There are many things about God that are mysterious to me and I honestly thank God for leaving them to the realm of mystery. I do believe God has revealed enough of himself and his plan of salvation to mankind that suffices our journey of life here on earth. Anymore information or revelation may confuse us and even overwhelm us with our limited capacity to comprehend God or his plan for our lives. As a young Christian I was a little legalistic about my Christian life and did not appreciate God’s grace even though I knew I would not have been saved without God’s grace. I was clearly taught that we are all saved by grace, but I guess I was trying to live under law after being saved by grace.
This is sometimes called the Galatian fallacy, the problem of the church in Galatia, where they started their lives under grace but soon moved to living under the law. I felt a strong urge to prove myself to God and to the world that even though I am saved by grace, it is my discipline, my hard work, my sacrifices, my choices that really shape my present life. Of course as an evangelical Christian leader I always cognitively admitted the essential role of grace in Christian life, however I seldom took time to grow deeper in my understanding of God’s grace.
I was trying to live under law after being saved by grace
I do recognize that there is a danger in over emphasizing God’s grace where we tend to use God’s grace as a license for our careless choices and decisions. This article is not intended to make Christian life look very casual and licentious, but to help us develop a greater appreciation for God’s grace that redeems us from the burden of proving ourselves to God.
Saints, not saved sinners who should now ‘buck-up and be better if they were any kind of Christians
I was deeply touched by these words written by John Lynch in his book “True Faced”. He writes an imaginary series of questions that God is pondering in a chapter called The New Testament “Gamble”. “We discover in the room of Grace that the almost unthinkable has happened. God has shown all of his cards. In essence, God says, What if I tell them who they are? …What if I tell them I love them, will always love them? …That there’s nothing they can do to make my love go away? What if I tell them there are no lists? What if I tell them I don’t keep a log of past offenses, of how little they prey, how often they’ve let me down, make promises that they don’t keep?…What if I tell them they can stop beating themselves up? That they can stop being so formal, stiff, and jumpy around me?
What if I tell them I’m crazy about them? What if I tell them, even if they run to the ends of the earth and do the most horrible, unthinkable things, that when they come back, I’d receive them with tears and a party? What if I tell them they have a new nature – Saints, not saved sinners who should now ‘buck-up and be better if they were any kind of Christians, after all he’s done for you!’ What if I tell them that they don’t have to put a mask? That it is ok to be who they are at this moment, with all their junk. That they don’t need to pretend about how close we are, how much they pray or don’t, how much Bible they read or don’t. What if they knew they don’t have to look over their shoulder for fear if things get too good, the other shoe’s gonna drop?
What if I tell them they can open their eyes when they pray and still go to heaven? What if I tell them there is no secret agenda, no trapdoor? What if I tell them it isn’t about their self-effort, but about allowing me to live my life through them?…It almost feels like we’re stealing silverware from the king’s house, doesn’t it? Truth is, the king paid a lot so that you wouldn’t have to try to steal any silverware. He gets to give it to you; and other stuff so big and good and beautiful that we couldn’t even begin to stuff in into our bag of loot. Wow! It takes the eyes some adjustment to look into such light, huh?” Grace is irrational, unexplainable and sometimes seems unfair too, but if God had to really deal with us purely on the basis of fairness most of us would end up in hell. I do not like to pretend that I understand ‘Grace’, but one thing I understand very clearly is that I would not be what I am without God’s grace. No wonder it’s called ‘Amazing Grace’.
Grace is irrational, unexplainable and sometimes seems unfair too…
– – Author: Rev. Francis Burgula – –
