Growth in Grace

I have two thumbs and neither are green. I have been given flowers, vegetables, and many other plants, but there is no evidence of such gifts. They all died. Or, you could say, I have not kept them alive. When we moved to Albany, we were blessed to have purchased a house from a wonderful family that maintained the house – and the landscaping. Plants are constantly blooming. We love to see new blossoms open and beauty spring forth.

While we love the blossom, we under-appreciate the limb that holds it and the roots that nourish it. This natural beauty is only possible because it is held and nourished by something. Grace comes in the same manner.

We love grace. We write and sing songs about it, write books about it, preach about it and talk about it. Grace is unmerited favor – getting something favorable that we did not earn. Who does not love grace? Like a flower, it grows from something.

Jesus was said to be “Full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). In this passage we discover the limb that holds grace and the roots that nourish it. If we are to grow in grace as commanded in 2 Peter 3:8, we need to understand the source and structure.

The structure that holds grace is the stem of truth. Without truth, a blossom would have no starting point. The truth is, you do not deserve grace. God does not owe us anything. Nothing. The truth is, God gave us life and has been very good to us despite our rebellion. Even though we have constantly rejected God, He still pursues lost sheep. He died for the ungodly. While we were still sinning, Jesus gave everything for our salvation. The truth is you do not deserve salvation. Good news, grace showed up and blossomed in the gospel.

To grow in grace, we need to understand how grace is nourished. The roots of grace have their origin in Jesus. How do we grow in grace toward those who have hurt us deeply? We look to the one who showed grace when our sin hung Him on a cross. How do we find grace to exercise patience when we have none? We consider that the only reason Jesus has not yet returned is because God is patient, not willing for anyone to perish but for everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

We live at a time when the church sings about grace, preaches about grace, and limits so much conversation to grace. However, the church has increasingly cut itself off from structure that supports grace – truth. For the world to experience the grace it desperately needs, it must first encounter the truth that brings conviction.

Though the church may fixate on grace, the world knows no need of grace. With no moral compass, no right or wrong, no acknowledgement of the truth, it finds no reason to need grace. The world does not know the smell of the blossom and therefore it sees no need of the stems of truth, let alone the source of the true, the good, and the beautiful. His name is Jesus.