What is so Amazing About Grace?
Mark Thurz - June 18, 2006
Grace – now that’s an interesting word. I heard once that it stands for:
Gods Riches At Christ’s Expense
Well that’s pretty amazing – can I sit down now?
OK well let’s start with a dictionary definition:
Grace (n)
• Seemingly effortless beauty or charm of movement, form, or proportion.
• A characteristic or quality pleasing for its charm or refinement.
• A sense of fitness or propriety.
• A disposition to be generous or helpful; goodwill.
• Mercy; clemency.
• A favor rendered by one who need not do so; indulgence.
• A temporary immunity or exemption; a reprieve.
• Divine love and protection bestowed freely on people.
• The state of being protected or sanctified by the favor of God.
• An excellence or power granted by God.
• A short prayer of blessing or thanksgiving said before or after a meal.
That helps but it doesn’t really tell us about the benefits of Grace or the way in which we obtain it. In my studying for this talk I was given a book by Philip Yancey called “ What’s so amazing about Grace”. Actually I was originally given the book by a Christian colleague at work two or three years ago but I never got around to reading it. I suppose like many people I have huge amounts to read for my work and I can’t be bothered or do not make time to read much outside work. I have to confess that I far prefer to have someone explain the Gospels to me verbally on a Sunday morning than to read a book.. Anyway when I accepted the invitation to speak today I knew I had to read the book and Billy gave me another copy – yes I had actually lost the original one when we moved house.
What started as a chore quickly became a demanding obsession. Like a really good novel it was difficult to put the book down. Yancey writes very clearly and illustrates his points with examples from the modern world and his own experiences. I thoroughly recommend that you read the book. I also recommend that if Billy asks you to speak that you accept the challenge as the experience of studying one of the fundamental tenets of our faith has been a fulfilling occupation for me. Furthermore “What’s so amazing about grace” addressed many of the issue about Christianity which had put me off religion for many years; in particular legalism and hypocrisy which I will talk about later.
Many years ago at a multidenominational retreat a number of high powered theologians were debating which theological principle distinguished Christianity from the other religions. Monotheisitic is common. Incarnation is shared with other religions. Furthermore, there are accounts of resurrection or return from the dead in the sacred texts of other religions. After many hours CS Lewis walked into the room and asked what the debate was about. On hearing the subject of the dispute he responded, “Oh, that’s easy. The answer’s Grace.”
So in modern commercial parlance Christianity’s USP (unique selling point) is Grace. Grace distinguishes our faith from all others and is fundamental to our spiritual and secular lives. As it is so important, I hope therefore to give a good explanation of Grace in the next few minutes.
Grace is part of the character of God. There is no single synonym nor even a succinct sentence which summarises Grace. If a description of God’s character include adjectives such as: generous, loving, forgiving merciful, kind and compassionate then all of these apply to Grace. Grace is an attribute of God but whilst we know God to be immutable and changeless it would appear, at least superficially, that there was not much Grace in the Old Testament. This is simply not true and I will give you an example in a moment. However, whilst Grace IS evident in the Old Testament Grace is defined and explained in the New Testament. Paul refers to the Gospel as the “Gospel of Grace” (Acts 20:24).
Jonah 4:1-2. But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the LORD, “O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity
There are many different aspects or forms of grace and I will try to give some examples and illustrations of these.
Common Grace. This is the benevolence of God poured out upon all men regardless of their spiritual condition.
Matthew 5:44–45. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous
Sanctifying Grace. Grace works within the true believer to bring growth, maturity and progress in becoming more like Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:24. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sustaining Grace. Grace provides us with support and strength during times of adversity and suffering.
2 Corinthians 12: 9. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
Saving Grace. Perhaps the most important aspect of them all.grace gives us salvation through Christ’s death on the cross to redeem our sins. For this reason the terms salvation and grace have become virtually synonymous but grace is more than salvation alone.
Ephesians 2:1-10. As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Serving Grace. Spiritual gifts bestowed upon us so that we may help our fellow men. This manifests through acts of generosity and giving (both money and time) to other people whether they are Christian or not.
Ephesians 4:7. But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
1 Peter 4:10. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms
There is a fantastic modern example of serving grace in the organisation Alcoholics Anonymous. AA was set up in 1935 by two recovered alcoholics, one a stockbroker from New York and the other a surgeon from Ohio both of whom were Christians. AA relies predominantly on volunteer workers and AA is the world’s most successful programme for overcoming alcoholism. The 12 point AA programme includes some rather fundamental principals of grace. Each member must submit to a higher Power – most accept that this power is God as the founders expected them to. “Sharing time” is like a house group meeting with everyone’s news being received with interest and compassion. AA runs on the principal of rigid honesty – each member must recognise themselves as an alcoholic (never a recovered alcoholic). There is no hierarchy in AA. You will not hear people say “Oh yes I’m an alcoholic but I not as bad as John over there. He’s a cocaine user too.” AA members rely on each other and trust each other. In the US many groups openly pray but sadly that does not occur very often in the UK.
Grace replaces Law.
John 1:17. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Grace is important because it replaces the law as set out in the Old Testament. The law or more precisely man’s interpretation of the law put me off religion for a long time. Yancey calls this problem Legalism. Let me give you examples.
I have a friend and colleague who works with me as a pathologist at St Mary’s. He is someone who I respect enormously and he is an orthodox Jew living in Golders Green. Even though my own family background is Jewish I had no understanding of the way in which old testament law affects the lives of orthodox Jews. A few years ago Rob and I went to a conference together and stayed in the same hotel. As with all medical conferences this one spanned a weekend which for Rob included the Sabbath from Friday night to Saturday night. Our rooms were on the 25th floor of the hotel. On the Friday afternoon Rob purchased an electrical timer for the light in his room. “What do did you need that for?” I asked. “The law does not permit me to use mechanical devices on the sabbath” he replied. “If I set the timer in advance to switch the light on and off at appropriate times then according to the rabbi I am not actually using it myself”
On Friday evening Rob got into the hotel lift and stood there doing nothing. “What floor do you want?” I asked. I then pressed the lift button. “Why did you not push the button yourself?”
“The law does not permit me to use mechanical devices on the Sabbath” he replied.
“But you are using the lift”
“Yes, but the rabbi permits this so long as I do not actually push the buttons myself”
“Why did you not just ask me to push the button for you then?”
“No I cannot do that the rabbi would not allow it but if you ask me which floor I want then it is OK”
“So what happens if no one asks you”
“Well sometimes I get out at the nearest floor and walk up or down the stairs. If no one is around at all then, you’ve guessed it, I walk up all 25 floors”
The law allows for exceptions in medical emergencies. So when we were doing liver transplants at St Mary’s, if we needed to do a liver biopsy on a Saturday then Rob was allowed to come and look at the biopsy for us and tell us what was going on. However, he had to walk from Golders Green to Paddington and back.
You have to admire Rob’s observance of the rules but I am innately suspicious of human interpretations. Rules are not confined to the Jews however. Many Christians seem to like rules too. Philip Yancey went to a bible college in the southern states of America where, on admission, the students were given a 60 page rule book.. The rules included ‘No beards or long hair.’ Well I guess that would have excluded Jesus then. ‘No alcohol.’ Again a little problem for Jesus. ‘No cigarettes.’ Well as a doctor I have to approve but I still cannot find the appropriate biblical reference.
Some Christian sects take it too far. One group of shakers tried to ban marriage and sex. Now you don’t have to subscribe to Darwin’s theories to understand that this group does not have a rosy future.
Whilst we may be amused by some of these examples the principal is more important – it turns people away from Christianity because legalism hides Grace.. In Jesus time the rule makers were the Pharisees. This group new all 613 regulations in Moses Law and constantly added to them or added their interpretation of the law. The law apparently forbids the cooking of a young goat in its mother’s milk. The interpretation of this is that Jewish households should have two kitchens – one for meat and the other for dairy. Good new for the Golders Green branch of Mark Wilkinson perhaps. The commandment “Thou shalt not commit adultery” was extended to mean that you should never even look at a woman who was not your wife. The pharisees then boasted about the injuries they had sustained whilst avoiding looking at other women.
But Jesus did not have any time for the Pharisees and rebuked them:
Matthew 23:25. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence
The trouble is that “model citizens” who make the rules and live by them have dubious motives. There are two reasons for legalism; some are looking for the approbation of their peers and others are looking to exert power over their peers.
Matthew 6:2-6. “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
The issue which Jesus had with the Pharisees was not their petty observance of the rules but their complete disregard for the more important issues – in short their lack of grace. As an example the Pharisees criticised Jesus for healing on the Sabbath.
Similar hypocrisy continues today. Yancey’s bible college forbade beards and long hair but never lifted a finger in support of the black population who were segregated and oppressed at the time. Some Christians appear to believe in a hierarchy of sin and are willing to criticise others whose behaviour they define as unacceptable. In God’s eyes no such hierarchy exists. We need to bear this in mind when confronted with friends who are adulterous, divorced or gay.
It is clear that God does not like hypocrisy. Remember what happened to Ananias and Sapphira.
As none of us is free from sin legalism generates hyprocisy – ‘Look how much purer I am than you’. or ‘Look how much more I give to charity than you’
There are two alternatives: either we become perfect, like Jesus Christ, or we honestly face up to our imperfections. The test of our observance to Christ’s teaching is the degree to which we are conscious of our failure to attain perfection. In other words the tet of our spiritual maturity is not how “pure” we are but how aware are we of our impurity. This awareness opens the door to Grace. Therefore what we need to obtain grace is humility.
The good news is that Grace is not for goody-goodies:
Luke 15:7. There will be more rejoicing in Heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent.
Incidentally this verse also makes the point that Grace is personal not general.
Grace is not for goody-goodies was emphasised over and over again by Jesus and by Paul. Most notably perhaps in Jesus’ parables such as the lost coin, the lost sheep and the prodigal son.
In some respects blatant sinners have an advantage when it comes to grace. Graham Greene, one of Berkhamsted’s most famous son’s, used to say that his faith intensified when he slipped into some immorality for then he would go to church and confess out of desperation. He had no excuse and no grounds on which to defend his behaviour.
In contrast the rich ruler who we heard about in the reading from Luke 18 believed that he was already free from sin because he obeyed all the laws. He was disappointed to find that he would have to do something charitable with his accumulated wealth in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Forgiving Grace. Grace requires forgiveness – we must have our sins forgiven in order for us to receive salvation. In addition we must also learn to forgive others.
A group of American Christians went to visit a church in Poland after the second world war. During the discussions they asked the Poles if they could ever forgive the Nazis for what they had done. Inevitably, after all the atrocities that the Nazis had perpetrated, the Poles refused. The Americans and the Poles then prayed together finishing with the Lord’s Prayer. When they got to the line “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” the Poles stopped speaking. After a moments thought the Poles revised their decision to forgive the Nazis. As they explained they could hardly continue to pray if they could not commit to the forgiveness which Christ instructed us to perform.
We can learn from a number of examples of forgiveness which illustrate the power of grace acting in our modern world.
- Gordon Wilson and his daughter Marie were victims of an IRA bomb in Belfast. Marie buried in the rubble was only just able to touch her father’s hand as she died. Despite this trauma Gordon Wilson publicly forgave the IRA. It later emerged that a reprisal bombing, planned by the UDF was cancelled as a direct result of this act of forgiveness. Gordon Wilson went on to become a major negotiator in the talks leading to cessation of violence in Northern Ireland.
- Liverpool teenager Anthony Williams was killed in a racist attack. His mother, when asked her views about the attackers, said that as a devout Christian she must and she would forgive them.
The worst crime in human history was not 9-11, not Harold Shipman and not the holocaust. It was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. And in this setting Jesus gave us the example which we must follow:
Luke 23:24. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
When God gives us the benefit of his grace he expects us to show grace to others.
Matthew 18:21-22. Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
So how do we get Grace? Clearly grace is not something that we can purchase on the internet from www.grace.com. Unfortunately that is the website of an industrial chemical company set up by WR Grace who became mayor of New York City in 1880. Nor is there a shop on Berkhamsted High Street selling grace. There is good news and good news in grace procurement. The good news is that we already have it and the good news is that it does not cost us anything – that’s pretty amazing!
Imagine going into a pizza restaurant where they are running a special promotion. We’re familiar with the usual BOGOF promotion – buy one get one free – but grace is like a completely novel promotion GAF – get them all free. Actually this sounds a bit like a time share companies pitch. You know “We’ll fly you to Malaga free of charge, put you up in a five star hotel and give you £50 pocket money.” It always sounds appealing until you realise that you will be at the mercy of some incredibly persuasive and persistent salesmen throughout your “holiday”. Grace is a much better bargain.
Actually it is really important to understand that grace cannot be earned or bought. Grace is God made not man made. Grace is not prompted by man and is not deserved by man. If we could earn grace or even make a contribution to it then it would be devalued in fact it would not be grace. Grace is an example of God’s glory and God does not need to share the credit for this with sinful man.
Imagine that you are invited to a Royal banquet with all the best food, wine and service that money could buy. At the end of it you go up to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to thank them for the wonderful evening and just as you are shaking hands with the Duke you press a 50p piece into his hands as a contribution to the cost. It would not be a compliment it would be an insult. In fact some of you might be able to imagine what the Duke would say in his familiar diplomatic style. Well in a similar way God would be affronted if we tried to contribute to His saving Grace. He does not require our contribution and He would not accept it.
Needless to say for us to benefit from God’s saving Grace there is still a cost – just not one that we can pay ourselves. In some respects Grace may be likened to the principals of the NHS – at least the one on which it was founded in 1947 – NHS care is free at the point of service but someone still has to pay. So who pays for our salvation – Jesus Christ of course. Jesus, who was free from sin, was given up as the perfect sacrifice to redeem our sins.
What if we were actually rewarded for what we had earned? In that case we would all surely be doomed. In the parable of the workers in the vineyard Jesus reminds us that we will receive the reward which God sees fit for us to receive not what we ourselves may feel we deserve.
So what is amazing about grace?
Grace is a manifestation of God’s unlimited love
Grace gives us our salvation
Grace replaces the law and frees us from legalism
Grace gives us an example of how to live in the modern world
Grace only requires our humility and faith
Grace is why I am a Christian!
The hymn “Amazing Grace” was written by a slave trader called John Newton. Newton eventually renounced his profession and joined William Wilberforce in the fight against slavery. Grace was truly on his heart when he wrote the words “That saved a wretch like me” – Lets sing his words now with real spirit.