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Overview
Why is grace such a big deal? What does God tell us about it in Scripture? Can radical grace really be true? If so, what are the implications for our lives? This book will answer these questions and more as we explore the all-important theme of God’s gratuitous grace throughout the Bible. Packed with big truth, this little book on grace can be read in roughly one hour—ensuring you’ll actually read it.
A Book You’ll Actually Read Series
Part of the Re:Lit line, these inexpensive and accessible books give clear, biblical answers to difficult theological questions and controversies. Through this series, readers will get a solid and simple introduction to biblical concepts by investing just a little time.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781433536427 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Crossway |
| Publication date: | 04/30/2013 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 128 |
| File size: | 240 KB |
About the Author
Justin S. Holcomb (PhD, Emory University) is an Episcopal priest and teaches theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Reformed Theological Seminary. He serves on the boards of GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in Christian Environments) and REST (Real Escape from the Sex Trade). Justin and his wife, Lindsey, live in Orlando, Florida, with their two daughters.
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Gratuitous and Undomesticated Grace
Grace changes everything.
The outrageousness of God's indiscriminating grace always gets people stirred up. That's because "real grace," writes Michael Spencer, "is simply inexplicable, inappropriate, out of the box, out of bounds, offensive, excessive, too much, given to the wrong people and all those things."
"Grace" is the most important concept in the Bible, in Christianity, and in the world. It is most clearly expressed in the promise of God revealed in Scripture and embodied in Jesus Christ. The deepest message of the ministry of Jesus and of the entire Bible is the grace of God to sinners and sufferers.
About grace, Cathleen Falsani writes: "You can call it what you like, categorize it, vivisect it, qualify, quantify, or dismiss it, and none of it will make grace anything other than precisely what grace is: audacious, unwarranted, and unlimited."
In English, the word grace has to do with charm, elegance, beauty, or attractiveness. The word grace as used in the Bible has very little to do with what is commonly understood by the English word. In fact, Scripture tells us that grace isn't a personal virtue at all; rather, it is undeserved favor lavished on an inferior by a superior. Grace is unmerited favor or a kindly disposition that leads to acts of kindness.
This is the grace God gives to us. J. Gresham Machen writes: "The very center and core of the whole Bible is the doctrine of the grace of God — the grace of God which depends not one whit upon anything that is in man, but is absolutely undeserved, resistless and sovereign. ... Christian experience depends for its depth and for its power upon the way in which that blessed doctrine is cherished in the depths of the heart. The center of the Bible, and the center of Christianity, is found in the grace of God; and the necessary corollary of the grace of God is salvation through faith alone."
Grace is the love of God shown to the unlovely; the peace of God given to the restless; the unmerited favor of God. Others have defined grace wonderfully:
Grace is free sovereign favor to the ill-deserving.
Grace is love that cares and stoops and rescues.
[Grace] is God reaching downward to people who are in rebellion against Him.
Grace is unconditional love toward a person who does not deserve it.
Grace is most needed and best understood in the midst of sin, suffering, and brokenness. We live in a world of earning, deserving, and merit. And these result in judgment. "Condemnation comes by merit; salvation comes only by grace: condemnation is earned by man; salvation is given by God." That is why everyone wants and needs grace. Judgment kills. Only grace makes alive.
The shorthand for grace is "mercy, not merit." Grace is getting what you don't deserve and not getting what you do deserve. Karma is all about getting what you deserve. Christianity teaches that getting what you deserve is death with no hope of resurrection. Grace is the opposite of karma. While everyone desperately needs it, grace is not about us. Grace is fundamentally a word about God: his uncoerced initiative and pervasive, extravagant demonstrations of care and favor. Michael Horton writes: "In grace, God gives nothing less than Himself. Grace, then, is not a third thing or substance mediating between God and sinners, but is Jesus Christ in redeeming action." Grace is as complete as God himself and expresses the quality of his own character. Karl Barth explains: "Grace is the very essence of the being of God. ... God Himself is in it. He reveals His very essence in this streaming forth of grace." God's action of grace is inexhaustible. That is why we find such superlative adjectives used by Paul to describe grace: "abundance of grace," "sufficient grace," "surpassing riches of grace."
In the Christian tradition, there are many adjectives that have accompanied the word grace: amazing, free, scandalous, surprising, special, inexhaustible, incalculable, wondrous, mysterious, overflowing, abundant, irresistible, costly, extravagant, and more. My favorite is from John Calvin — gratuitous grace. Gratuitous is the idea of something being unwarranted or uncalled for. Though we yearn desperately for grace, the beautiful extravagance of God's love in Christ is utterly uncalled for. Gratuitous. In his Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin writes: "We make the foundation of faith the gratuitous promise, because in it faith properly consists. ... Faith begins with the promise, rests in it, and ends in it." In Calvin's theology, the knowledge of God the redeemer focuses on the "gratuitous promise" as the main theme of Scripture. The gratuitous promise in Christ is the substance of Scripture. The various terms denoting the gratuitous promise of God exist throughout Calvin's writings in countless variations: "gratuitous mercy," "gratuitous favor," "gratuitous goodness," "mere good pleasure," and "gratuitous love." These expressions are also found throughout his commentaries, especially his Commentary on Romans and Commentary on Genesis.
God loves you with gratuitous grace, the only kind there is. God's grace is unconditioned and unconditional. God is the one who loves in freedom. Unconditional love is a difficult concept to wrap your mind around. Many of us think (whether we admit it or not) there must be some breaking point where God gives up on us. Even if we successfully avoid believing this fallacy, others' overzealous cries still reach our ears: certainly there must be some sin or amount of sin that is just too much.
Because this is a common response to unconditional love, the human propensity is to establish negotiated settlements with God through religion. Robert Capon explains: "The world is by no means averse to religion. In fact, it is devoted to it with a passion. It will buy any recipe for salvation as long as that formula leaves the responsibility for cooking up salvation firmly in human hands. The world is drowning in religion. It is lying full fathom forty in the cults of spiritual growth, physical health, psychological self-improvement, and ethical probity — not to mention the religions of money, success, upward mobility, sin prevention, and cooking without animal fats. But it is scared out of its wits by any mention of the grace that takes the world home gratis."
Religion tries to domesticate grace. But grace is antithetical to religion. T. F. Torrance explains the contrast: "Grace is costly to man because it lays the axe to the root of all his cherished possessions and achievements, not least in the realm of his religion, for it is in religion that man's self-justification may reach its supreme and most subtle form. ... Religion can be the supreme form taken by human sin."
Jacques Ellul likewise remarks, "Grace is the hardest thing for us to be reconciled to, because it implies the renouncing of our pretensions, our power, our pomp and circumstance. It is opposite of everything our 'religious' sentiments are looking for." Grace reveals our natural pride of self-sufficiency, as well as the pride of spiritual progression. "Nothing is more devastating to spiritual pride than grace." Therefore, our response to God's grace includes the recognition of our sinfulness and the rejection of all confidence in ourselves and our abilities.
Unmerited favor for undeserving sinners is never, ever comfortable. This is why religion tries to domesticate grace.
The grace from the gospel of Jesus Christ is the end of religion. Alexander Schmemann writes: "Christianity, however, is in a profound sense the end of all religion. ... Religion is needed where there is a wall of separation between God and man. But Christ who is both God and man has broken down the wall between man and God. He is inaugurated a new life, not a new religion." Robert Capon makes a similar point: "Christianity is not a religion; it is the proclamation of the end of religion. Religion is a human activity dedicated to the job of reconciling God to humanity and humanity to itself. The Gospel, however — the Good News of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is the astonishing announcement that God has done the whole work of reconciliation without a scrap of human assistance. It is the bizarre proclamation that religion is over — period."
Grace is the end of religion because the secured promise of the gospel frees us from the supposed promises of our religious self-reliance, self- sufficiency, and self-justification. As we trace the biblical history of grace, remember that this same grace still has the explosive power to mess up all of your tidiest categories. The God of grace that shocked the world throughout Scripture has not stopped shocking the world with the radical grace of unmerited favor he lavishes upon unwilling rebels.
If this is all true about grace, then there are questions to answer. What does God tell us about his grace? Why does grace matter to us? Can this radical grace really be true? And what happens when this radical grace collides with sinners like us? This book will answer these questions as we explore the biblical trace of God's gratuitous and undomesticated grace, focusing on the grand narrative of God's grace in redemptive history.
What God Tells Us about His Grace
Three Words: Henna, Hesed, and Charis
God's overabundant grace is a major theme in the Bible. J. Gresham Machen writes: "The center of the Bible, and the center of Christianity, is found in the grace of God." The entire Bible contains one big story, the story of the creation and redemption of the world by the God of grace. Scripture reveals that Almighty God is the God of grace. Over and over again he reveals his unmerited favor and kindly disposition through specific acts of unwarranted kindness.
What does the Bible say about grace? The biblical idea is conveyed through the Hebrew roots henna and hesed and the Greek word charis.
The word henna is used over two hundred times in the Old Testament and is crucial to understanding the biblical concept of grace:
[Henna] connotes favor, usually by a superior to an inferior, including but not limited to care for the poor, deliverance of those in distress, and other acts of compassion. Such beneficence is given freely, and thus can be requested, received and even withdrawn, but never claimed, coerced or possessed. The term often appears in the idiom, 'to find favor in someone's eyes', so that the prayer that [God] might 'make his face shine upon you' is tantamount to a request for him to extend his graciousness.
What the word pictures is a petitioner approaching the throne of a king hoping to "find favor" in the king's eyes, thus receiving a favorable answer to his petition.
The word hesed appears even more than henna (over 240 times) in the Old Testament and refers to God's one-way love, mercy, and compassion toward his people. Hesed "refers to compassionate acts performed either spontaneously or in response to an appeal by one in dire straits." These compassionate acts pertain to a covenantal relationship. God had made a covenant with his people. He promised to be a deliverer, protector, provider, and benefactor to his people. God's hesed refers to his unshakable faithfulness and dedication to these promises, which he has obligated himself to perform. This hesed is demonstrated out of affection and goodness: "God enters into covenant with human beings freely; the establishment of the covenant is itself an act of hesed on God's part. ... Hesed includes notions of loyalty and constancy not always associated with henna." As it states twenty-six times in Psalm 136, God's hesed lasts forever.
The Greek word for grace (charis) is used 156 times in the New Testament, and it's in every New Testament book. Charis is God's goodness, love, mercy, and kindness toward his people without regard to their deeds and in spite of what they deserve. It carries a connotation of favor, friendship, and kindness. Charis is frequently used to refer to some form of heavenly favor shown to the human race. Usually, however, when the New Testament speaks of heavenly grace, charis is explicitly defined as God's grace or the grace of Jesus Christ. About charis, Ralph Martin and Peter Davids write: "The entire NT and much early Christian writing is about the grace of God in Christ and its outworking in the believer. This is so whether or not the Greek word charis is employed in a particular passage."
We learn much about grace from just these three words in the Bible:
The vocabulary of "grace" connotes spontaneous kindness and acts of generosity grounded in dispositions of compassion toward those in need. "Grace" as a characteristic of God grounds divine-human relations in God's generous initiative and sustaining faithfulness culminating in the powerful, restorative activity of God on behalf of humanity. Of course, the concept of "grace" can be present, and often is, even when these and related words are absent.
Old Testament
Exodus 34:6–7 is a great place to start in considering God's grace: "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty."
God declares this about himself to his people, showing that grace is rooted in relationship and expresses the essence of God's character. Grace "outlasts his wrath and spills over in abundance in activity that saves and sustains life." The fact that God describes himself as "abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" right after his people have betrayed him and rebelled against him by worshiping an idol shows just how trustworthy and unfailing his love is.
People can ask for God's favor, but God sovereignly decides when and where he gives grace. He says, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy." His choice to give grace does not hinge on a person's actions or how he responds — it depends purely on himself. This is how he can be gracious toward the unrighteous and sinners; no one can "deserve" God's grace.
God's gracious character shines through in redemption, which is at the core of his identity: God describes himself as "the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." God has compassion, he takes the initiative to rescue his people from slavery, and he gives them a special place among the nations.
New Testament
In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the extravagant grace of God is at work in and available through the ministry of Jesus. The seed of the word of God is sown without discrimination, regardless of the response. In Matthew 8 and 9, Jesus is the presence, power, and grace of God's dominion to those marginalized in Jewish society: a leper, the slave of a Gentile army officer, an old woman, the demon-possessed, a paralytic, a collector of tolls, a young girl, and the blind.
It is important to note that in Luke-Acts "grace" can be used as a parallel for "the gospel" or "salvation." Jesus's sermon at Nazareth is summarized as "words of grace," and believers can be said to have received "grace" or to be "full of grace" and be challenged to continue in "grace." The missionaries in Acts proclaim the grace of God, and it is through this grace that people are able to respond with faith.
Joel Green points out that Luke consistently grounds salvation in the ancient purpose of God, which comes to fruition at God's own initiative. This reveals God to be the great benefactor who pours out his blessings on "all people." Even the opportunity to repent is God's own gift. The ministry of Jesus is the giving of God's salvific blessings to all who will receive them, and especially to those who are on the margins of society.
John's Gospel strongly emphasizes God's love toward the blind, stubborn, and rebellious world. In John,
the Son of God dwells in the love of the Father, and mediates that love to the world (see John 3:36; 5:20; 14:31; 15:9–10); he calls on his followers to love one another (15:17). From a different perspective, Revelation portrays the invincible love of God, sovereignly at work, spanning the period from creation to new creation, bringing his gracious purpose to consummation.
Paul is responsible for nearly two-thirds of all New Testament references to charis. According to Paul, God initiates and is the source of salvation, and God's grace culminates in Jesus's work of redemption. Paul's emphasis is expressed in Ephesians 2:8–9: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God."
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "On the Grace of God"
by .
Copyright © 2013 Justin S. Holcomb.
Excerpted by permission of Good News Publishers.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Series Introduction,
1 Gratuitous and Undomesticated Grace,
2 Why We Need Grace: Sin, Suffering, and Violence,
3 God's Redeeming Grace in the Old Testament,
4 God's Redeeming Grace in the New Testament,
5 It's Grace All the Way,
Concluding Prayer: "Wave upon Wave of Grace",
Appendix: The Grace of God in the Bible,
Recommended Reading,
Notes,
What People are Saying About This
“God’s amazing grace in Christ is ‘the power of God unto salvation,’ not only for the world but for the church and for life-long believers. Read this book and you’ll be washed with ‘wave upon wave’ of the best news you’ll ever hear.”
—Michael Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology, Westminster Seminary California; author, Core Christianity: Finding Yourself in God's Story
“What is the Bible really all about? On the Grace of God gets right to the point—grace, and more grace, for the undeserving. From cover to cover, this is the great message of the Bible, and Justin Holcomb proves it. If you are ready to believe the unbelievable, read this book. It will change you.”
—Raymond C. Ortlund Jr., Lead Pastor, Immanuel Church, Nashville, Tennessee
On the Grace of God is a liberating study on something we can never get enough of—the startling and magnificent grace of God. In Jesus, John tells us, we have been given ‘grace upon grace.’ This book helps pour that grace upon grace on the heart of the reader, filling it with hope and joy in believing.”
—Sally Lloyd-Jones, author, The Jesus Story-Book Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name
“Amidst all the world religions and belief systems, grace is what makes Jesus followers different. There’s nothing that can stop a heart that’s been overwhelmed by grace. This book is a must read!”
—Jefferson Bethke, author, Jesus>Religion
“The message of this book should never get old. Sinners saved by such astonishing grace will marvel for a lifetime that they've been rescued by such a God. More than that, we will marvel for all eternity at the personal manifestation of grace in the face of Christ Jesus. Go ahead now, sit yourself down with this book, get ready for heaven, and make yourself of more earthly good by meditating on the mind-stretching grace of God in which we are chosen, called, born again, justified, adopted, sanctified, glorified, and ushered into the very relationship with the God-man for which we were made. It is all of grace.”
—David Mathis, executive editor, desiringGod.org; pastor, Cities Church, Minneapolis; author, Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines
“This book offers a clear, concise, and compelling presentation of the grace of God. Many point grace out, and some might test it with their toes, but my friend Justin Holcomb is ever swimming in it, inviting all to join him. This will be now my go-to book recommendation on the subject.”
—Dustin Kensrue, singer and guitarist, Thrice
“Justin introduces great theologians to the reader in the same way he would introduce neighbors to one another at a backyard barbeque. Through relaxed conversation, Justin invites the authors of Scripture and great Christian thinkers to sit with the reader in the presence of the touchable and knowable God of grace. Simple but scholarly, On the Grace of God is that book you will want to put into the hands of everyone you know—those who do not yet trust Christ as Savior and those who do.”
—Judy Dabler, Reconciliation Specialist and Founder, Live at Peace Ministries; coauthor, Peacemaking Women: Biblical Hope for Resolving Conflict
“On the Grace of God right-side-ups the upside-down-ness of our brokenness and broken thinking about God and his love. Since the Bible will not let us have virtuous ideas detached from their embodiment in Jesus—‘God is love,’ ‘he himself is our peace,’ ‘I am the truth’—Justin Holcomb will not offer anything less than the glorious Jesus either. Brilliantly, honestly, and passionately, this book bleeds the gospel.”
—Jared C. Wilson, Director of Content Strategy, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
On the Grace of God is just what we’ve needed: a scripturally rooted and deeply compassionate survey of how God’s uncompromising love for sinners shines through the entire biblical narrative. How Justin Holcomb pulled off such a comprehensive feat in so few pages is a refreshing testament not only to his great learning and wisdom but also to his passion for reaching everyday men and women. Anyone looking to be encouraged by the unchanging and life-saving reality of God’s grace in Jesus Christ should look no further.”
—David Zahl, editor, The Mockingbird Blog
“Holcomb brings great understanding of God’s grace and love—a love undeserved and unconditionally given through the only one Christ Jesus. On the Grace of God is an eye-opening, biblically-rooted telling of the love story between God and his people. Where love and grace that are many times misunderstood or misinterpreted, Holcomb sheds light on what God’s true grace looks like.”
—Jake Luhrs, lead-singer, August Burns Red
“Paul’s stated mission was ‘to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.’ As twenty-first century believers, that is our mission as well. But in order to do that, we must know God’s grace ourselves. This book is a fresh reminder of how wonderful, matchless, and amazing is the grace of Jesus, a grace that is greater than all our sin. I was blessed in reading it and am sure you will be too.”
—Brian Brodersen, Associate Pastor, Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California
This book will cause you to laugh and dance not because it is a wonderful book (even though it is) but because it’s all true… almost too true to believe. I know of no voice that speaks so clearly about God’s grace than that of Justin Holcomb. Read this book and you will join me in “rising up and calling him blessed” for having written it. And then give it to everybody you know and they will rise up and call you blessed for having done so.
—Steve Brown, Host, Key Life Radio Program; author, Three Free Sins: God Isn't Mad At You