The Triumphant March of Grace

Isaiah 40:8 says that while, “the grass withers, flower fades, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.” For a friend of mine, that Scripture has been deeply personal.

Jonathan Ramsey, a member of my campus ministry and a good friend of mine, began having seizures about a year and a half ago due to a psychological condition called conversion syndrome. For many months, Jonathan struggled with depression, doubt and physical pain due to the recurring episodes. It has been awhile since his last seizure and since then he has been stepping up his blogging.

I’d encourage you to read some of his posts, especially one titled “The Valley of the Shadow of Death, Part 2″. My friend is honest about his responses to sin and his circumstances. But the common theme throughout his posts is grace, what got him through and what always gets us through.

When I was twelve years old my dad put a vision of grandeur in my head.  He said, “James, you can be rich by the time you are my age if you invest your money now.”  He would always tell me how much he wished his father knew about the way our society works when it came to its capital so he would have invested as a young boy.  Because my dad has, unbelievably, never lead my astray, I followed hard after his advice.  I worked a long summer for a twelve year old; digging a trench for an underground dog fence, mowing yards, pet sitting for weeks, and other odd jobs here and there.  I had set out to earn 250 dollars in a short amount of time as to purchase a mutual fund in what was then the roughest economic recession of my short lifetime (after 9/11).

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On the cross Jesus Christ bore the wrath of God for sin and His perfect righteousness was credited to believers (the great exchange)¹. This is the most perfect picture of justice and love ever. At the cross God went above and beyond even further and divinely brought us into his family as sons and daughters to partake of His grace². It would have been possible for God to redeem us and to save us without making us into a part of His family and giving us the grace of son-ship, but God blesses us abundantly with the grace of divine adoption.

The privileges of adoption

1) We get to relate to God as our good and loving Father (Matthew 6:9, Galatians 5:7)
This is the way Christ teaches us to pray. We are not forced to stand far off in fear but instead we are called close to share in love with God.

2) The indwelling Holy Spirit witnesses to us and causes us to instinctively call on God as our Father (Romans 8:15-16)

3) God disciplines us as His children (Hebrews 12:7-10, Revelation 3:19)
God is going to lovingly lead us through adversities and trials that are always under His sovereign control; with the ultimate end of strengthening our relationship with Him, and maturing us.

4) We share the privilege of sharing both His sufferings and in His subsequent glory (Romans 8:17)
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1. Romans 5:8-9; 1 Corinthians 5:21 [↩]
2. Ephesians 1:4-5 [↩]

Regardless to whether you agree with election or not, I think we need a larger view of God, a view that does not bring Him down to our level. Election can be a difficult topic to address. It is so easy to get caught up in complex doctrine, presumption, predestination and why God sends people to hell. I think the only attitudes we can bring when addressing this topic are humility and thankfulness.

Election says that it is God that chooses those who are in His saving covenant. The people chosen are called His elect. This election is God’s choosing according to God’s purpose, God’s love and God’s will. Ephesians 1:3-14 clearly proclaims these truths. I shall exclude it for brevity. For the purposes of this article, I shall discuss election with four main points, for I don’t think election could be any other way.

First, God’s particular love is of greater power and virtue than His universal care for Creation, mankind in particular. The end of all particular love toward God, is to be unified in and with Christ. Unity is what gives particular love its value. We see this played out in Christ’s intercessory prayer in John 17:22-24:

“The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”

Unity is the aim of God’s particular love, inside and outside the Trinity. Particular love binds people together by its very nature. Spiritually, this union applies to Christ and His church. God lovingly entered into a covenant with us, swearing by Himself because there was no one greater. In contrast, universal love does not create unity with Himself, but provides man with what he needs. For example, God created man male and female (Genesis 1:27), such that two may become one flesh (Genesis 2:23). It is within God’s design that man should not be alone. God has set eternity with Him on the hearts of man (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We were made for Him. One is still very much alone in universal love. Universal love shall always be beneath particular love. Read the rest of this entry »

Do we take God’s grace for granted? Surely no Christian can overlook the saving grace of God by which he or she even knows about grace. But what about common grace: a grace extended both to the believer and the non-believer? Do we dwell much on how the Lord blesses each and every person with natural blessings?

Common grace is a beautiful part of the doctrine of grace. God shows His favor toward all people regardless of whether they submit to His Lordship. Reformed theologians have included common grace in their doctrine for years, but it has been disputed by other theologians.

The words used in the original texts of Scripture are translated into our English Bibles as grace, mercy and favor. When surveying scripture, grace tends to have a strong redemptive focus and it often describes God’s action toward His children and not toward the unbeliever. Some theologians argue that while God’s love, kindness and patience are given to all humanity, God does not bestow grace to unrepentant. There are two arguments, though, which outweigh the concern. Read the rest of this entry »

“I know that all God does will last forever; there is no adding to it or taking from it.  God works so that people will be in awe of Him.”

—Ecclesiastes 3:14

Considering how many times the word “grace” appears in Christian music, sermons, books and conversations, rarely will you find an exposition on what it truly means. We give grace, live by grace, pray for grace and are saved by grace alone. The final words of Scripture read, “the grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen” (Revelation 22:21). Cessationists call the grace of regeneration a “spiritual miracle.” Some people identify the spiritual gifts as miracles, while others call them grace, while others deny their existence. To tell the truth, most of us have no idea what grace is.

The often-quoted 2 Corinthians 12:9 reads, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” In this verse, Jesus tells Paul and all of His called more about grace than most see upon first look. First, grace is about power, namely God’s power. Second, grace is about weakness, namely our weakness. Thus, the grace of God makes His power and our weakness known at the same time. Like everything else, God uses grace to glorify Himself. Grace bestows unmerited favor, kindness and love upon a depraved human race for the purpose of glorifying Himself.

Over the next few days, we at B2C will write about the specific ways God gives this favor, kindness and love to the world.

Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church spoke on this subject in January of 2008, which you can view here.