His Grace

by J.D. Terrell, Carlisle | Category: Knowing God | Jul 1977

Grace is a beauty of character and thus is essentially a thing of the heart. It belongs to, and emanates from, a person as those observable, delightful traits which we call goodwill, kindliness, charm, gracefulness. It is a flower in God's garden which is not, to borrow Gray's words, "born to blush unseen, and waste its sweetness on the desert air". For grace becomes known and felt for its goodness and beauty when experienced by another person in whom it is understood as favour. Favour because it appreciates rather than depreciates his person, and confers on him a value and virtue which may be beyond the basic worth of his character. It is rooted in generosity, and has the divine stamp, "thoughts of peace, and not of evil" (Jer. 29:11). Grace should also commend the giver to the receiver, but this depends upon the sensitivity of the receiver in appreciating the good shown - ultimately his trust in the giver - and his willingness to show a response of thankfulness, going on to genuine love and respect.

'Favour' is thus inadequate in itself to sum up 'grace', for favour can be shown grudgingly or even from evil motives. What true grace involves is that the motivation of the favour shown is pure, i.e. "love out of a pure heart" (1 Tim. 1:5). The thought is also prominent that the favour shown is gratuitous; that the kindly, well-wishing initiative is disinterested and ultimately based in the crowning virtue, LOVE. It is therefore to be expected that in the New Testament the word 'grace' is mainly used of God, and embraces the features already mentioned. It is applied to the words and actions of the Lord which demonstrate His underlying attitude to men. We shall return to the theme of grace as a character beauty reflecting the very nature and attitude of God Himself.

Because, however, of the most important effect upon man of the grace of God, the term carries a very special theological or doctrinal meaning. This is because the grace of God, all of those concentrated traits of beauty of character which we have mentioned, found supreme expression in the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This work of God, 'for us men and for our salvation', was so far-reaching and so brilliantly contrasting in its judicial basis with all that God had hitherto revealed in relation to human sin, that 'grace' has come to be the one-word expression of this marvellous divine initiative, "For the grace of God hath appeared bringing salvation to all men" (Tit. 2:11). Jesus Christ was the personification of grace. He was "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). The whole basis of God's offer of salvation is so gloriously unconditional; so full of the love of giving, the utterly worthy to the totally unworthy, that we find the Scriptures contrasting it directly with the older legal basis of God's dealings with Israel. Hence, "Ye are not under law, but under grace" (Rom. 6:14). And to the Ephesians, the prologue of the unfolding of the mystery of Christ is the glowing declaration, "By grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (2:8). The sentence comes full circle from grace to gift. Here too we have the expression which defies any measurement of that grace throughout eternity, "That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus". And so the essential link between 'grace' and 'faith' is made clear. Grace on God's part; simple faith, acceptance, on ours. All is in glorious contrast with legal demands on God's part and works to meet them on man's.

Not that grace was foreign to God in Old Testament times. "Hath God forgotten to be gracious?" (Psa. 77:9). The answer - no. But the full revelation of grace as the supreme principle of God's judicial dealing with man awaited the advent of the Lord from heaven. And, profound thought, "the law hath been our tutor to bring us unto Christ" (Gal. 3:24). Whether we view this statement dispensationally or as applicable to the individual, we can glimpse the divine purpose in establishing by the law the reality and meaning of sin, as a prelude to the revelation of God's magnificent purpose of grace in Christ. It is in this context that we have in Rom. 5:2 reference to "our access by faith into this grace wherein we stand". This state of grace is the happy lot of the sinner who has placed himself by faith within the circle of divine redemptive grace in Christ, crucified and risen. But just as the Christian must "work out" in word and deed the salvation he has as the free gift of God (Phil. 2:12), so in this grace which saves his soul eternally, he must "stand fast" if he is to please God (1 Pet. 5:12); and "grow" (2 Pet. 3:18), not for the preservation of his eternal life but in the normal development of his spiritual stature.

So we return to think a little further now of that beautiful characteristic of the Master, and of how we may reflect this in our testimony for Him. For grace, with mercy and peace, is commended to our developing appreciation of the glories of Christ's Person; and should result in the reflection in our lives of the same beauties of character.

We can perhaps helpfully consider this in terms of contrast against the

sombre background of the world scene in which the servant of Christ finds his opportunities of witness. It is, firstly, a world of disillusionment about possessions, grasping them it is true, but underneath increasing dissatisfaction. Now above all, grace is a giving thing. And here we have a perfect link with the theological aspect of grace which we have already considered. In Phil. 2:5-7 we read of "Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God, but emptied Himself'. The divine Lord was not in the business of getting. He did not aspire to Deity. It was His by very nature of Being, and could never be otherwise. Its essence was unaffected by incarnation. But He was deeply concerned about giving; giving to the point of relinquishing a glory unimaginable to us, and "becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross". In 2 Cor. 8:9 this same profound truth is expressed explicitly in terms of grace: "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might become rich". Here is the very pinnacle of God's favour of love to mankind. From riches unthinkable to poverty unknown; from unsurpassed wealth to total want. "I am a worm, and no man". Giving, self-giving, had never known the like degree, and never will. Now 2 Cor. 8 is about simple people giving a little of what God had given them, to brothers and sisters in need. (How gloriously some of the choicest gems of the doctrine of the Person of Christ and His work are found in the practical context of the market-place of daily life!). So, matchless divine grace asks to be reflected in the believer's human kindness to, and care for, his brother. On the very same subject Paul writes in his first letter to Corinth, "... them will I send to carry your bounty to Jerusalem" (1 Cor. 16:3). 'Bounty' here is the New Testament word 'charis', grace. Thus the message of the practical outflow in the Christian life is unmistakable; whatever form our practical giving may take. The variety of that giving is most encouragingly indicated in Rom. 12:6, "having gifts differing according to the grace that was given us, whether prophecy . But prophecy, ministry, teaching do not complete the list of "gifts" in Rom. 12, gifts of divine grace for use in turn in our giving to Him and to others for His sake. Further down that list we have, for example, "continuing steadfastly in prayer"; "communicating to the necessities of the saints"; "given to hospitality"; "weep with them that weep"; and so on. Each such simple act is the exercise of a grace bestowed gift and reflects a little sunbeam of the grace of Calvary. Take courage and rejoice, sister, brother, if you think your gift is little. God reckons it much for Christ's sake.

In the second place, this world is one of despair about power. Now

grace appears in men's eyes as a virtue maybe, but a virtue of weakness. In reality, spiritual reality, it is mighty. The strongest of world leaders tremble before forces beyond their control. Their power turns to dust, as is dramatically portrayed in Daniel chapter 2. There the image of human imperial powers becomes "like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors" when smitten by the Stone "cut out without hands", type of the God-man "full of grace and truth". To Timothy Paul offers the exhortation, "Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus". He had been called "according to His own purpose and grace" (2 Tim. 2:1; 1:19). The Christian will learn nothing from the 'power games' played in this world, be it in business, politics or any other sphere of human activity; nothing that will strengthen him in the realm of the spirit. But the daily expression of the grace of God in his life, in the power of the indwelling Spirit, will cause him to grow in spiritual effectiveness. Said the apostle Peter, "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. 3:18). With this blessed growth and development in mind we read in John 1, "of His fulness we all received, and grace for grace". A servant is not greater than his Lord, we are taught, and of Him it is so preciously written, "And the Child grew, and waxed strong, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him" (Luke 2:40). Paul intreated the Corinthians "by the meekness and gentleness of Christ" in a warfare "mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds" (2 Cor. 10:1,4). The same values emerge in 1 Tim. 6:11-19, a passage well rewarding study in this context, "that they may lay hold on the life which is life indeed". In a world drunk with uncontrolled power, the Christian has a different vision: "Grace, mercy, peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord... For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline" (2 Tim. 1:2,7). As a living exponent of his own teaching, the writer, having turned his world upside down for Christ, declares, "By the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Cor. 15:10). But this great truth touches also the matter of physical strength and capacity. It remains true that, "He knoweth our frame... " And so to Paul, concerning that "thorn in the flesh" we have the good and profound word, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for My power is made perfect in weakness"; and the Spirit-given response, "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Cor. 12:9).

Furthermore, this world is disappointed about people. Human relationships fall apart and disintegrate with bewildering readiness. In the family, in industry, in government the fragility of human bonds increasingly defies human ingenuity to sustain or repair. Why? Because the grace of God fails to find its place in the lives of men and women. Grace which displays itself in words and deeds. Of the Lord it was said, "all wondered at the words of grace which proceeded out of His mouth" (Luke 4:22). For us comes the exhortation, "Let your speech be always with grace" (Col. 4:6). No other antidote compares, in neutralizing the "deadly poison" of the uncontrolled tongue (Jas. 3:8). Similarly with deeds: "God is able to make all grace abound unto you; that ye... may abound unto every good work" (2 Cor. 9:8). Gracious words and gracious works unite human spirits in a harmony of the divine Spirit. It may seem little wonder that people who have never "tasted that the Lord is gracious", who have not known the personal application of the words, "by grace have ye been saved through faith", should achieve little of the grace of word and deed we have spoken of. (Yet the Christian is often rebuked by a remarkable graciousness in one making no Christian profession). How great is our privilege and responsibility here! One final word on this, perhaps more particularly for the younger Christian. In 1 Pet. 3:7 there is a special word for husbands and wives on mutual honour and respect, "as being joint-heirs of the grace of life". "The grace of life", an expression doubtless, in this context, touching the most intimate of human relationships, including the possibility of procreation of life within marriage. We do well to project this deeply precious message backward into conduct between young women and men before marriage. One of the saddest depreciations in human relationships of our days concerns the most intimate associations between men and women, young and older. 'Permissive' sums up this situation in modern currency. The spiritual corrective is bound up with all that we have considered about the beauties of the grace of God - "the grace of life" in Spirit-led Christian living shows up the contemporary 'permissive society' for the shabby, God-dishonouring phenomenon it is.

In conclusion, let us turn again to Ephesians 2:6,7. Having been saved by divine grace we are raised "to sit with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus". Our subject has been a lofty one - the grace of God. Only eternity can offer an ever expanding comprehension of the "exceeding riches" of that grace. The words are the best our rich language can muster; but still poor for the subject. 'Kindness' is a word of deep human warmth. In the simplest of the human condition a single selfless act of kindness can engender a heart glow which is slow to fade. The prospect of this promise is limitless; a new dimension, and an eternal, for that word to the beleaguered saint and apostle, "My grace is sufficient for thee".

J.D. Terrell, Carlisle | Jul 1977
Knowing God