God’s Justice and Mercy by Grace Through Faith

(by Dave, 20-25 min)

Scripture

Ephesians 2:6-10

Grace and the Old Testament

Today’s Scripture verse is about grace. The Christian definition of this word is that we are saved because of God alone and Paul goes to great length to make sure we understand our role: “and this is not from ourselves”, and “not by works, so that no one can boast”. Paul emphasizes this because God saving us from our sins was unheard of prior to Christ. The law required action for forgiveness.

The lessons of atonement

Leviticus 6: 6-7 describes the pre-Christ procedures for an Israelite to atone for any host of sins he/she commits against another. First, he must correct whatever he did wrong with the people wronged and then he must make things right with God :

“And as a penalty they must bring to the priest, that is, to the LORD, their guilt offering, a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for them before the LORD, and they will be forgiven for any of the things they did that made them guilty.” (see Leviticus 6)

Leviticus 4 and 5 describe similar processes for sins, even inadvertent, when committed by the leaders and/or people of Israel.

Because God through Moses established these rules for penalty and obtaining forgiveness, why should we need God’s grace? Why couldn’t God’s original instructions for acquiring forgiveness suffice? Perhaps the process teaches us something we need to know to properly receive grace.

It seems there are three things about God and one about us revealed through the Levitical guilt offering process. God (1) expects us to live by his standards, (2) is just, and demands a penalty when we do not meet those standards, and (3) set up the system of Leviticus because He desires us to have a right relationship with Him. This system ultimately fails when it comes to God’s third desire because of the one thing we learn about ourselves through the Old Testament and know is still true today. We sin continually guaranteeing that our relationship with God is never righted for long. Another required sacrifice is always in the future.

Knowing this about us, why did God set up the Levitical system? Why not just begin with the situation we have after Christ where God acts to forgive our sins and comprehensively restore our relationship with him? In other words, why not start with grace? Maybe because without Leviticus we would not know the three things about God that were revealed from the process, and more importantly, the one thing about ourselves.

Yet there is more the Levitical process reveals that helps us deeply appreciate and better understand grace. Earlier in my life I practiced as a physical therapist working with young men and women who had experienced a spinal cord injury. For some, their injury only paralyzed the musculature of their legs. The rehabilitation process was directed at restoring complete independence which was entirely possible with this kind of injury. We would teach our clients how to use a wheelchair everywhere in their environment and negotiate any obstacle they encountered. Even so, some of these folks wanted to walk on braces believing that could be their primary means of getting around.

Our experience told us that only a few people who lost complete function of their legs would become functional ambulators with braces. For most, it was too unstable and hard on the hands and arms to be a primary means of mobilization. But many believed they would be the exception and wanted to include brace walking in their program despite our wisdom. We could have foreclosed the possibility saying it is exceedingly rare to become a functional ambulator with braces. But we didn’t, because we also knew maybe they were the exception and unless they tried and made their own decision, they would always wonder if reaching their goal was possible.

So we strapped on the braces and started the education. Some of these folks became quite capable of walking back and forth within the tiled floor of the clinic. But as the therapy progressed and we introduced them to opening doors, outside surfaces, etc., most decided to use a wheelchair to get around. Same outcome (using a wheelchair) as if we had foreclosed the possibility of brace walking, except our clients now knew the difficulty involved and chose to use a wheelchair.

We have sin-induced spiritual injuries, and our goal is to be right with God again. God very much wants us to meet this goal. He began by handing us the spiritual braces described in Leviticus and the faithful followed. Perhaps God knew we needed to see if our actions could restore a permanent right relationship with Him like our clients needed to try brace walking. In the process, it becomes evident that spiritual brace walking via Levitical atonement will only temporarily right our relationship with God. Only then will we look for an alternative to those braces and accept that alternative with the gratitude it deserves.

Leviticus fulfilled in Christ and then some

The alternative we received was God’s action instead of ours. The payment for our sin was the sacrifice of Christ, God’s own son and the one human who never sinned. In our rehabilitation analogy, no need for braces now. For God’s alternative was not a wheelchair, but healing, permanently wiping clean our sins and righting our relationship to Him. Because we can do nothing to deserve this gift, we call it grace.

This is an enormous change from Leviticus, and yet entirely consistent with it.  The Jewish man who completed the Levitical process went to God with a sacrificial ram to pay the penalty for his sin. Because of that action, God granted him forgiveness. With grace, the penalty for sin is likewise paid, but not by our sacrifice of an animal. On his own, God pays the penalty through Christ complying with the Levitical requirement for penalty and satisfying it for all sins across eternity.

There is one thing required of us, but it is in response to grace rather than an action for earning it. In today’s Scripture verse Paul doesn’t just say “for it is by grace you have been saved”. Instead, he adds two more words: “by faith”. All we need do is to believe in Christ and the grace that moved into the world on the first Easter. When that occurs, Leviticus is not only fulfilled, but the entire Levitical paradigm for righting our relationship with God shifts dramatically.

Grace shifts the Levitical paradigm

To illustrate this shift, consider a contrived interaction between a mother and daughter. A daughter is caught lying to her mom. Her mother delivers a penalty:

“You must go to your room and give me your cell phone. You can have the cell phone back at the end of the week. Your lies are now forgiven.” 

In this Levitical-like situation, fulfillment of the mother’s rules settles the issue.

Most people who have children know this system is somewhat effective. Kids want their cell phones back and so are less likely to lie, but the relationship between the mother and daughter is legalistic. All are participating in the rules and because the rules were followed, the relationship (at least regarding the lying incident) is made right. The system can work on a backdrop of love between the two, but it will also work to a degree even without that.

The same occurrence happens again, only this time the mother takes a different approach:

“There is a price for lying my daughter, and it must be paid. I am going to pay it for you this time.” The mother pulls out her own cell phone and locks it in a box.

“That’s the end of my cell phone. I will no longer use it. Although I made you pay the price last time you did this, I am going to pay the price this time by taking my cell phone away forever. That way if you lie again, the penalty will already be paid. I do this for one reason only, because I love you. Do you believe I will forgive you when I put my phone in that box?”

In the second scenario, the legal part continues to exist. The mother paid a penalty, but the relationship between the mother and daughter concerning the lying incident is no longer solely legalistic. Instead, it is catapulted into the personal and much will be revealed as the daughter considers the mother’s question.

She could say yes or no in response to her mother’s query. If she says no, then the gift of forgiveness was not truly received. She does not believe that her mother forgave her this and all future lies even though her mom put her own cell phone in the box forever. Why does the daughter not believe her mother? Maybe she doesn’t trust her mom to do what she covenanted to do. Maybe she doesn’t believe her mother truly forgave. Maybe she doesn’t believe her mother acted out of love.

Only a true yes answer to her Mom’s query reveals a right relationship between mother and daughter because with that answer the daughter accepts the selfless act of her mom and trusts her to uphold her promise. Her acceptance and trust rests on an understanding of why her mom made the sacrifice. Love is high on the list of possible answers.

Is it any wonder that Paul says to us “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith”?  Neither the mother nor God withheld their forgiveness, and yet the relationship between mother and daughter, or God and us, is not wholly righted unless we believe the full promise of grace and its motivation. Without that belief, are we truly in a right relationship with God? I don’t think so, and that’s why Paul added those two very important words and why Christ is what He claimed to be, the fulfillment of the law. Fulfilling the law goes beyond compliance. Grace demands we trust our creator because we know He loves us.

The transforming nature of grace

Obeying the law is more likely

The entry of grace into the world fully reveals God’s demand for justice just like Leviticus did, but his overwhelming mercy and love are now front and center. Our sin was met by God’s justice and mercy at the foot of the cross and if we believe, our entire relationship with God flips from one of fear, guilt and compliance to gratitude and love. John describes it well in his gospel:

John 3:16-17 for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (see John 3)

Living with gratitude and love for our heavenly father has an impact on us that makes us more compliant than the Levitical process ever could. A story of my childhood comes to mind that helps to illustrate this at least at the human level. When I was 12 or 13, my friends and I used to sit out on the curb under the streetlight in the warm summer evenings and toss around a tennis ball. One night, a car came flying down the hill and an enraged man jumped out of it screaming something about his house. We all scattered, but the man followed me. I raced into my house screaming for my dad.

The man came right in after me as I stood terrified with my back up against the far wall. He made it two steps into the house before he confronted my father who climbed the stairs from the basement three at a time.

            “Who are you”, my father bellowed, as his hand landed on the man’s chest and started to push toward the door.

            “Your son through a wine bottle at my house”, the man said still filled with rage.

            “I don’t care what he did, you get out of my house and we’ll settle this.” The man backed down as he confronted the determination in my father’s eyes.

I loved my Dad so much that night and was so grateful for his presence in my life. He loved me and was going to protect me from this intruder and said it himself “I don’t care what he did”. Of course, he knew there was no way I was going around the neighborhood throwing wine bottles, but he was ready to take on the man’s scorn regardless.  What do you think? Was I more or less likely to do what my father asked after this overt display of support and love?

God has done that for us, and we did throw the wine bottles. We have sinned and can’t stop doing it. But we no longer must stand against the wall fearful of penalty and scorn, because Christ came thundering up the steps, put his hand on our sin and shoved it out of the door.  The greatest gift ever given was God’s to us. A gift so transformative that our hearts overflow with love and gratitude for the giver. What do you think? Are we more or less likely to do what our heavenly father asks after this overt display of support and love?

Our changing relationship with each other

No longer do we make things right with God from enduring penalties and fearing his scorn. God has made it right and we respond with our best version of the same love our Creator grants to us. How does one express their gratitude to an Almighty who loves each person individually enough to grant this exceptional gift? Paul gives us the answer: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Typically, we think of good works as just that, work. Maybe we will work to help people through the church, or in our professional lives, service to the poor, financial commitments, etc. These works will help the kingdom of God and are a genuine expression of gratitude for the love and forgiveness we have received. Today, though, let’s consider the full scope of what God prepared in advance for us to do because it is more than these traditional expressions.

If God has extended the wonderful gift of grace to you, then he has also extended it to every other believer and to everyone who will believe in the future. If God loves people that much, shouldn’t we? We can emulate our Lord and love people enough to extend them grace, the expression of which comes in many forms. The most closely related to God’s action is to forgive someone whether they deserve it or not simply because you choose to do so out of love. But God’s grace as a model for behavior is not confined to a forgiveness scenario. All that is required is love. Love that motivates freely given action from nothing a person has done for you. Every one of these actions great or small is an expression of grace and because grace is from God, it makes the world a better place.

I’d like to end today with a story of just such a scenario that impacted me. I am impaired from a debilitating chronic pain condition. It stops me from doing any heavy physical work, and avoiding its other debilitating consequences choreographs most of my days.  The first year when my impairment became severe, shoveling snow from my driveway was no longer possible. It was a time of great emotional difficulty for me as all of my plans for an upcoming retirement crumbled under the weight of physical disability. The winter descended and with it a considerable depression that many in my circumstance experience.

A friend of mine learned of my dilemma. I woke up after a snowstorm and he was outside clearing everything. He knew it was a risk and that I might not be pleased. Despite my failing body, I still resisted help clinging to a foolhardy desire for independence. His unsolicited gift, his grace to me, revealed how much he loved me at a time when I felt utterly worthless. I met him at the door and feel certain he was expecting to hear me either berate him for doing it or to thank him. Instead, I fell into his arms and wept for joy that someone cared enough to do such a selfless act for me. Obviously since you’re reading this you know the power that small act had because here I am still talking about it.

Every time one of us who knows we are saved by grace through faith acts in response to touch another we spread that grace and give that person joy. These actions are viciously contagious. I was given joy that day when I needed it most because a fellow Christian extended me grace. I try to do whatever I can to help my friend in response extending to him the same gratitude and love God extends to me. I told you this story so that you might be touched hearing a story of transforming grace and be inclined to extend it to others. Grace is far more impactful than we can imagine because one cannot help but be changed when the love of God and his saints descends on them.

I hope you will leave this reading knowing that wherever you are in your life God’s grace is yours. He righted our relationship with him simply out of love. Every time we remember God’s love and show our gratitude for it by extending grace to another, we almost guarantee it will happen again. May that thought alone can give you the joy and contentment of knowing that no matter what is happening in our world God still reigns, and his love for us cannot be quenched if we simply accept, believe and act on it.

GRACE and blessings to you all,

Dave