There is Grace

"And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep." -Matthew 8:24

There Is Grace - HAH Podcast

I would like to begin this journey by succinctly stating what has taken me a rocky five years to conclude: 

There is grace.

Image from Pexels

Five years ago, I jumped onto a boat I think most of us who grew up in muddled evangelical waters jumped onto. We all “surfaced” about the same time. Just in time for 2020 to slap us square in the face and confirm our newly discovered suspicions. That things weren’t right. That we had been lulled into some kind of watered-down theology—tossed about by too little knowledge and too much grace, if such a thing were possible.

And that’s how I began my faith. How many of us began. Waves of grace that plunged us down so deep into theological ignorance and complacency that we scarcely called anyone false. The word heretic was reserved for only the worst and most obvious offenders. 

But, as it turns out, it was the wrong kind of grace. 

Thus began the pendulum swing.

---

In an effort to avoid ever being lulled to sleep or deceived again, we all started digging. We became suspicious, skeptical, legalistic, jaded, and spoke our minds about everything we perceived to be deception. Above all things, “truth” became the end by which we justified our means; sacrificing brotherly affection, disallowing Christian liberty, setting aside true religion, and withholding from others that sleepy grace we desperately spurned. All in the name of “waking up” the masses to the “truth.”

But, as it turns out, it was the wrong kind of truth. 

---

So, here we are. Some of us are still out there casting lines to reel other disenchanted onlookers in with our breadcrumbs of knowledge. On the other hand, some of us have quietly put our tail between our legs and gone home, feeling silly for having put our violent pendulum swing on display for our friends and family to witness. 

I find myself doing a little bit of both at times. But mostly I’ve settled softly in the middle, where the sovereignty of God tempers every misplaced extension of grace and every overzealous stand on secondary truth. 

---

We started with the wrong kind of grace. It was a grace often polluted by law, a grace that wore a veneer of gospel but carried a message that left us thirsty. A message that set us adrift on a salty ocean of “be better” and “do more”—water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. 

But just because we experienced a polluted grace, doesn’t mean there isn’t any grace at all. We know we can’t get everything right all the time. We are quick to give ourselves grace, especially in this age dominated by self-love. Yet, so often we set others adrift on that same ocean of polluted grace just because they don’t know something we know, silently but condescendingly signaling them to “be better” and “do more.” 

There are times when truth must take precedent. But, whether we are the ones aiming to elucidate or needing to be elucidated:

There is grace.

---

We must be sure the truth hill we are willing to die on is worthy of dying on. 

“Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.” - 1 Peter 3:13-17

Being zealous for what is good, or, for the truth. The right kind of truth. This isn’t referring to elemental things of this world. At least not primarily. We aren’t supposed to be particularly zealous over things like vaccine mandates, trauma healing, chemtrails, 5G, the observance of sabbaths, government psy-ops, or any other knowledge we feel has given us an advantage over the “ignorant masses.” They are’t ignorant, they’re dead. Unless we are counting our Christian brethren among these “ignorant masses,” in which case we deserve a strong rebuke. They have obtained the only knowledge that matters, no matter how ignorant they may be of whatever secrets we know. If we as Christians have become known for our stance on the knowledge of this world above the good news we preach (or should be preaching), it is we who are put to shame under suffering and reviling—not the persecutor. We are acting as revolutionaries and rebels, not Christians. This is the wrong kind of truth to be hated for.

If, however, we are known and hated for our zealous love for the right kind of truth, the calvary-shaped hill that is worth dying on, we have begun to find our way back to the steadfastness to which we are commended. Where real grace keeps us afloat and is stabilized not by general truth (whether real or perceived), but by THE truth.

The ballast is the sovereignty of God. 

---

All things that God intends will be accomplished. Do we believe this? 

Do we believe that no scheme of man will thwart his sheep coming to the fold? Do we believe that no malicious plot that destroys the body will have any power over the soul? God accomplishes what he wills. This is gracious truth. 

If the gracious truth of the gospel is the hill worth dying on—and we must be sure we have the right hill—what of the thousand other hills of truth?

Does God not own the cattle on a thousand hills and all the hills, too? We are not commissioned to die on every hill, but to be a city of light on this hill.

Did your faith set sail on a sea of law-tainted grace that had you “tossed by every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14), “always learning and never able to arrive at the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7)? Me too.
Did you consequently take a violent swing and spend any length of time in the last five years trying to convert others into knowledge of some elemental danger to their mortal lives at the expense of grace (Gal. 4:9)? Me too. 

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” - Matthew 10:28

Throw yourself onto the ballast of God’s sovereignty. Cling to the gracious truth that you don’t have to have all the pieces, nor make sure everyone around you is “awake.” You cannot be lost at sea when you are resting in the knowledge that all things will be as He wills and He will deliver us to Christ unblemished.

Even as the wicked go on scheming. Even as deceivers go on deceiving. Even as the body gives way to corruption.

There is grace.