John 1:17 (KJV) For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
and thank God for that. I mean, look at the law. There's no way we can do all that. Some even say that's the point. Make the law impossible so that we have to rely on God. And the wages of sin is death, so according to the law we all deserve death.
But grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. It's not that they didn't exist before, but with the permanent sacrifice that Jesus was for us, God now looks at us in truth, but covers it with grace. At any point when we are judged, God sees the things we have done and truthfully tells us that it's not good. We've lied, we've cheated, we've killed, we've lusted, we've been proud. He doesn't hold back because He might hurt our feelings. But then, after He has finished convicting us of all our sins, He applies the grace and tells us that He knows we can't be good all the time. Then, as long as we say thank-you for your grace and your sacrifice and we accept that we can't do it without God, His grace will cover our sins.
However, should we not accept the sacrifice of Jesus, in effect we're telling God that we're better than He thinks and that we can handle this on our own. In that case, God won't apply His grace, since a gift has to be accepted in order to be given. And a human life without grace is nothing but a bunch of filthy rags worthy to be burned into ashes and thrown out to be trampled over and over.
So it pretty much comes down to whether we accept the truth and grace or if we turn it into a rejected gift. But we can also take it further.
Using grace and truth in everyday relationships really helps keep things on the down-low. If we keep things honest (even when it's hard and might hurt), people will always know where we stand. If we cover that truth with grace, giving the notion that even though there are things that are wrong we'll be okay with the process of working on it, people will be much quicker to accept that truth as trying to build them up. But then, we also have to take criticism from others and not make it into something personal... understanding that they're also working on truth and grace.
If everyone in Christian circles worked on the basis of truth and grace, personal vendettas would disappear and we would be much closer to the early church in meeting everyone's needs as they come. Let's make that our goal.
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2 comments:
I had a discussion with two friends while at Briercrest about the grace of God, and this is one of the products:
When we sin, it is appropriate to come straight to God and confess that sin and be absolved of the guilt. Once a person is a Christian, sin no longer separates us from God, but rather we tend to separate ourselves from God, wanting to feel guilty for our sins. God does not desire that... its a case of confessing, letting go, and living in that grace--living in freedom. Tell me what you think.
Absolutely. With Jesus comes truth and grace. God tells us the truth that we're not living up to the standard and that He wants us to change that. That's the truth part. But, He also says that while we're working on it, He'll accept us anyway. That's the grace. Therefore it isn't a license to go and do as we please, but that we can move forward in freedom with the knowledge that a screw up on our part will be acknowledged, but forgiven.
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