students of jesus

How big is grace? Grace is scattered like stars on a cloudless night. Grace is fathomless as the ocean depths. Grace is the air in my lungs; my small breaths could not possibly exhaust the bounty of grace in the sky. Grace inexhaustible, grace forever fresh, grace boundless and free. And yet hidden in the abundance of grace lies a danger to my soul.

The problem is not God’s supply of grace. Infinite God; infinite grace. The problem is me: tiny, finite, limited, breakable me. Here’s the contrast, and also the danger: God is infinite but the human psyche is not.

Two examples: author Philip Yancey tells a first-hand story of his friend who was thinking about an extra-marital affair. “What I want to know,” asked the friend “is if I go ahead and do this: will God forgive me?” Yancey, stunned, finally hears the Spirit whisper, and answers: “The question is not whether God will forgive, but whether you will want his forgiveness.” The dreadful results played out. The man had the affair; his marriage dissolved; and he walked away from his identity as a follower of Jesus. Dallas Willard teaches the same lesson when he reminds us that God’s love, grace, and mercy are without limit, but the human heart will only bend so far before it breaks.

Like a man who wins a hundred million in the lottery and wastes it all in carelessness and foolish desires, the wealth of grace reveals the hidden desires of our hearts. What if we love sin more than grace? Martin Luther famously challenged us, “Be a sinner and sin  boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly” but he presumed the sinner’s heart was still turned toward the God. What if we sin not in boldness, but in complete disregard for the love of God and his work of restoration? What if sin is the true desire of our soul?

Set aside the question of Heaven or Hell after we die: what about Heaven or Hell while we live? The fabric of everyday life is alive with the grace of God. If we wait until we’ve sinned to call upon the grace of God, we’ve squandered the greater part of grace. True: grace forgives, but it also guides. Grace restores, but it also guards. Grace repairs, but it also instructs us to deny ungodly ways and teaches us the how-to of life: how to life sensible, upright, and godly lives in this present age.

The scripture teaches we are saved by grace. The good news is we can experience salvation here-and-now as well as there-and-then. The Kingdom of Heaven glides on wings of grace. The Kingdom brings righteousness, peace, and joy—and best of all the gracious Holy Spirit leads us to these three in everyday life. The Kingdom is never attained; it is received. How will we receive the grace of the Kingdom today?

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