As Philip Yancey tells us in his most excellent book, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, grace is one word that has not been watered down, or virtually ruined due to misuse. Grace is rich in meaning, and one definition won’t do. At its heart it means gift, and the source is God. It begins in the God who is a giver by nature, evident in his work of creation and new creation through Jesus and his saving work for the world.
Grace is never divorced from truth. And it is set in reality, at home most in the real world, and ultimately transforming it through Jesus. Law and grace are spoken of together in scripture. That’s because grace does not live in denial of truth, but it also lives in the one who met the real world head on by his incarnation, life and ministry, death and resurrection.
Sometimes I think we Christians can live in grace denial. We believe in grace, yet we don’t think it covers all. When I think of grace covering all, I mean all of life. We think somehow that in some ways life is something we must negotiate ourselves. When God means for us to negotiate it on his terms in Jesus and through grace. Which means that no matter what we meet up against in life, we can know that God’s grace is present for us in Jesus. That God will give us all we need in Jesus.
We can and should rest in God’s grace for us, and to and for the world in Jesus.
Ted M. Gossard
