Grace and Truth
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Grace and Truth
— Matt Edmundson
Let me start by asking you a question - how would you describe Jesus? I appreciate that this is quite a wide question but go with me on this. How would you describe Him? What words would you use?
Christians might use phrases like good, faithful, saviour, God and so on. Last week, John talked about how Jesus is life. If you are not a Christ follower, you may use words like intriguing and even deranged. There are so many words that we can use to describe Christ, and depending on your viewpoint - some of these may be good, and some may be bad.
This week the Apostle John introduces us to perhaps what is one of my favourite descriptions of Christ:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Surviving the divisive world, we now live in
Notice Jesus wasn't full of grace OR truth. He was full of both. And given the divisive world in which we live, where cancel culture is the norm but is incredibly ugly and destructive, we should learn more about these two ideas working in tandem.
If we live in the extreme of truth all the time but never extend grace - we become mean and judgemental, leading to Cancel Culture - both inside and outside the church.
The flip side of this coin is to be all in on grace. Here you believe that it doesn't matter what you do; God loves everyone, right? Who are you to judge me? There is no truth, so I will live my own truth...which is whatever I want it to be at this point. There is no definitive standard.
And you can see how these ideas of grace and truth can quickly get into tension with one another. Yet Jesus was described as being full of both. He wasn't extreme in one or the other; He was fully both.
So I want to suggest to you that the way to navigate the extreme times in which we live is to be people full of grace and truth.
What is Grace?
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Here, the Apostle Paul tells us that Grace Saves. But what is grace? And what does it save us from?
Grace is God's undeserved favour and goodwill.
If God were all about truth and only truth, we wouldn't stand a chance because there is no way that in ourselves we could live to His standard, His truth. We can't even live according to our own truth or even the laws of our land, let alone His. So we need His Grace - His favour and goodwill to stand any chance at life.
Another way to think about grace, which I really like, is
God's grace is His ability in us to do those things that we don't have the ability to do.
That's awesome. God's ability in me to do what I don't have the ability to do. And I don't have the ability to save myself. Grace saves, not my skills or talents, not my charm and good looks...it is nothing to do with me and everything to do with Him. That's what Paul tells us about grace. You can have it, but you definitely can't earn it in any way. It's a gift.
Grace is amazing. Amazing Grace Saves.
So God's grace is extended to us; it is demonstrated in Christ as He is full of Grace. And as a result, we are commanded to extend grace to others, to be kind to them, to help and restore, to be generous and forgiving - even when people don't deserve it, especially when people don't deserve it.
But to do that, you need lots of God's grace...you see how this works, right? You cannot escape your need for His Grace to live this life on purpose, with calling and with meaning. It cannot be done.
Who needs grace?
Out of the people that you know - who needs grace? Who needs you not to judge them right now? Who needs you to be kind to them even though they definitely don't deserve it? Even though their theology is different to yours? Here's the truth of the gospel: people don't need to behave before they can belong. We don't need to clean the fish before we catch it. We belong first.
The other danger, of course, is just to go along with the idea that if grace saves, if it is because of grace that I belong rather than my behaviour - then I can just do what I like and get away with it, right? So why worry about anything I do - and just live life how I want to live it? So now I can live my version of the truth, live a life that is my most authentic self, and do things daily that bring me happiness and joy...living true to myself. In many ways, that sounds great, lovely and very Instagrammable as a quote. But where is the standard?
In front of you is an 18-year-old guy. He's done OK at school and has his life in front of him. He's a nice guy, but like most 18-year-olds, he can be pretty selfish at heart. He has an OK reputation, but you know he sleeps around and has been unfaithful to just about all of his girlfriends. But in his mind, it is OK. He is being authentic to himself - why stick with one girl when you can have more? What do you say to him? Keep going with it - be authentic to yourself. No one can judge him, right?
But how does that help the sting of betrayal that is behind him? And are you so amenable to this philosophy when he knocks on your door to take out your sister or daughter? Probably not. There is a standard.
The apostle Paul talks about this idea in his letter to the Roman Church. He spends a while talking about grace and about how amazing it is. He talks about how where sin was great, grace was greater and that nothing can undo or outdo the grace of God. You read it, and you think, wow!
But it's like Paul can read our minds as he writes this passage and follows it up...
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”
And here, Paul delivers a truth. Grace without truth is warped and unbiblical. Living in grace is living a life of truth, but you have God's ability in you to do that. Grace is not the pursuit of sin. When you recognise grace, you avoid sin, those things that are contrary to the standard of God.
Grace saves. So let's look at this idea of truth.
Truth
We spend a lot of time at Crowd talking about Truth. Sharon did a great talk asking what does the bible say about truth, and I would encourage you to watch it. In that talk, she deals with the differences between objective truth and subjective truth and what that means in a world that preaches (but doesn't actually live in) tolerance. Sharon also looks at some of the truth claims of Christianity and what they mean for us today - honestly, check it out.
Jesus was pretty keen on truth, and this is a fact that we cannot escape as Christians. Perhaps one of the most well-known verses about truth from Jesus is also found in John's gospel.
“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.””
You see, grace saves, but truth frees. And that's why you need both.
That 18-year-old knocking on your door to take out your sister or daughter needs grace. He needs to know that he can belong to something much bigger and more wonderful than he ever dreamed of. And in that place of belonging, that place of grace, he starts to get into the Word of God, the Bible. He starts to see that perhaps sex before marriage is not right, and treating women as objects to satisfy himself is not right. He starts to see the truth that this girl is a daughter of the living God and should be treated with dignity and respect.
Truth frees.
I know this because I was that 18-year-old.
I needed grace and a lot of it. And once I had received that grace, the truth set me free. It changed me and my thinking in radical ways - because the encounter with the grace of God was real and so incredible that my natural response was to change my wrong behaviour. And yes, I now believe that my behaviour was wrong. I started to see that the truth I grew up with, which I had created for myself, was nothing compared to the truth of God. I am still my authentic self. But part of that is living a life that recognises that I am not God, that I am not Lord and that Jesus has a much bigger and better way of living life than me. Grace saves, and truth frees.
So how does this work in reality? Well, since I have already mentioned it - let's look at the topic of sex outside of marriage.
Currently, my theology is that sex outside of marriage is wrong. I'll get into why in just a second, but for now, this is the truth that I subscribe to. I shouldn't be ashamed of that, nor should I shy away from it. But, to preach that truth without wrapping it up in grace in some respects is just as wrong.
So if you are watching this and you have had or are having sex outside of marriage - I want you to know that you are welcome at Crowd Church. This is a place where you can belong unequivocally.
I also appreciate that my current theology may change over time as I grow in my understanding of God's Word, so what I hold as truth now may change. I am trying not to base my understanding of the truth on how I feel at the time, nor on the general consensus of society. Jesus said if we abide in his word we will know the truth. So that's where I base my understanding of truth, knowing full well it may be unpopular.
So my understanding of the word may change over time. And so, if I am talking to someone who thinks sex outside of marriage is OK, I know full well that my theology may not be fully formed. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't stand for that truth now. Standing for nothing is worse. My thinking may be wrong, and conversely, the person I am talking to may also change their opinion over time. Both of us are probably wrong in some ways.
This is why I have to wrap the conversation in grace. And we see Jesus doing just that.
I believe that Jesus called adultery sin. In Matthew's gospel, He says
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not commit adultery.”
Jesus is referring to a law from the Old Testament which refers to adultery as a sin. I love the phrase that Jesus uses, those of old. That law was for previous generations, but surely it doesn't apply today. It's archaic, right? It infringes on my rights to live according to my truth, how I want. You can't tell me it's wrong anymore. But it's as if Jesus knew how we would think in modern times. Or maybe it's just a case that every generation thinks they know better than the generations before and feel they can redefine things? He goes on to say:
“But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
It's like he is saying, yes, adultery as a law is a bit old-fashioned. So let's redefine it; let's make it a lot harder and not easier because you now have the grace of God - his ability in you - to live a better life. I read this and see that Jesus goes the opposite way. If you look at a woman to lust for her...so most of us have committed adultery at some point, and the rest that haven't, are lying.
So this is just one of several references in the Bible that leads me to believe that sex before marriage is wrong.
And I think that just about all of us intuitively know that adultery is wrong. Politicians caught having affairs are dragged through the press and often forced to resign. Our respect for them drops. We focus on their sin because they got caught, but when we look lustfully at another woman, we excuse that. But isn't that just as adulterous? Our standards are high for others but often low for ourselves. We look at the speck in our brother's eye but ignore the plank in our own eye.
But just imagine what the world would be like if we could actually live according to this standard that Christ set. What would it do to the self-esteem of women? Women would feel safe and secure. There would be no need for the Me Too movement; there would be no porn, no sex trafficking and no courtroom with case after case of sexual assault. How amazing would that be? It's a hard truth, but man, what it creates when we live according to that standard is extraordinary. We can only do this through the Grace of God. We need both Grace AND truth. And not just for ourselves, but we need to extend them too.
If you follow along with our readings in John, in a few weeks, you'll come across a story where a woman is caught in adultery and brought before Jesus, who is supposed to cast the sentence of being stoned to death. A severe punishment, to be sure. How does Jesus respond? What do grace and truth look like here?
He says, "OK. If you are without sin, cast the first stone." He addresses the accusers, the crowd. First, examine yourself. Of course, they all drop the stones and leave because when you really look at your own heart, you realise that you can't cast that stone at someone else. It's really quite sobering.
The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. "Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?"
"No one, Master."
"Neither do I," said Jesus.
This was Jesus' response. It wasn't condemning, it was grace-filled. He didn't shy aware from the truth of adultery; He didn't tell her that it was OK, that the law was old-fashioned and she could do what she liked. In fact, the very next words out of Jesus' mouth - "Go on your way. From now on, don't sin." He didn't excuse what she had done. He called it Sin. Neither did He condemn her. We see grace and truth working together in harmony.
I think we could all learn a lot from this story.
Grace saves. Truth frees.
We need both. We need the courage to stand for the truth and not be afraid of the truth. Jesus is the Way. He is the Truth, and He is also Life. But in our standing for truth, let us also bring life and grace and hope to a hurting world. We proclaim truth wrapped tightly in grace.
In other words, let's aim to be like Christ. Let's aim to be full of both grace and truth.
CONVERSATION STREET
With: Phil Watson & Anna Kettle
What is Conversation Street?
Conversation Street is part of our live stream, where the hosts (in this case, Anna & Phil) chat through John's talk and answer questions that were sent in through the live stream. You can watch the conversation in the video, it starts 31 mins 26 s into the live stream, or you can go straight there by clicking here. This week’s questions and topics of conversation are:
What did you think about the talk?
How are Grace and Truth both underpinned by God's love?
How does God's truth help us to be better people?
"You belong first." What does it mean?
How does our relationship with God and other people affect our lives?
How does resentment hold us back from experiencing the full life that God has for us?
Is there more to Grace than just kindness or being nice?
How can we show Grace to others while also holding on to the Truth?
More Bible Verses on Grace and Truth
Ephesians 2:5 - That even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
2 Corinthians 9:8 - And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
Ephesians 4:7- But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
2 Corinthians 8:9 - You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.
James 4:6 - But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
John 14:6 - Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
2 Timothy 2:15 - Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
Psalm 145:18 - The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
1 Corinthians 13:4-6 - Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
Ephesians 4:15 - Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
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