The word grace is a big word for Methodists. Grace might even be THE word that describes the uniqueness of our tradition within the church. Some traditions define grace as unmerited favor or the mercy of God. It is true that God is merciful and God has forgiven our offenses as sinful people, instead of punishing us as our sins deserve. My tradition understands grace as more than a pass on punishment, more than a get out of hell free card. (Thanks to Parker Brothers for that last allusion.)
John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, thought of grace as the redeeming or saving activity of God through the indwelling Holy Spirit. Grace is God's love in action restoring us to the image of God in which we were created.
We learn in the first three chapters of Genesis that God is creator of heaven and earth, of the unseen and the seen realms; that humanity is made in God's image; that we were made for an intimate relationship with God, where we walk and talk with God in pleasant existence, where all our needs are met through His providing. We learn that humans are sinful. We have offended God by not trusting His wisdom and by not fully following His commands. We are estranged from God and the earth itself is cursed because of it.
Grace is the gift God gives us to restore us to a right relationship with God, self and others. It begins with the gift of Jesus, who sacrificed Himself for our sake. His shed blood is the means of atonement forever for all who believe. Through the cross of Christ there is forgiveness of sin. There is no more estrangement, at least from God's perspective in our relationship with Him.
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2nd Corinthians 5:18-21)
God has done His part in healing the rift between Himself and sinful humanity. He gave His one and only Son as a sacrifice to cover over our sin and restore us to holiness.
What is holiness? To be holy is to be as God is. To be holy is to share in the divine nature.
Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature. (1st Peter 1:4)
God is love. Jesus is God incarnate. Therefore Jesus is love incarnate. According to the scriptures Jesus is the exact representation of God; that all the fullness of God dwelt in Him. (Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:15,19) If Jesus is the exact representation of God, then grace is empowering us to become like Jesus who is love incarnate.
Paul wrote who we are begin transformed by our association with Jesus.
And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. (2nd Corinthians 3:18)
One way I like to talk about grace is to acknowledge that God, through Christ, is restoring not just me, but all creation. Romans chapter eight illustrates this idea when Paul says the whole creation groans as it (and we) wait for redemption, that is freedom from bondage to decay. Our redemption is to share in the new creation which began in the resurrection of Jesus from death. In a sense, God's love in action, that is grace, is setting us free from our bondage to sin and death, and making us new in the image of the glorified Son of God.
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son...(Romans 8:29a)
The end goal of God's work through grace is to conform us to the image of God as seen in Jesus, the exact representation of the divine being. If Jesus is the perfect picture of God, then we might say that God is restoring us to excellence, the excellence we know in Jesus. For not only is He God, Jesus is the best of humanity. He is the first of a new humanity redeemed from sin's power and death's prison. Through Christ Jesus, God is breaking the curse (the consequence of sin) laid upon the earth and us. All creation is being set free. All creation is being restored to excellence. The old order of things in creation will pass away and give birth to a new heaven and new earth.
Grace then can be read as an acrostic: G.R.A.C.E., which means God Restoring All Creation to Excellence. That being the excellence of Jesus Christ, the unblemished Lamb of God.
Any disciple-making process will help participants access the means of grace, so that grace might transform us from one level of glory to the next. The means of grace helps us grow in Christ, to grow in our ability to love as Jesus loved us. The means of grace gives us a way to wait upon the Lord to fill us with divine energy which changes us inside and out. The more we wait upon the Lord, seeking to connect to the life-giving presence of the Holy Spirit, the more we become a reflection of Jesus in the world. He light will shine on our faces. His love will beat in our hearts. We will be blessed and be a blessing to this world.
What are the means of grace? Per John Wesley they are prayer, searching the scriptures, and the Lord's Supper. Other means include fasting and abstinence, Christian conversation, good works, and healthy living. A church that wishes to make disciples will teach people to pray, to intentionally access the transforming grace of God. A church will teach people to search the scriptures, to learn how to read the bible, to discern its principles, and to apply them to life. A church will faithfully administer the sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion, so that grace might nurture the body of believers. A disciple-making church will take special care to assure all of those who enter into a process of intentional faith development will learn to utilize the means of grace in their daily lives, so that each member and friend of the church is nurtured continually through holy habits.
A word of caution: we cannot force ourselves upon God to get grace. Instead, according to His mercy and love, God desires to pour His love into our lives and conform us to the image of His excellent Son. It is God who is waiting on us to come to Him to receive grace and mercy.
Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)
Approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace to help. How are we being helped? We are being helped in every way to come to God and become like Jesus.
More tomorrow on the workings of grace; prevenient, justifying and sanctifying.
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