Grace is Not Under Our Control
“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.” – John 5:24 (NLT)
I very recently decided to teach about grace at the church I pastor because I could see the struggle in my people to understand grace. It is so much easier to believe that we need to make transactions with God than to receive his restoring gift of grace.
We so often see our relationship with God as transactional. We accrue sins which need to be paid off, hence Jesus pays the penalty for our sins. That’s transactional language. Can I do enough to receive the gift of salvation? What must I do to please God? That’s transactional language.
We are much more comfortable with a transactional relationship with God. Maybe because we feel unworthy. Maybe because we want some control in our relationship with God. Maybe because we are used to transactional relationships because these make us more comfortable. And transactional language plays out comfortably in faith conversations.
The definition of grace we “workshopped” to use at my church is: Grace is God refusing to abandon us and continuing to pursue us.
When I gave this final definition to my church, the eldest person in our congregation interrupted and blurted out, “Grace is not under our control!”
We all were interrupted by this interruption.
A transactional relationship gives us control. No wonder we are more comfortable in those relationships.
If we could transact our place into restoration with God then we’d have some measure of control. Earning it feels like dignity. And we do love our autonomy. We don’t want to be dependent on a savior who isn’t us. We have this aversion to being dependent on anyone or anything. Transactional relationships allow us to keep our autonomy.
Grace is not under our control.
“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.” (John 5:24, NLT)
I don’t see a transaction there.
“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” (Revelation 3:20, NLT)
I don’t see a transaction there either. Or in many other verses.
What I do see though is a decision to believe and a decision to open the door. We have to make a decision to accept this gift of grace. You have to surrender to a savior who isn’t you. This is where we get stuck.
We can be stuck for as long as we want. What doesn’t change is that God loves and pursues us not because we earned it, but out of a desire to restore relationships – knowing we might resist, reject, or misunderstand that love.
Maybe the issues of the Gospel message aren’t debt, shame, penalties, or violations of the law. Maybe the Gospel message is being restored to relationship at God’s cost.
These conversations were so rich we turned them into a book because it’s hard to unsee this beautiful pursuit of God restoring our relationship no matter how much I misunderstand that love.
Questions for Reflection:
Do you feel worthy of God’s grace?
Why types of things can you do in your daily life to ensure that you are in God’s grace?
