Grace Upon Grace.

I’ve been thinking about grace lately. It seems to sprout up in the conversations I have, the Bible studies I attend, the devotionals I’ve been reading. But what is it? How do we know we have it? How can we give it to others? Sometimes, it seems like one of those “church” words that we never truly define in our lives.

“For it is by grace you have been saved through faith…and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8

“The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus….” 1 Tim 1:14

So, grace is a few things then:


- FREE (Like samples at the wholesale clubs)
- A gift from God...I do not inherently have it, nor can I obtain and experience it outside of His design. 
- There is an abundant supply of it...from God to you and me and, if we're cognizant, from us into others. THAT'S the tough part. (More on that later). 

It should be distinguished that God presents two types of grace in the Gospel story. The first is the idea of “saving grace.” It is the grace by which Jesus laid his life on the cross and spilled his blood to redeem us and sanctify us. In literal terms, it rescues us, not because we ever deserve it, but because God is good.  It is not a grace given to all, as the acceptance of this grace implies the idea that we are no longer a slave to the world. The other is “common grace,” that is, God’s goodness extended to all people in often, 'normal' circumstances. 


So, why is grace soooo good?

In Matt Chandler's book Recovering Redemption, he explains this: 

In order for the Gospel to be good news, it has to invade bad spaces.

In other words, in order for us to understand God's goodness, we have to first understand that we are living in tension because of the Fall. We don't get to live out the perfect creation God intended in Genesis, because Eve stupidly chose to listen to that evil, vile serpent. (Can you tell I don't like snakes?) 

At this point, God could have decided that he was done with us. If you read through some of the Old Testament you'll see places where God definitely asserts his wrath upon idolaters. Utter destruction...rebellion...exile. Sounds like a zombie apocalypse to me. I digress. But instead what does he do? He sent his only Son who was sinless, perfectly God and yet perfectly man and utterly blameless to pour out his blood on a cross to save us when we did not deserve it, before he even knew us. I don't know about you but, if we're being honest, there are zero people I would make that sacrifice for that I know personally, let alone a stranger. Good thing I am not God.

But just think about that for a second...

When we were STILL sinners, Christ died FOR us. 

Do you see what I see? I see grace. Unmerited favour. Sometimes I think to myself...what did I do to deserve the grace of God in this tragedy or this wrong choice or this ungodly action? Nothing. I did nothing. And yet freely he gives, and freely he forgives.

There's one other kind of grace...it's not scholarly by any account but...it's the grace I'd like to think we extend (or should) to those people who are just outright difficult to love. 

Messy grace.

Face it. People are hard to love sometimes. 

Don't even try to deny that...because Maury Povich would tell you the lie detector determined that is a LIE. I know you know those people.

I'm hard to love, you're hard to love. Your kids when they scream "mooooom" for the 1,000 time in 5 minutes, your spouse - generally speaking, (or so I've been told. This is the blessing of being single...that's what I'm telling myself! 😂) your family, your friends who don't know Jesus, your friends who DO know Jesus, the homeless man on a street corner...the list goes on. 

If we've been given such grace, then it stands that it should naturally be extended to others. But like I said, it's messy. It's much easier said then done.

But grace with those around us...that looks like peace. It looks like hope. It looks like love.


Sometimes grace sounds like "I'm sorry," "I love you" or "I forgive you." That one is the hardest for me. When I've been hurt, wronged or feel I've experienced injustice....my natural reaction is defensive. I do not jump to forgiveness and understanding. I get distant, cold even. Maybe you do, too. Or maybe you get angry, or you gossip, or you seek payback. 

Grace says, I don't love what you did, what you said or how I feel right now, but I love you still. 

Grace says, no matter who you were, where you've been, or what kind of dirty, ugly past you have...those things do not define you. They are not your future. And I love you still. 

Grace says, no matter how tired I am, how frustrated I get and despite all the ways I do not understand your crazy self or your rash decisions or the place you now have put yourself in, I love you still. 

Grace says that even when you've made the same mistake 100 times, I'm still going to be your friend. I might not be the friend you like very much when I practice tough love or honesty...but I'm (hopefully) still your friend. I'll promise to keep it real. And yup, you guessed it. I love you still.

When I make efforts to extend grace even when (not "if" but "when") it's awkward or uncomfortable, I'm extending the grace of God from his Heavenly hand to my earthly one. I need you to give me grace and I need to give you grace. And we both need God's grace. 

Grace redeems.

It restores all things for His glory.

It accepts broken people.

It mends severed relationships. 

Grace saves us.