With a follow up post to last week’s: Why Abstinence Isn’t Working In America going up at Seedbed tomorrow, we’ll count this as an unexpected break from our Friday tradition with a special Thursday installment of the ‘Reclaiming Words’ series!
The purpose of this series is to explore together some words that need to be introduced — or re-introduced — to this current generation of college students.
These are words that have lost their meaning… or have been mis-used or redefined in unhelpful ways… and therefore need to be reclaimed and redefined (yet again) so that they can be realized by our students!
Today’s word: GRACE.
It’s a word that means, among other things, the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.
Freely given.
Unmerited — or unearned, unworthy, undeserved.
Favor
and
Love
of God.
It’s something so special that only God can offer it in its purest and fullest forms.
It’s not a “get off the hook” for the sin in our lives “card” — that can be played on a whim — though it does cover that.
It’s not cheap.
In fact, it costly.
No, not for us — although we should be willing to “pay for it” with our lives.
Lives of obedience.
Lives of submission.
Lives of dedication and commitment.
Lives of loyalty, persistence and consistency… or what Eugene Peterson would refer to as “a long obedience in the same direction.”
Not because we’re trying to “earn” this grace.
Yes, it’s costly, but we can’t earn it. We can’t pay for it.
We can simply receive it…
And live changed lives as a result of it.
The words grace and graceful are found 124 times in the NIV translation of the Bible — and occur only 10 times in the Old Testament. It doesn’t make its’ first appearance until the book of Job — somewhat appropriately. And is used somewhat sparingly outside of the Apostle Paul’s writings.
Consider some of these passages:
John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Acts 11:23 When he (Barnabas) arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.
Acts 20:24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
Romans 3:24 … and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Romans 5: 15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! 18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. 20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
Grace is a profound mystery… For a Holy and Righteous God chooses to love us without condition… and forgive us over and over and over again.
Sin still has consequences. Grace does not do away with consequences. We’ll still have to suffer what comes our way when we stray from God…
But our standing with God, as a beloved child — accepted and forgiven — remains unchanged.
The question for us remains the same today as it has always been:
In light of God’s freely given grace, his unmerited love and favor, how then will we live?
Will we continue on in our sinful and selfish ways?
Or will we choose a life of discipleship to Jesus and submission to the will of God?
When it comes to our students…
How have you seen students struggle with this concept of grace? Cheap grace? Costly grace?
How have you seen them struggle to live out the truth of costly grace, among a culture that take God’s grace for granted?
In what ways might a different, more accurate, understanding of grace reshape our students perspective and way of life?
Grace is central to the Christian faith… which is why we need to re-introduce it to our students.
Please take a moment to share your thoughts in the comment section below.
One thought on “GRACE”
It seems like Martin Luther struggled with the word grace. Or at least he did in the ways the Apostle Paul and James used it. It seemed to him that Paul said we live by grace and we can’t earn, we just accept it. And he thought James was saying we had to “earn” it. But the two were NOT in conflict at all. Yes we can’t earn grace, but if we truly understand grace and accept it in our lives, we’ll live differently. We’ll live more graceful lives. We’ll serve more, we’ll love more, etc. Not to earn the grace that was given, but to show how thankful to God we are for His grace.
i would say, that’s something that should also be shared with this generation of college students.
Thank you again Brother Guy for sharing these thoughts with us. God bless you, your family, and the work y’all are doing.
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