Grace

One of the things I love about meeting with God is the way He transforms my perspective.  Recently this was about grace.  I read the following comment by Warren Wiersbe in reference to a passage in Ezekial:

“God is light” (1 Jn 1:5) which means He is holy and just, and “God is love” (4:8, 16), and His love is a holy love.  Nowhere does Scripture say that we’re saved from our sins by God’s love, because salvation is by the grace of God (Eph 2:8-10); and grace is love that pays a price.” [my emphasis].

I realised that I mostly think about grace from my perspective:  I think of it as “undeserved favour” (towards me); I am grateful that I can go to the throne of grace; I know it’s by grace that I am saved through faith.  My perspective is generally that of the recipient of grace.

But that morning I saw more clearly God’s perspective.  God is the giver of grace.  And it’s costly.  His holiness demands justice, so for me to be forgiven and reconciled to Him, He had to be the one to provide the sacrifice I couldn’t make, and that was His only Son, Jesus.  That’s a heartbreaking willingness to give all for the sake of love. 

Even on a human level forgiveness costs.  It costs the ‘right’ to retribution or holding a grudge.  We show favour – often undeserved – towards the one we forgive.  But we don’t have to sacrifice one we love in order to demonstrate this grace. 

God did.  And Jesus, in obedience to the Father’s will, went to the cross.  From God’s perspective, there’s no such thing as cheap grace.

Sue McPherson