The Other Side of Grace

Grace. It is the hallmark of contemporary Christendom. It is proclaimed to be the New Covenant that replaces the archaic notion of the Law. We love to see God as our gracious Heavenly Father. To know that it is "By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). For many the New Testament hold the words of grace, love and life while the Old Testament is about the law, wrath and death. Failing to consider the truth that without grace in the Old testament the story would have ended in Genesis three and we would not be here. Grace permeates the whole of Scripture and requirements of obedience are just as much the teaching of Paul, Peter, James and Yeshua as are Moses, Isaiah and Daniel. Just in passing the New Covenant is found in Jeremiah 32 and reiterated in Hebrews 8. The promise of the New Covenant is that God's Law or Torah is written on our hearts. Far from being made obsolete, obedience to the Law will come from the inside out if you are under the New Covenant. in fact, all who are under the New Covenant will be Torah obedient. Even though this is true and an interesting discussion it is not the point of this post. Here I want to remind us of the other side of grace.

Grace is often defined as"unmerited favor". A simplistic but accurate phrase, it is just inadequate if we are to really appreciate this wonderful gift from Yahweh. Grace is seen as forgiveness. The joy that, even though there is nothing I can do about my sin and failures, God intervenes, "As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12). God will remove my sin. God is indeed gracious and loving and forgiving. However, He is also pure, just, righteous and holy. If we do not give a little mental exercise to the reality of grace we will redefine God's grace into our terms. For humans we exercise grace by forgiving someone of an offense. "Hey, it is no big deal, forget about it." "Just keep the $20, you needed it more than I do." Simple acts of grace. Simple applications of "unmerited favor" just because we care about the other person. Just dismiss the issue and move on. Doesn't God do that for us?

Yes and no. He does forgive and remove our transgressions but a holy and righteous God cannot just pass over the violations of the boundaries He has set. A price has to be paid or God is not holy and just. He determined that the violation of His word is death. He did not just ignore the sin of Adam. They were removed from the garden and life became far more difficult for human beings ever since. The reality is that death await all of us. The means of dealing with sin and disobedience is woven into the culture and worship of Judaism, (a culture and faith we were to be to be grafted into) and composes much of the instructions and directions given to us in the Word of God. Someone has to merit that unmerited favor offered to us. Someone has to pay the price for the transgressions that cast a shadow over our lives. For a Hebrew follower of God this meant the sacrifice of an unblemished animal in their place. The wages of sin is death, if not your own than that of someone else. Someone who has garnished favor with God needs to intercede. Someone who actually merits God's favor needs to step in so unmerited folks can survive, to avoid the death sentence they deserve.

Grace is the merited favor offered to the unmerited offender. Sin is not just "cast into the deepest sea" it is paid for. The deserved death penalty is experienced by the one who merits grace so grace can be passed on. We tend to forget that. What sin condemns us to death? Murder, rape, kidnapping, how about a bite of fruit or murmuring God's name as someone cuts you off in traffic. The odor of death clings to humanity as we walk obliviously in violation of the commands of God Almighty. For those who believe there is hope. "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Messiah intercedes on our behalf. He offers life and deliverance. The price for grace is no small thing.  "Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold ... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:18-19). Every offense, every transgression, every careless word, condemns us to death. I am lost. Unless one who has merit before the Holy God of creation comes to my rescue. Comes to accept the death penalty on my behalf.

Grace. An expensive act of deliverance. An act that should humble us and direct us to a true experience of awe. To lead us to worship and solemn praise. Grace that drives us to obedience so we do not bring dishonor to the one who provides us grace based on His merit and standing with God the Father. Grace is no frivolous theological thought that says "God forgives so I am okay". It is the soul wrenching reality of the enormity of the cost of my sin. "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6). Messiah died ............................ for the ungodly. For me. For you. That is the other side of grace.