Another face of grace.

“I guess I’m having to realize that my friends are sinners,” I said to one of those friends. Doesn’t sound like the nicest thing to say, but I hope you’ll stick around for some context and hopefully edifying content as well.

I stand by my statement. I am in constant contact with sinners; my family, friends, colleagues and my neighbours who can’t seem to keep their music in the constraints of their walls, if ya know ya know, but I digress. Sinners are everywhere. Oh, and if you’re wondering, trust me, I know I’m chief of ’em. The fundamental distinguishing factor is that some are penitent and others impenitent; some are being saved and some being lost. Either way, what sinners do is sin.

Back to my statement, now and then, I lose sight about this fact particularly pertaining my loved ones. Because they are generally nice people and of course the bias of my love to them, I confuse them for saints. And so when they sin, especially against me, I am taken aback. But its not black and white like that. Even when we are Christians, we are still sinners and the only difference between us and non-Christians is that we are sinners being saved- saved by grace. We still sin, but through grace we are being redeemed out of it. So let’s talk a little bit about grace.

The thing about grace is that it has always been for people who don’t deserve it. If we deeply understood this we would unanimously agree that grace is a God thing. God’s word says:

KJV Ephesians 2
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Grace is someone still maintaining a posture of love towards you when you are not loveable. They are kind when you’re unkind, patient when you’re impatient, selfless when you are only seeking to please yourself (Read 1 Corinthians 13 to define love.) Basically you don’t deserve it.

You see guys, the point of grace is to maintain relationship particularly with someone who doesn’t deserve your love. This should alert us to two things: first, that when we extend Grace, it won’t be a fuzy, warm feeling because this person has hurt us and our hurt is valid. Two, grace is redemptive. It is not meant to leave the sinner where they are. Love awakens love. If the point is relationship, grace should lead us back to the mutuality that relationship requires. It should balance us back to the giving and taking that is two-way in relationship.

Now, what’s my point today? It can be summarized in this verse:

KJV Revelation 3
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Guys, sometimes grace looks like confrontation! Yes, I said it. Read that again.

I said that grace looks like maintaining a posture of love and the thing about love is that it rejoices in truth. The problem is, sometimes, often, most of the time, the truth about sinners is not cute. The other thing about sinners is that they are not omniscient.

You see, it is easier for me to shut down after someone has sinned against me. It is easier not to tell them. But that will continually create a rift that grows larger until the relationship is broken. The point of grace is to maintain relationship and that sometimes looks like confrontation. It looks like loving someone enough to tell them the truth. It looks like giving them a chance to change. Kinda like what God does with us. Because grace is redeeming.

I know you feel like they don’t deserve it; but reader, grace has always been for the undeserving.

When I think I’m unfairly hated, I try to remember that I’m unfairly loved.

~ R.C. Sproul.