.
God's unmerited favor.
His Love.
God's Riches At Christ's Expense.
Unconditional love.
All these definitions are true. Thank God!
We cannot earn His favor. He is far more gracious than we can fathom. Far more merciful and kind and generous than anyone can ever deserve.
But I don't think that "mercy" and "forgiveness" are all there is to grace. I often hear Christ-followers excuse their behavior with "grace". And while I don't want to go back to the era of legalism that I went through (which brought not only judgment of others but especially of my own self), I fear that we are in danger of trampling upon the truth of what God's grace is.
We humans tend to such extremes. We either lean waaaaaaay far in the direction of self-sufficiency, as though we can somehow muster up enough good deeds or omit enough bad deeds that we impress God....or we camp out in the land of "it doesn't matter how I live, it's all grace anyway".
Both miss the mark of what grace is.
Yes, grace is unmerited. And absolutely there is nothing too awful to be redeemed by grace. Nothing. But let's take a look at grace to better understand what it is and how God grants it....
My favorite apologist, John Piper defines grace as " the supernatural power of God regenerating us and opening our blind eyes so that we can see Christ for who he really is." Amen.
And when we see Him, I John 3:2 tells us that we shall be like Him! Grace enables us to see the treasure of Christ, to desire Him above all this world has to offer,...and the same power that opens our eyes to that glorious truth also transforms us. Empowers us to obey Him.
So, it is the mercy of God that is willing to withhold from us the punishment we deserve and it is His grace that gives us far more than we could ever earn...but that grace includes our transformation. The power to obey Him. Yes, He lavishes acceptance and blessing and favor --- grace -- upon His people but He tells us that there is more to grace. It's not a public drinking fountain that we can visit from time to time and wash off our guilt or request special treatment.
Humility is a condition of receiving this grace. James 4:4-6 clearly explains not only that God gives grace to the humble but also that cozying up to the world puts us in opposition to God. He gives grace so that we might live according to His Spirit within us.
You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
So, you might say, that says there is a condition to receiving grace! I thought God's love was unconditional! Do I have to earn it?
The grace that causes us to be chosen of God before the foundations of the earth - that is completely unconditional. We weren't even around when God us and foreordained that we would be His. He is not responding to our good behavior or our desirability in His choosing us.
But there is grace that is conditional, where He does respond to our behavior - Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’ (1 Peter 5:5). God responds to humility with more grace - grace that transforms us by enabling us to obey His commands.
Let me explain a bit further -
Philippians 2:12,13 says - work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure
Yes, the work of transformation that please God is a result of His working within us...but that does not lessen our responsibility to cooperate with His power and obey His Word - to work out our salvation (not work for it, but work it out from the inside of our spirit to the outside of our soul and body)
Piper puts it this way:
I can flip a switch, but I don’t provide the electricity. I can turn on a faucet, but I can’t make the water flow. There will be no light and no liquid refreshment without someone else providing it.
And so it is, in a limited sense, for the Christian with the ongoing grace of God. His grace is essential for our spiritual lives, but we don’t control the supply. We can’t make the grace flow, but God has given us circuits to connect and pipes to open in case it’s there.
Our God is lavish in his grace, often liberally dispensing his favor without even the least bit of cooperation and preparation on our part. But he also has his regular channels. And we can routinely avail ourselves of these revealed paths of blessing, or neglect them to our detriment.
We can “fight to walk in the paths where he has promised his blessings” (John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God, 43–44
What, then, are these paths? What are the means of availing ourselves of His grace?
Basic, everyday, seemingly unglamorous Christianity - sometimes referred to as "spiritual disciplines" -
Persevering in prayer
Consistent time in His Word
Loving the fellowship of His People
Obeying what He says in His Word
My husband calls it "the blocking and tackling of following Christ".
We put ourselves in the paths of blessing, the place to receive God's favor, the avenue that takes us to a life changed into one of joy and peace and significance when we obey Him. When we respond to His commands with the humility that sees our inability to obey Him and we cry out for His enabling power - His grace.
I exhort us all, dear sisters, not to trample upon His precious grace by thinking we can live anyway our flesh desires and then just continually confess and repeat. Let us not think we can expect the grace of His blessings if we don't go where He says the blessings are to be found.
Cry out... and trust
When I was a child (and, to be honest, into my adulthood!), when things were hard, when I was sad or disappointed, or afraid, I turned to my Mom. I was so confident and secure in her love for me that I knew she could make it all better, even if all she did was listen.
As we grow up, sometimes we fail to transfer that kind of childlike trust to The One, the ONLY ONE, whose love is worthy of our trust. And whose power is worthy of our confidence. So many of the psalms convey this picture of crying out to God, of placing our trust in Him. I’ve been reading through the psalms and one in particular stood out to me for this very reason. Psalm 57. Verse 2 says “I will cry to God Most High, to God, who accomplishes all things for me.”
What a practical picture of Christian living! The context for this psalm is when David was hiding from King Saul, tucked away in a cave, appropriately afraid for his life. Instead of plotting his way out, instead of keeping his worries in his head, what does he do? He cries out to God Most High.
“Crying out” to the Lord carries the meaning of literally what it says - crying and out loud. This is what Scripture prescribes for us - not sporting a stiff upper lip. Not bottling up our hurts and fears inside. But pouring them out aloud to God Most High. Just like I always felt better after I told my Mom about whatever was bothering me, so this very act of lifting up our concerns to our Heavenly Father lifts our burdens.
However, this psalm tells us it’s more than that. As much as my Mom loved me, as capable and amazing as she was, she was finite in her abilities to “fix things” for me. Her capacity, though full of love and determination, was limited. Not so with God Most High.
The remainder of that verse clarifies why it is such a great idea to cry out to God. Because HE accomplishes all things for me! God Most High is infinite, limitless in not only His power but also His love. I pour out to Him my worries and fears and pain because I trust Him - I know He loves me (I Peter 5:7 - “casting all my anxiety on Him because He cares for me) and I know is the only One who is working on my behalf all the time. That is what is meant by the word “accomplishes” -not only working but working them after the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11). And what is His will? To bless me with “every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3)!
Psalm 57 goes on to expound on what God Most High does for him - sending help from heaven, and reproaching those who wrong him. And then it recounts the result of this crying out and trusting…Verse 7 says “ My heart is steadfast , O God, my heart is steadfast. I will sing, yes I will sing praises!” Pouring out our fears and pains to The One who cares for us and is actively working all things for our good and His glory takes us from those negative emotions to a place of peace and praise. Steadfast heart, praising voice. What a progression!
If you are in a place of hurt or anxiety, if your heart is afraid or unsettled, I implore you to do what I’ve found to bring victory, what the psalmist demonstrates to us here. Cry out…and trust.
the sound of empty
I hear it again. Weeks of blessed bliss. Footsteps and voices and cheerful chaos. Togetherness. Full hearts. Now the sound is back…
Read moreThoughts for the new year
Before we get distracted by bowl games and New Year’s festivities, let’s take a moment….
Read moreThoughts on Church on this Christmas Eve
Most of my blog messages are written well in advance of their posting date. Today’s is no exception. I am writing weeks before this is scheduled but I know it will post on Christmas Eve. It might not seem “christmasy” to you but I think it very much feels like the true meaning of Christmas…..
Over the past few weeks, four of my friends have watched one of their loved ones complete their earthly race. The circumstances of each departure were all different - one was a young child, one was an octogenarian, and the other two were closer to my age. Two were dramatically unexpected and two were sad but not shocking. While the circumstances were varied, the thing that was consistent is the subject of this message.
In each case, in the midst of pain and grief and sorrow, I saw THE CHURCH in action.
THE CHURCH. The BRIDE of CHRIST. The PEOPLE of GOD. came alongside by friends in each of these situations. They prayed and cried and fed and grieved and served and did all the things that needed to be done. Not just for a day but for weeks. Each of these situations were different circles of friends but they each one functioned the same. Because each circle was the BODY of Christ. Each different group somehow knew what was needed and they met those needs. With hearts to ease the burdens, to share the grief, to support and love and minister.
In the midst of brokenness and pain…there was beauty. Each of the times. Beauty delivered by THE CHURCH.
What does that have to do with Christmas?
Everything.
Because this is what Jesus came to earth and died for. To create and establish and grow His BRIDE. And when one member of the Body is hurting, it is a glorious sight to see the other parts surround the wound and pour out love. It is beautiful.
I am so thankful to be part of THE CHURCH. The Church universal….and the local church. I love being part of it and participating in the beautiful fleshing out of Christ’s plan for us. Christmas is when we celebrate the gift of Jesus coming to earth. But while we celebrate, let’s remember what He came to redeem us, to give Himself up for us, and to make us holy, blameless, and His Beautiful Bride. As we minister to one another, we see Ephesians 4:15,16 in real life: we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
I love THE CHURCH universal as well as the local Church. Even though it gets messy sometimes ( we are all still human on this side of Eternity, after all!) and yes, there are failures and disappointments and mistakes. But it’s also beautiful. The different parts working together. The fitting together under the head of Christ. The growth and the building of in love. I get to see it all the time. I get to be part of it. I am so thankful.
I hope you love the church too. I hope you are part of it and that you participate in this fitting together. If you’ve been hurt or disappointed, I am sorry. Church hurt is hard. But, this Christmas, for the sake of what Jesus came for, give it another chance.
It really can be a beautiful and glorious thing. Merry Christmas.