Grace and graciousness

When I began to go to evangelical churches, I quickly discovered that “grace” is sometimes used as a code word. Most Christians know that it is found both in the Bible and in everyday life. It comes in the benediction that many church services close with: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14 NIV). Roman Catholics encounter it in the greeting given by the angel Gabriel to the virgin Mary in Luke 1:28. Translated out of the Latin language, this begins, “Hail, Mary, full of grace”. This unusual greeting prompted German Protestant reformer Martin Luther to comment something along the lines of, “The common people understand about a bag full of gold, but what do you do with a girl full of grace?”!

“Grace”, as in-group code word, is used by some super-spiritual Christians to pass judgment on the rest. “Is this person a true believer? Is he or she in on the secret mysteries?” For them, grasping its significance is like seeing the light. The one who knows the secret of “grace” has almost become more than an ordinary mortal.

The excuse for this snobbery is that “Grace” in divine terms is vastly different from grace in human terms. My dictionary defines grace from a theological point of view as “the free and unmerited favour of God as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowing of blessings”.

Among human beings, grace means this: “The quality of pleasing, attractiveness, charm, especially that associated with elegant proportions or ease and refinement of movement, action, expression or manner.” It’s not all that often that one word can have such diverse meanings! Apart from the fact that it is no doubt “pleasing” and even possibly “charming” to be on the receiving end of God’s grace, there seems little tie-up between the human and divine meanings.

Yet to use grace to prove your superiority is tragically misguided because God’s grace is practical; it doesn’t only belong in the rarefied realm of ideas. It rubs off on human behaviour in everyday life. Grace is a way of life and not just a technical term in theology.

God sets the pattern. Human sin grieves Him, but He graciously offers free and undeserved salvation, without strings attached, to all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. How can you and I honour Him by mirroring that in our own lives?

The Lord’s Prayer talks about forgiveness. At the end of it, in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus makes a pointed comment: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (6:14-15 ESV). In other words, the person who has appreciated God’s grace in Christ will demonstrate the fact by displaying grace to others. His or her life will be one of graciousness. Let ungracious Christians take note.