“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
–Ephesians 2:8-9
So many people (and so many churches) are searching for something. Throughout history, much of humanity has struggled with religion, trying to seek God in various forms and in various ways.
Obviously, religious expressions have taken almost countless forms over the years. There are now variations of almost every religion. There are variations on top of the variations that have split to form different denominations and congregations…and that is just within Christianity!
I personally have come to believe that Christianity is the true and trustworthy system of faith. There is something unique and formative about the message of Jesus in Christianity that is not present in other major religions and trains of thought. But believe me…much of the Christian church is still terribly and tragically flawed in many ways. Why is it flawed? Because people are in Christian churches, and people are not perfect. (Romans 3:23) The Christian church may have gone through a Reformation, but it needs a revitalization. The church is imperfect, partly because it has downplayed the message of God’s grace and love as exemplified in the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.
Fact is, churches are confusing, and frustrating! There are TONS of choices when looking for a church! Which one is right? Which one is wrong? What’s what? Who’s who? Who knows!?! What sets a church apart? What sets Christianity apart? I believe it is one simple thing: Grace.
The thing that sets biblical Christianity apart is the central teaching of God’s loving mercy, found in the grace that God freely gives us in Christ Jesus and His death on the cross for all sin. The concepts of grace and love as found in the Bible are not to be dismissed or brushed over. Dwelling on God’s grace is not a sign of an “immature faith” or a “dismissal of sin.”
If you cut grace out of your faith, out of your church, or out of your Christianity, you cut the heart and soul, out of the message of Jesus. To be honest, I don’t even know what you would be left with at that point.
Stressing God’s love and God’s grace does not cheapen grace. It centralizes it as the unique, formative teaching that the Bible clearly shows us that it is. You do not need to dismiss sin in order to more fully embrace grace. Grace is the pure expression of God’s undeserved love and mercy that has been freely given to us.
If we as Christians, or we as the church, are to truly be changed to be more like Jesus, the only thing that will change us is the continued realization of God’s grace, through the guidance and teaching of the Holy Spirit. God reveals his grace to all of us through the act of Jesus dying on the cross. THIS is the heart of the Gospel. This IS the Gospel.
The Good News for everyone is that while God is just, God is also Love. (1st John 4:7-12) Nothing can ever separate you from God’s love through Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:31-39) God is gracious and merciful, and this is revealed to us through the saving act of Christ’s death on the cross for all sin, for all people, for all time. It is already done, and it has been shown to us…now we need only believe, and embrace God’s unfailing, unending grace. By grace you have been saved, through faith…this is a gift from God.
This is the revelation that changes us, that sets us apart. I believe the more we come to a realization of God’s amazing grace, the more it will change our hearts and minds to be more like Christ Jesus. If you take grace out of the equation, you are removing what is distinct about Christianity, you are removing the “other” from the church and resting on worldly ideals and values such as moralism and legalism. It is easier to forget grace and act upon what we think people “deserve” or “earn.” It is more human to judge than to give grace. A lack of grace can cause damage. A lack of embracing God’s divine gift can cause despair. That is why we need to fight for grace; to never forget it.
“For from his (Jesus) fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
-John 1:16-17
Grace is truth. Grace is an expression of God’s love. There is a beautiful simplicity to Christianity at its core. To minimize the beauty of grace and love that all have been given through Jesus is a tragic error. As Paul writes in 1st Corinthians: Love is the greatest. (1st Corinthians 13) Without love, it’s all just noise. If you forget grace, and forget the love that God gives you, you are completely missing the point.
If your Christian faith or Christian spirituality is centered on anything other than faith in the grace and love exhibited through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then you are not going to “change”. You are not going to “grow” in your faith.
If you find your Christianity is centered on politics, then you are lost. If you find your Christianity is centered on power, then you are wrong. If you find your Christianity is mixed with, or resting on a nationalistic pride, then you are perverting the Gospel. If you find your Christianity is all about making you comfortable and giving you a feeling of superiority, then you are not centered on God’s truth. If you cling to the Law and minimize love and compassion, then you are heading down a road of depression and failure. A faith that prioritizes Law at the expense of God’s love and God’s grace, is a weak and misguided faith.
God’s grace is a gift. A gift that we should give to others. To show others, to tell others about. All. The. Time.
But what about sin? Are we just to dismiss sin? Is it all just sunshine and daisies and “Do whatever you want whenever you want!” Nope. Here’s the thing: Embracing Grace doesn’t mean embracing or even condoning sin. (Romans 6:1-14) Yes, sin is real, and sin is serious, but the grace given to us is bigger and more powerful. God is bigger than sin. Grace is bigger than despair.
If we are under grace, if we are coming to a more expansive understanding of the grace of Jesus Christ through the power and prompting of the Holy Spirit, then we are no longer a slave to sin or walking in our old sinful ways. (Romans 6:14)
God’s grace changes people. Grace is motivating. It is pure. Realizing this revelation and embracing God’s endless and incredible love is the ONLY way that we, as broken/lost people, can ever hope to grow in Christ and deepen the bedrock of our faith. We do not become more “mature” Christians by being more lawful. We don’t advance our faith by making Jesus smaller and us bigger.
When we realize our weakness and failures, and we realize that His grace is sufficient, then God’s power and God’s strength can start to affect, change us…mold us in His image. (2nd Corinthians 12:9) Grace has been given to us, and grace can motivate us in a loving, caring way. As 1st Corinthians 16:14 says, “Let all that you do, be done in love.”
We do not yet fully comprehend God’s love and mercy. The Apostle Paul says that here on earth, we only see God and God’s love as a reflection in a dimly lit mirror. We don’t yet really understand what grace is. It is counter-cultural. It is otherworldly. It is from a higher power; and we struggle with it. That’s why we need to hear about God’s love over, and over, and over, and over, and OVER.
It may seem repetitive, or it may seem immature, but it is truth, and it is vital. The Gospel is the story of God’s grace given to us. It is God’s love incarnate through Christ Jesus. God is with us, God loves us, God shows us mercy, God gives us peace and grace, and we receive this through faith. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to grow in this love and grace and knowledge of Christ, and to pass it on to all we encounter, in all circumstances.
I pray that the church would embrace grace more fully and more often, and that we would dwell in God’s love and God’s mercy. I pray that this would change us, so we can truly be Christ’s ambassadors. Everyone needs grace…when we realize this, we will experience the joy and hope that God has for us in Christ Jesus.
Embracing Grace is not weakness. Embracing Grace is realizing our weakness, realizing how undeserving we are, and deepening our understanding and thanksgiving in the fact that God, in our unworthy state, chose to bring us out of death and into life, showing us mercy and love unending. May we all show this love and grace to all around us, in everything we do, in and outside of the church.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God”
– Romans 5:1-2
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