5 Passages to Ponder: Part 1

The fullness of Grace and Truth

I certainly believe that God put nothing extraneous in the Bible.

Although it is not a history book, the history included is important. The poetry is alive. The story of Christ and the gospel, woven from beginning to end, is vital. The instruction is essential.

Certainly all of it should be consumed. However, there are certain passages I revisit often. Maybe you do as well. These passages are either passages of great comfort to me, or have great implications, or both.

I’ll share five of mine over the course of time. None of these can be adequately plumbed in a simple post but maybe you will benefit from a couple of minutes to ponder these as I have many times.

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. (John 1:14)

If you want to know what the Christian fumbles more than anything, it is being full of both grace and truth at the same time.

The Bible is clear that we attain salvation by grace through faith and not through our works. Our salvation is an undeserved gift from God. As such, it removes our ability to brag about or take credit for what God has given us.

Think about how this levels the playing field across humanity. Flawed humans want to play the tier game. We tier ourselves above (and sometimes below) others through an endless list of categories: How we look. Where we’re from. Who we know. The color of our skin. How much we weigh. What we wear. Our socioeconomic status. Our athletic skills. Our musical tastes. Our Christian denomination. Our ability to articulate. And on and on.

When God used grace through faith as the means of salvation, He wiped away all tiers.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:28-29)

How much more effective would Christians be in representing Christ if we understood what it means to be full of grace? How differently would we treat others?

Christ, however, was not only full of grace, but truth as well.

We are said to be living in a post-truth society. Just turn on any news and I’m sure you would agree. The brilliance of Christ is that He never compromised truth in any way while still exhibiting the full measure of grace.

We falsely believe that in order to show grace, we must shade truth, or hide it or retreat from it. Many well-meaning Christians and churches cut away half of the Good News of Christ when they decide the world needs only grace and not truth.

Jesus was “full” of grace and truth. The model to follow is full measures of both -- not 50/50 or 70/30 but 100/100.

We fumble this all the time. We have a hard time expressing full measures of both.

The Christian who extolls grace but not truth robs the world from knowing that people are lost without Christ, period. They rob the world from knowing their sin has separated them from God. They rob the world from knowing there is a standard. And so much more. It is an incomplete gospel.

The Christian who pounds truth but shows no grace provides a skewed version of God to the world, one that ignores the very concept that separates Christianity from other religions – grace.

Truth-heavy Christians leave no room for a relationship with their Heavenly Father and they express to the world that God is nothing more than a bean counter of rules.

Jesus was much more harsh in Scripture with the truth-heavy people for a reason. He knew they were not representing Him accurately.

It is grace AND truth to which I aspire. I can’t say I’m there and will likely never be fully there.

But we have a model, and our impact on the world will be much greater when we get much better at this.