Chapter 7 Incomprehensible Grace

Other than the names that apply to Deity, the most precious word in the English language is "grace." Grace is a gift from God, the one that underlies every other gift from Him. The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat are all supplied from the store of Heaven’s grace. God "makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:45). God is love, and He expresses that love in His continuing acts of grace.

In the attempt to grasp the compass of God’s grace, we must go back to a time before the Lord created the world, to the time when the plan of salvation was laid. The Apostle Peter wrote of that time, when He referred to the Savior in these words: "He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you" (1 Peter 1:20). We can see the expression of this grace immediately after Adam sinned and when he was trying to hide from God, who at that time "called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’" (Genesis 3:9). Ever since the time of this initial call to Adam, God has been calling human beings to accept the salvation God has provided for them.

Jesus came to earth on a mission of redemption, took upon Himself our nature, and died on the cross to atone for our sins. In so doing, He magnified God’s grace that we might see it better. The Apostles Paul and John explain that this grace is available for the whole human race: "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men" (Titus 2:11). "And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world" (1 John 2:2). The enormous punishment that Jesus bore on Calvary was a sufficient price to pay for all the sin in the world, and to purchase eternal life for everyone who will accept the gift.

To accept this gift, we must also accept the Giver. This positively vital truth is expressed over and over throughout the New Testament. A personal relationship with Jesus is essential to our salvation. The Good Shepherd Himself said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand" (John 10:27,28). And notice the Apostle John’s witness to this truth: "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God" (John 1:11,12).

This very close relationship is underscored among Christians every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, the communion service:

To the death of Christ we owe even this earthly life. The bread we eat is the purchase of His broken body. The water we drink is bought by His spilled blood. Never one, saint or sinner, eats his daily food, but he is nourished by the body and blood of Christ. The cross of Calvary is stamped on every loaf. It is reflected in every water-spring. The light shining from that communion service in the upper chamber makes sacred the provisions of our daily life. The family board becomes as the table of the Lord, and every meal a sacrament (Mrs. E. G. White, The Desire of Ages, Mountain View, Calif., Pacific Press, 1898, p. 660).

The traditional definition of the word "grace" says that it is "unmerited favor." While this definition expresses a truth, it is inadequate. A little serious contemplation on the observations made so far in this chapter, together with some introspection into our own lives, will convince us that the grace of God is much more than mere "unmerited favor." Occasionally, when I was a little boy, a "hobo" would come to our house for food. My mother would fix him a sandwich or two and a tall glass of milk. That was unmerited favor. The hobo had done nothing to merit this kindness. But the Bible portrays God’s grace as something far more than a kindness shown to one who has not earned it.

Let us suppose one of these hobos has vandalized our short-wave radio equipment a few days before we meet him. He confesses that he is the culprit, he repents for the wrong act and asks for forgiveness. Because he has no money to pay for the damage he caused, he is freely forgiven for his evil deed. And now Mom makes more sandwiches for him, gives him another tall glass of milk; and this time she adds a piece of fresh homemade apple pie.

That is the kind of grace that God gives to us, and which He began to reveal in the Garden of Eden, when He called to Adam, "Where are you?" God’s grace is not merely the showing of kindness to someone who has done nothing to earn it; rather, it is showing favor to one who has earned, and who deserves, punishment.

That is returning good for evil. That kind of grace is God loving His enemies. He loves them so much that they become His friends; and they love Him so much that they try their very best to please Him, to carry out His wishes. Jesus says to these very grateful friends, "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15) and "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you" (John 15:14).

When we consider the above illustrations and the profusion of sin that surrounds us, we can see clearly that no one could possibly earn the glories of heaven and eternal life by any way imaginable. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8,9). In view of this abundance of grace, the only course for a Christian to follow is that of showing his deep gratitude by obeying God’s word, and by persuading others also to do God’s will.

Grace brings the gift of forgiveness to us repentant sinners. And we bow in humble thanks for this gift of freedom. But this is only a part of the ministry of grace. God wants His children to be good children, to have characters similar to His character. And it is only by His grace that we can develop that kind of character. When you read 1 John 1:9, be sure to read the whole verse, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The beautiful encouragement here is in the fact that the same Jesus who counts us as righteous is the One who is able and anxious to keep us righteous. Our Father in heaven intends that the deportment of a Christian should be noticeably better than that of an unbeliever. This twofold function of God’s grace is prayerfully expressed in the hymn, "Rock of Ages":

Now, when we think of God’s law, we are very happy that we "are not under law but under grace" (Romans 6:14). Other Scripture passages make it clear that we are not under the condemnation of the law. Grace has taken away our guilt. But, of course, we are still subject to the law, as the very next verse (verse 15) shows, "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!" Notice that it is still possible to sin. That is because the law is still in force. Christians who are under grace should be very diligent to obey God’s law. This is how we show our gratitude for His amazing grace.

The Ten Commandment law describes in human terms what God’s character is like. It is a law of love. Just as God is perfect and unchanging, so His law is perfect and unchanging. Heaven’s overwhelming grace is given to change the hearts of men, to re-mold them to conform to the unchanging standard. Grace does not change God. Grace does not change God’s law. Grace changes people. It makes us conscious that God is still there, and His law is still there. It has always been that way, and will always be that way.

This little illustration should clarify the relation between grace and the law: Suppose I decide to drive south on the northbound side of nearby Interstate 75, and suppose I survive until a state trooper stops me at the next exit, five miles down the road. That was a serious offense, endangering many lives; and so the judge imposes a $200 fine. I make excuses and plea for leniency. Finally, he pardons my error and dismisses the case. I escape the fine. I am under grace. Did that change the law? Of course not. In fact, from now on I will be more careful than ever to obey it, in this way showing my gratitude. Grace, then, does not remove the law, or cause us to be less obedient; rather, it makes us more obedient than before.

Back in the Garden of Eden, at a time when God and man talked together face to face, before Adam and Eve fell into disobedience, the seventh-day Sabbath was the emblem of God’s power and love. He had blessed that day and set it apart as a holy day (Genesis 2:3). It was a very special time for heavenly fellowship between the Creator and His creatures. As soon as sin came into this world, the Sabbath automatically became a sign of God’s redeeming grace, in addition to being a sign of His creatorship. This is because it requires the same creative power to change sinful human nature into a holy nature as it did for God to create us in the first place.

In the Old Testament we find this new meaning of the Sabbath day declared in the book of Ezekiel: "Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them" (Ezekiel 20:12).

This significance of the seventh day as an emblem of grace is presented again in the New Testament book of Hebrews, chapter 4, where the writer discusses the necessity for Christians to enter into God’s rest. As were God’s people of old, so God’s people today are invited to enter into that rest. The Scripture here says, "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God" (Hebrews 4:9). To enter God’s rest means to accept God’s great offer of salvation. It means to stop trying to earn our way into heaven by our works, and to rest in the promise of salvation by grace. The author of Hebrews explains: "For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all His works’ . . . . For He who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His" (Hebrews 4:4,10).

We should remember here that Sabbath-keeping is a sign to the world that we reject any humanistic theory of the origin of life by spontaneous generation or its continuance by organic evolution. The Sabbath is the memorial of creation by God’s spoken word:

Thus the Sabbath is a sign of faith. When we keep it holy, we show that our trust is in God and His grace, and not in our works or any other force of human imagination.

We must make one more crucial observation. The grace of God comes as a free gift. We humans cannot buy it at any price. We cannot bargain for it with any work or talent that we may offer. But grace did cost a great deal. It cost the immense price of the life of the Son of God. Why? What possible grounds could there be that would require such a price? The answer is found in the nature of God’s law. Because the law is really a transcript of the character of God, it could never be changed; for God’s character is unchangeable. Since mankind had broken the law, mankind owed atonement for the broken law. He must be punished. And, of course, "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). The sentence of death came upon all human beings because all have sinned (Romans 5:12). Jesus Christ, our wonderful Savior, became human and paid the awful penalty for sin. His death atoned for the law that we broke. This brings us head on to this conclusion: How extremely important God’s law must be! When you accept the grace of God, just remember – the price the Lord paid for grace for you was awesome!

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