Grace, All Grace! by Kim Reisman

Scripture Focus:

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Romans 5:6-11 (NLT)

In his classic book In the Grip of Grace, Max Lucado tells a story that exemplifies grace.

Once a monk and his apprentice traveled from the abbey to a nearby village. The two parted at the city gates, agreeing to meet the morning after completing their tasks. According to plan, they met and began the long walk back to the abbey. The monk noticed that the younger man was unusually quiet. He asked him if anything was wrong. “What business is it of yours?” came the terse response.

Now the monk was sure his brother was troubled, but he said nothing. The distance between the two began to increase. The apprentice walked slowly, as if to separate himself from his teacher. When the abbey came in sight, the monk stopped at the gate and waited on the student. “Tell me, my son. What troubles your soul?”

The boy started to react again, but when he saw the warmth in his master’s eyes, his heart began to melt. “I have sinned greatly,” he sobbed. Last night I slept with a woman and abandoned my vows. I am not worthy to enter the abbey at your side.”

The teacher put his arm around the student and said, “We will enter the abbey together. And we will enter the cathedral together. And together we will confess your sin. No one but God will know which of the two of us fell.” [1]

There is a sense in which this story describes what Christ has done for us. “When we were utterly helpless… while we were still sinners… Christ died for us… While we were still his enemies, our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son.” In our Christian vocabulary, we call this grace. Story after story in Scripture paints the picture.

Hosea takes back his wife in love and forgiveness, reflecting who God is. Grace, all grace!

A son rebels against his father, leaving home to squander his inheritance in a foreign land. Yet his father waits patiently for his return; and when he finally arrives, throws a grand celebration of welcome. Grace, all grace!

Jesus refuses to allow a woman taken in the act of adultery to be stoned, because none of us is without sin and God forgives. “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more!” Grace, all grace!

A woman “crashes a party” where Jesus is the guest. The host would have thrown her out, but Jesus reminds him that the woman was expressing love because she knew forgiveness and pity. The host didn’t know that love and forgiveness yet. Grace, all grace!

Grace is undeserved, unearned, unmerited acceptance. The grace of God is God’s unconditional love for us. Though we may never love in God’s way, that is the standard.

As you pray and fast this week, I pray that you would experience the extravagant, unconditional love of God for you and that you would understand the remarkable and undeserved grace of God in a new way, even more aware of the reality that when we were utterly helpless, Christ died for us.

[1] Max Lucado, In the Grip of Grace, Dallas: Word Publishing, 1996, p91-92.