Dr. E.C. Fulcher, Jr.

Grace, the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings. Seems simple enough to understand and accept right? Free and Unmerited Favor of God. Who wouldn’t want that? You would think that everyone would be lining up to accept this amazing free gift, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Let’s talk about that.

Why is Grace so hard to accept?  Maybe the question should be asked this way: Why is YOUR Grace so hard for OTHER people to accept?  Because that’s the real problem.  It’s not that you cannot embrace Grace; it’s that others cannot accept your accepting Grace.  Kind of convoluted, isn’t it, but makes sense. People see you enjoying your freedoms that Grace has allowed you and immediately they are offended and become judgmental of your expression of acceptance. But why?

In the Bible, Grace is mentioned 170 times in 159 verses.  The first time is in Genesis 6:8 “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord”.  But what exactly did that mean?  If you read the verses leading up to verse 8, you will see that the LORD is planning on destroying every living thing for Genesis 6:6 “And it repenteth the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart”. But he didn’t repent the existence of Noah.  He gave Noah a get-out-of-jail-free card because he “found favor” Proverbs 3:4 “So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man”. What had Noah done to receive that Grace?  Nothing.  It was a gift.

As you look through the other verses where Grace is mentioned, you begin to notice a pattern.  Grace is a gift.  No one does anything to receive it.  They are either given Grace, or they are not.  Grace is always tied up with another word: “found” or some variation thereof.  The Lord gives Grace and men either find or obtain Grace.  Proverbs 3:34 in various translations of the bible, hint that the Lord gives Grace to scorn the scorners, “Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly. Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly. Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble. Surely he scoffeth at the scoffers; But he giveth grace unto the lowly. He mocks the mockers, but gives grace to the humble”. Reading this and thinking about the original question of why is it so hard for others to accept your grace, makes the answer more obvious and easier to swallow. It’s simple-jealousy. 

Grace allows you to do something and be something that they cannot be: FREE.  Everyone without Grace is bound to try to follow the WHOLE law of God, which is impossible.  In order to find salvation, they must obey every jot and tittle to the letter.  In numerous places, in several letters, Paul refers to this juxtaposition of Grace vs. Debt.  Even James says that if you follow the Law, you must follow the whole law and that to break even one the most minor of rules negates the whole thing. 

Grace frees you from that.  Christ’s death frees you from that.  The blood of Christ frees you from that.  When God sees you through the blood of Christ, one of God’s natural laws comes into play.  Photographers like Ansel Adams and Edward Weston and others used this law to their advantage.  Panchromatic film (Black & White film) does not see or record color in the way our human eyes and brains do.  B&W film sees ALL the visible colors of light.  (God sees all the colors of light, after all he created it: “Let there be light.”)  So, if you are looking at a red rose and photograph it through a red filter, when you go to print the picture, the rose will appear white.  Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool”. 

In effect, the jealous person becomes incensed because he can see a red rose; he can touch a red rose; he can even smell a red rose – therefore, the rose in your picture should be red.  But you can hold the photo up and say, “No.  God sees my rose as white.”  You see, there is nothing that anyone can do to make that red rose turn white.  Like the followers of Baal on top of Mt. Carmel, all the shouting, self-flagellation, dancing in the spirt… in short, nothing will turn that red rose white.  But that also means that you, as the possessor of Grace don’t have to do anything, either.  God sees your rose as white because of the filter he looks through. You are now free to devote what time you may have used trying to turn the red rose white towards other, more fruitful projects like Matthew 11:29 “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls”.

The jealous person can look at you and see your “sins”.  You may drink.  You may smoke.  You might even go to a club in which scantily clad women (or men) perform. And they can get all Bertha-Better-Than-You about it.  But according to the Bible, it is written that 1Cor. 15:50 “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption”. 2 Cor. 5:16 “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more”. So why try to perfect something that cannot be perfected in the first place.  This line of thinking actually leads us into another question for another post: Why are some people so blinded that they cannot see the obvious? All they have to do is read and understand.  But that must mean that God does not want them to understand.  In other words, God does not love everybody…. WHAT??? And the crowd goes Wild!!! We shall definitely come back to that, but for now, lets focus on those he does love.

To those of us he does love, he looks at us through the blood of Christ and does not see our sins.  Not that our sins are not there.  He just doesn’t see them.  And therein lies His Grace.  He freely looks through his filtered spectacles (i.e. the WORD) and sees us as he first created us before the fall, giving us the chance to know Him as Adam was supposed to know him.  Freeing us to be what we were originally created to be.

Why wouldn’t anyone want that????

Written by Eric B. Ruark and Tanya J. Tillman