OK, let's have a go at grace!

What do we usually mean by grace?

Most preachers I hear back it up with "Unmerited favour". Some have said, "Surely that's pretty close to mercy?" So others have said "Mercy is not getting what you do deserve (punishment) whereas grace is getting what you don't deserve (blessing)" And then there's the old favourite acronym, "God's Riches At Christ's Expense."

So we have unmerited favour (getting the blessing we don't deserve) and God's riches at Christ's expense! Now let's do what I said I don't like doing, let's have lots of verses! I find it laboured, but at least it will allow me to give a statement about where I am and hopefully reveal something that is really good. Not sure if this will be one post or whether it will have to be many. Anyway here goes!

If grace is something we do nothing to get then how come the Bible says that God only gives it to the humble (twice!)?

"6But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" James 4:6 (and 1 Peter 5:5)

So we have a definition that uses the word undeserved but immediately it appears the way the Bible writers understood it you had to do something to get it, humble yourself!

If grace means something undeserved then how come the Bible says you can fall from it?

"4You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace." Galatians 5:4

These are people who once belonged to Christ who have now gone back to trying to justify themselves by the law and have thereby fallen from grace! If you didn't deserve it in the first place how can you do something to not deserve it now? (There is a clue in this verse to what grace is, tease, tease!!)

If grace is unmerited favour, how come Jesus was full of it? How come God's grace was on Him? Are we saying that Jesus had something He didn't deserve? The only thing Jesus didn't deserve was our punishment.

"40The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him." Luke 2:40

"14And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

This also makes a rather funny idea of "God's riches at Christ's expense!" Did Jesus have God's riches at His own expense?

That tells us what Grace isn't. I think the fact we are always asking what grace means; and having to be given these different definitions comes from the thought that there must be more to it. Subconsciously, perhaps, through the Spirit, possibly, we need a better understanding of what Grace is.

We saw in Luke and John that Grace was on Jesus and He was full of it. So, we can see that Grace is a presence. A dwelling presence of God. To cut a long story short, the Galatians verse showed people trying to justify themselves by the law. I think that isn't so much a clue, but once we have reached a conclusion we will see that you are either "put right" by grace or by law. Grace then is a contender for the law.

Let's see that: "for you are not under law but under grace." Romans 6:14. To the Jews the Law was central. It was the place of relationship between God and His people. It was the hinge point of the covenant. If they kept the law they would get blessing if they did not keep the law they would get cursing.

We have an idea in the church that Grace is the great cover up for our sins: "We are not under law, grace is there to cover us." But that isn't grace at all. Under the Old Testament, Jews tried to sanctify themselves by the law. In Romans 6, 7 and 8, Paul is talking about being sanctified (put right, separated, made Christ like) by grace. Grace is a power that is at work in us to make us like Christ. We no longer have to strive with the law, the flesh and sin. We now have grace, the new nature and righteousness. (Probably need another post just on this one day!)

Let's see Grace described as power. To read some of these verses we have to apply the Hebrew poetry idea of two things in a sequence either being a contradiction or a simile.

"33And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all." Acts 4:33

"21And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. 22The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch. 23Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God," Acts 11:21-23

Barnabas was sent to see "the hand of the Lord" and saw "the grace of God."

"9And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

Here Paul is not able to move freely so he prays for release from something. God's reply is that His grace is sufficient, because power is perfected in weakness. Paul was weak, God's grace is added and now we have power in weakness.

So, Grace is a presence and a power. The purpose of it is to transform us to be like Christ and to equip us to do the work of Christ. Is it any wonder that Paul's constant greeting was "Grace!?"

If we in the modern church have a mind set that grace is a cover for our sin then is not our attitude to our faith going to be one of failure and cover? Grace in the Bible shows an attitude of become like Christ and do His work!

Look what Paul says about his ministry,

"10But 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." 1 Corinthians 15:10.

Paul credits who he is and his great efforts to the grace of God working with him. If we look at Paul and think, "Why can't I do what Paul did?" the answer is that we have not been given the same measure of grace as him. Paul says that it was grace that caused him to labour even more than the other apostles.

When we stand up to do for Jesus, we need to be doing it by grace, not by our might. There is something in us that will see something needs doing, feel like doing it and do it and then feel abused. We did it for all the wrong reasons. "We need someone to lead the worship!" actually we don't. I have been in churches with no music and the worship is wonderful. The Holy Spirit leads the worship. We only need someone to lead the worship when we have church full of people who aren't open to the Holy Spirit! (That is unkind, it is really only because we assume we have to have someone up the front.) In this case we make someone do worship who is already too busy so that they grow to resent having to do it. But they can't back down, because there's no one else to do it!

The Holy Spirit

This is just my question, when we look at the nature and work of grace we seem to be reiterating the nature and work of the Holy Spirit. Does this mean that the writers of the New Testament used the idea that the Holy Spirit is given to us as a gift to use the word grace as a synonymous term for the Holy Spirit. There are cross overs.

If I say it is not by our might but by God's grace then in Zechariah 4:6 it says, "6Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts."

In Romans 6,7 and 8, Paul starts by talking about Grace and ends by saying those who are lead by the Spirit.

Unconditional love

This is a real need to understand. When we talk about love we tend to talk about ways of showing love. There is a guy who has defined 5 ways of showing love that he calls love languages. He seems to be doing pretty well on it too! These five are:

• Physical affection
• Words of affirmation
• Works of service
• Gifts
• Undivided attention

So when we go into church and talk about the need to be the people who "Love" we tend to see that we need to be doing these things. We often feel deflated because we don't get these from church. (That reminds me of the other post I wanted to write!) However, we can get trapped in this. We get trapped in the idea of "Don't tell me you love me, SHOW ME!" But, these things are external signs of inner feelings. Love is more than just a feeling. Love is about wanting the best for the object of that love. When we love God we want the best for Him. When we love our neighbour we want the best for them.

In the worship leader analogy, we should ask, "has God raised up a worship leader" (Before we pressure someone into it!) If not then maybe God doesn't want us to have one! Just because every other church has managed to pressure someone into it, doesn't mean we have to. If we want the best for everyone then firstly we wont pressure anyone. Secondly, we might conclude that God wants us to learn to worship without a worship leader. Maybe that is the best for us? We walk less when we have a car, perhaps we do something else less when we have a worship leader. The overall effect may seem greater with a worship leader, in the same way that you can do more with a car than you can on two feet. But God designed us to walk! I had an experience recently where we walked into a church on Good Friday Morning and they were singing without music. At first it was a bit awkward, but after a while it was amazing to hear.

Sorry, please take this in context. I am not saying we shouldn't have worship leaders full stop. It is one example of many. I used to belong to a church that I described as a small church with a memory of being a big church. They had fewer people but wanted to do as much as when they had more. They were trapped, they could not stop themselves. There were a lot of tired, busy and unhappy people there. But they still could not stop.

I for one will not do something just because it looks like it needs doing. I will happily take the ball only to drop it! Be warned! Tell me I should do anything other than by God's leading! No one will, yet our churches are full of people who are too good for their own good!