"It's all grace" - what does that mean, anyway?

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.

Thanksgiving and Praise

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
    and his courts with praise!
    Give thanks to him; bless his name!


Psalm 100:4 is one verse of one of the most famous psalms - it is one that lifts our hearts in praise of our great God.  Especially suitable for this, the season of thanksgiving.


Note that there is a distinction here between thanksgiving and praise.  I don't think it's just semantics - it seems that "thanksgiving" is gratitude for what God has done while "praise" is worship for Who He is.   We are exhorted throughout Scripture to do both but notice the difference in effect...."thanksgiving" admits us into His gates....but "praise" brings us closer - entrance into the courts of His presence.


Praising God for Who He is turns our attention away from ourselves and what we need/want and focuses our hearts on Him.   The next verse describes some of His attributes :
For the Lord is good;
    his steadfast love endures forever,    and his faithfulness to all generations.


God is good.
This Hebrew adjective means "good, pleasant, beautiful, excellent, delightful, lovely, fruitful, joyful, cheerful, kind, correct, right, virtuous".  Wow - that's a lot packed into "good"!


He loves us relentlessly and unwaveringly.  And forever.
Being able to know His love in the face of changing times and my own unreliable heart is great comfort.  And confidence.


He is trustworthy.  From eternity past to eternity future.
He is certain, dependable, and sure.  Indeed He is worthy of all my trust.


In this season of giving thanks for all He has done for us, let us draw even nearer to His Throne with praise - an acknowledgement of Who He Is.


Hallelujah Amen!

Sometimes you just need a nap...

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. I Kings 19:1-8
Sometimes after the highs of our lives (wonderful blessings or even great spiritual victories as was the case with Elijah), we experience quite undesirable lows. How gracious of our God to include in His Holy Word this story of Elijah’s journey from depression back to joy! Tucked into the books of I Kings is a prescription that we can use in our fight for joy. Let’s see what is included in this passage…
Here’s the background – Elijah, prophet of God, was witness and catalyst to a mighty display of God’s glory. He invited the prophets of the false god Baal to a showdown between their god and the One True God. I hope that in Eternity, God will pull back the curtain of time to let us witness this amazing event where God shows those misguided people Who He is! Talk about a blaze of Glory! (For the details, check out I Kings 18)
In spite of this great victory, Elijah is human. And that means he is susceptible to doubt and fear. He falls prey to the temptation to fear what man could do to him (or in this case, a woman!) and he subsequently doubts God’s care for him. In this state, he runs away from the problem, hides out, and prefers death to living this way. God shows such tender mercy to him! Instead of telling him to straighten up and face things like a man, God is so gentle, so kind, so compassionate. Look up Psalm 103:13,14 for a reminder of how God sees us.
This passage above has a message for us about our own tendency to dip into depression. First, don’t be taken off guard. Know that we are all vulnerable in this way and be intentional about resting in Him always, especially in the aftermath of those “mountaintop experiences”.
But if you find yourself in the valley, take a page out of Elijah’s story. Take care of your body. Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is to take a nap! We are physical beings, not just spiritual ones! And when our bodies are exhausted or ill, that can definitely take a toll on our spirit. Take a nap. Eat healthy. Go for a walk. Get a physical. Maybe there is a physiological cure to your spiritual woes!