Grace Unleashed
Grace is the single most powerful weapon that the Church has.
It is also the one that is used the least among fellow believers. Jesus said that, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35) Love comes at a cost, and that cost is grace. I have heard the definition of grace is “unmerited pardon”, and I agree that definition is part of grace, but it does not capture the whole of it. I thought long and hard about how to approach this topic. I considered doing a deep and complicated Greek word study–the word is charis, and we derive a whole slue of words from it like charity, caring, and so on. I thought about chasing it through Scripture and seeing where it landed and reflect on that. But instead, I decided that I would look at what grace is and how do I apply it to my day to day life. Jesus said that we would be defined by our love toward one another, and that love stems from grace; more specifically, the grace we receive from God. Therefore, I feel that looking at grace in this light is more practical.
Strong’s Concordance uses this phrase to help define the word, “a divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in life.” I quite like that. Esoteric and complicated treatises on this will not really answer it; in fact, I believe that those types of studies only muddy the waters of understanding. If I cannot read God’s word and apply it to my life then there is a problem. As a pastor for over twelve years, I have seen this little word overlooked and under used more often than not. If there is one place in this mortal plain that a Christian should be able to go to seeking grace for a sin or failing it should be the church. I am not talking about the building or a little hidden box that a person can enter and anomalously spill their guts. I am talking about the true body of Christ, you and me. Speaking with a friend this past week, he made a comment on a related topic. He said, “You can talk God, you cannot talk to each other.” I was already mulling this topic over and his words struck a cord within, and I found myself agreeing with him and at the same time feeling extremely sad. Why is it that we as “Christians”, Christ’s representatives on earth, refuse to impart grace to the fallen and tend to spend our time sitting in judgment and keeping lists of past grievances like a miser hoarding gold? It seems like we are cannibalistic in our nature. We may not say it, but we show that we relish when some one near us falls. I think that in some small way, we use it to make us feel a little better about ourselves. But this is not the way that Jesus called us to!
I have called this blog “Grace Unleashed”, for the very reason that we as God’s agents of change in this fallen world are called to spread the grace of God every where we can. Listen to the words of Paul:
“through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 1:5-7
“being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;” Romans 3:35
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,” 1 Corinthians 1:3-4
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” I Corinthians 15:10
“And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain—“2 Corinthians 6:1
“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;” 2 Corinthians 9:8
99 times Paul uses the “Grace” word, and in all of them he is urging us to make the most of the grace that God has given us. If Paul cared enough to mention this so many times, then we should at least listen. We are called to “be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.” We are to fill up our lives with the grace and mercy of the Lord and then dump it out on the world around us. We are called, in this sense, to be sloppy Christians; a cup running over, with fountains of “living water” flowing from us to a lost and dying world.
In closing, I ask you this: if we, as the church of Christ on earth, do not demonstrate the grace and mercy of God among our own, how can we show it to those in need around us?
“The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you” 1 Corinthians 16:23