“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” —Romans 8:28

Experiencing God’s grace starts with our perspective of who God is and who we are in comparison to God. If God’s grace results in good things for all whom He’s called according to His purpose, then everything we experience can be seen as God’s grace shown to us.  Everything good that happens in our lives happens because of God’s grace, and even the hard things that we experience are by the grace of God, who disciplines and refines us to become more like Him. The amount of grace that God pours out into our lives is unending.

We, who are undeserving sinners, serve a holy, just, perfect, loving God. This grace that God lavishes on us is completely unmerited—a free gift from God. I have failed so many times in my life, and the more I fail, the more I realize how to deal with my failure. More than just accepting it, I know I need to deal with it. As I deal with it, I also recognize that I have to give myself grace, though that is not excuse for sinful behavior. Jesus doesn’t offer us grace so that we can keep on sinning, but so that we can turn from our sin and choose a more loving, selfless way to live.

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” —John 1:17

Jesus was full of grace and truth. We cannot have grace if we do not have truth, and in the same way, we cannot have truth without grace. Today we live in a world of subjective reality—“believe whatever you want to believe if it makes you happy”—but as Christ-followers, we know we have God’s good character and His Word on which to base our reality. That is where we find truth; that is where we find grace.

We need an objective truth that we can measure everything up against. Where there is no solid truth, there is no need for grace.

Say you’re driving and someone cuts you off for no reason. It’s common and it can trigger a really emotional response; you might get upset, want to yell or act out in some other way. Now, is it true that what the other driver did is unnecessary and even dangerous? Yes, that is the objective reality of the situation based on the rules of the road. But grace reminds us that we don’t know what was going on in that person’s heart and mind. Maybe the driver was late to work after having a rough morning getting their kids ready for school, or any other number of reasons. Grace acknowledges that I’m not in that person’s shoes so I cannot judge their heart. This doesn’t excuse or justify their actions, but grace and forgiveness are emblematic of the way Christ would respond, even if their actions were malicious.

But how do we reconcile grace with the concept of justice? Putting these two important subjects together is really difficult. Justice says that you should pay the penalty for an offense, but grace says no penalty—I forgive you.

As Christ-followers, we know that we have committed sins and need someone who will stand before us to be our righteousness for us. That person is Jesus Christ.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” —Romans 3:23

Everyone has offended God in some way and deserves the penalty. The only way for grace and justice to be reconciled is at the cross of Jesus, where justice was served for the sin of humanity and grace was lavished upon those who deserved the penalty.

Grace says that truth stands, but I will still forgive. This is the message Jesus offers to us daily. This grace of God is the grace we are to extend to ourselves and others daily.

—Mark Appel

Mark Appel is a regular contributor to The Increase, providing monthly articles and opinions.

View Mark’s Increase Profile here: http://theincreasebaseball.com/author/markappel/

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