A remote planet and a ponderous star conspired this morning to send my thoughts spiraling off into the nether regions of space - or, perhaps, the limited depths of my thoughts about God.

The distant planet was a post by Dan at TeamPyro in which he discussed what he calls “gutsy grace.”

(For Dan, “gutsy grace” stands in contrast to his pejorative “gutless grace.” I find it curious that, while admitting that he struggles to adequately define grace he nevertheless can label some manifestations as “gutsy” (his own, of course) and others as “gutless” (anyone who disagrees with him). But I digress.).

One of the things Dan endeavors to do is to define grace. This is no mean feat for, as he rightly notes, it is possible to offer definitions that are accurate but fail because they are not sufficiently comprehensive. I sympathize with him and any others who seek to define the term; that, however, will not stop me from trying.

My own attempt to define grace centers on the twin concepts of divine enabling and divine compelling, neither of which cease operation once salvation is initiated. The problem with my definition is the problem with all definitions: the terms I use have to be defined themselves.

Divine enabling should not be construed to mean that salvation or sanctification is a mutual or shared effort involving God and the elect sinner. Salvation is completely a work of God to which we are somehow responsible to yield. God’s enabling could be likened to that provided by an elevator that takes me to the top of a building: it is true that I must get on the elevator, but that is (a) made possible by God (cf. Jn 6.44) and (b) the sum total of my “contribution.”

Divine compelling makes change a passive imperative, i.e., a Christian will be changed. How much a believer changes is contingent on time, but all will be changed to some extent. I suspect, though, that the difference between the change of a stubborn, willful believer and that of a eager, compliant one is insignificant compared to the monumental change each will undergo when they behold Christ (1 Jn 3.2).

The giant star whose gravity altered my own journey this day was a chapter in Henry Cloud’s book Changes That Heal. Cloud speaks of the necessity of grace, truth, and time for believers to heal, change, and grow. He adds,

Change only takes place in ‘good time.’ Good time is time in which we and our experiences can be affected by grace and truth. If we have removed some aspect of ourselves from time, grace and truth cannot transform it . . . Grace and truth cannot affect the part of ourselves we won’t bring into experience.”

These words reminded me of a realization I had some years ago that people, including Christians, hide from others and God the very areas in which we most desperately need to be loved. It is only when we allow God, others, and God-through-others to love us in those most hideous areas that change can occur.

Love, it seems to me, is perhaps best defined as the marriage of grace and truth. Its perfect demonstration is found in Jesus Christ (Jn 1.17; cf. Ps 85.10) but it may also be gleaned on almost every page of Scripture. Love without grace is not love; love without truth is not love. It is only when grace is combined with truth and truth is joined with grace that the love of God is present. All else falls short.

It is precisely this manner of love to which believers are called and held accountable. It requires the enabling of God, certainly; the Spirit’s presence is relentlessly compelling. God takes us as He finds us - that is grace - but He does not leave us where we are - that is truth. But the grace present in God’s finding us is not separate from truth, and the truth of God’s changing us is not divorced from grace.

We may display one or the other - i.e., grace or truth - or one at the expense of the other, but God cannot. These two attributes of God - grace and truth - compose the essence of God, which is love. All that God does is characterized by love, the presence of grace and truth.

When we, enabled and compelled by God, embody such love then - and only then - do we abide in Him and He in us:

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” - 1 Jn 4.15-16


2 Cor 1.13