A while back, I asked you to tell me what the word,
grace, means to you. Thank you so much for your input... Your answers were all lovely, inspiring pictures of beauty in my mind's eye. My intention was to write an article about grace, what it has meant to me, but life and its many expectations distracted me. And then my computer crashed, wiping out the page or so I'd already dedicated to this subject. Finally, Christmas break came, and I decided to waste my time like that's what Christmas break is all about. Well, my last day of break is finally upon me, and I I find that another day wasted would disappoint me terribly, so here I am. Not that a little post on xanga will make this day worth living, but at least it gives me something to enjoy between the laundry and the errands to be made today.
So, what is grace? I
thought I knew... Sure, we can all give examples of what grace has given us, but can we really wrap our minds around the greatness of this single concept? Demonstrations of grace are abundant in my life, but a definition of grace completely escapes me. Perhaps I will have to settle happily, knowing I have such demonstrations to look upon. Yet, I feel this strange compulsion to understand more deeply what grace is, realizing that my whole life is truly contingent upon the meaning behind this word.
Yesterday, I was reading through the first few chapters of Romans and found myself completely bewildered by the concepts I found there. In the first chapter, Paul seemed entirely taken with the "
wrath of God" which "
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness..." (1:18... Read whole chapter for better context.) So, "
God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity," and "
to degrading passions" and "
to a depraved mind" (1:24, 26, 28). Their whole persons - heart, body and mind - are given over to this sinful nature by God because of their own commitment to "
suppress the truth." Of course, this gives me every right to therefore judge "sinful" people, making it clear to them that God's wrath will soon come upon them, right?
Wrong! Romans 2:1, just sentences later, says: "
Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things." We are all sinful, every one! Besides Christ, no person has ever lived a purely perfect life. We are all subject to the wrath of God, for we have
all suppressed His truth by the way we have lived. God alone being perfect is the only One with the right to such judgment. Yet, in the same breath in which He declares His right to judgment and wrath upon sinful people, God's word says: "
Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?" (2:4).
This, my friends, is
grace. Although He has all power to condemn us, a fact which could easily bring us to repentance if we truly believed it, God would not have us come to Him in fear of His wrath. Rather, He has poured upon us "
the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience," -- His grace -- in His Son, who bore
all of God's wrath for the likes of us.
Are you under this grace? If you are -- and, oh, I hope you are! -- have you recognized it for what it is? God's kindness toward us is so great! Yes, His wrath is just; but that wrath was poured upon the cross so that we would not have to experience it. Jesus put Himself under God's wrath so that God could put us under His grace. There I stand, showered by and immersed in His kindness and goodness. Amazed by His grace.
Comments (1)
So beautiful! I've been hoping you would post soon! :) It was worth the wait!