Grace and Truth

The following blog is a summary of a message preached by Pastor Doc Shell.

Watch the Sermon HERE!

Grace is one of the most talked-about words in Christianity, yet one of the least understood in daily life. What does it actually mean to live by grace? And how does truth fit into the picture? These two things, grace and truth, are at the heart of who Jesus is and what He came to show the world.

What Is Grace and Why Can't You Earn It?

Grace starts with a simple but staggering truth. Jesus, who was rich, became poor so that we, who are poor, could become rich. He was born in a stable, worked in a carpenter's shop, died on a shameful cross, and was buried in a borrowed tomb. He did all of that not because we deserved it, but simply because He loves us.

"But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many." - Romans 5:15

Grace cannot be earned. It is absolutely free. The moment you try to earn it, you have missed it entirely.

Can You Really Receive Something You Did Nothing to Deserve?

There is a story that illustrates this well. A farmer once gave away his entire watermelon patch, eight or nine acres of the big striped ones. When someone tried to give them away for free, people got frustrated. They wanted to pay something. They wanted to feel like they had earned it.

That is exactly how many people approach God. They want to give themselves some credit. But God is pulling up with a full load and saying, "They're free. Someone else already paid for them."

You can receive grace. You can enjoy it. But you cannot earn it and you cannot buy it.

What Happens When You Actually Receive Grace?

"Those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through Jesus Christ." - Romans 5:17

Receiving grace takes you to a completely different level than trying to earn it. Many believers fall into the trap of reminding God of what they have done. Thirty minutes of prayer. A generous offering. An early morning quiet time. But prayer is not a way to earn God. You pray because you belong to God. You are not buying something. You are aligning yourself with something already done.

To receive grace, you have to believe it. And to enjoy it, you have to obey it. Grace is not passive. It is not sentimental. It is the power of God working in and through a life that is surrendered to Him.

What Does Grace Actually Give You?

Total Acceptance With God

"Justified freely by His grace." - Romans 3:24

In Christ Jesus, you are totally and completely accepted by the Father. Not partially. Not conditionally. You can do nothing to add to your acceptance. That is grace.

The Ability to Do What God Called You to Do

Paul said in Colossians 1:29 that He labored and strived "according to His working, which works in me mightily." And then he made it plain: "By the grace of God, I am who I am." The Apostle Paul was who he was entirely because of grace. Not talent. Not effort. Grace.

A Spiritual Inheritance

"The Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance." - Colossians 1:12

You did not qualify yourself. He qualified you. You have a spiritual inheritance, an eternal portion as a child of the Most High God. And the will that spells it all out is the Bible. Read the will and find out what you have been given.

Is Grace Bigger Than Your Sin?

"Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more." - Romans 5:20

There is no sin that grace is not bigger than. There is no struggle that grace will not overcome. The only requirement is the ability to receive it.

Why Grace Alone Is Not Enough

Here is where many people get off track. If all you understand about God is grace, you will misinterpret His love. You will think God is soft on everything, that He simply winks at sin because He loves everyone.

But consider this. God loved the world while people were on their way to hell. That love alone did not keep anyone out of hell. What made the difference was what He did about it. He gave His Son. His love provided the way. His life is what saves.

Grace without truth becomes a distortion of the gospel.

What Is Truth and Why Does It Matter?

Truth is the absolute, unchanging reality of God. It does not age. It does not become outdated. God's mercy is new every morning, not because the truth changes, but because everything with God is eternal.

One of the deepest problems in the church today is not a lack of buildings or resources. It is the loss of truth. When truth is abandoned, confusion takes over at every level of society and culture. The church is meant to be the pillar and ground of truth, not a mirror of whatever the culture decides is acceptable.

If you stick only to truth without grace, you become a legalist. Hard, cold, and correct but without love. If you stick only to grace without truth, you drift into something soft and shapeless that cannot hold anyone accountable or point anyone toward real transformation.

Put grace and truth together and you have the gospel. You have Christ living in you.

What Does It Look Like for Jesus to Live Through You?

Jesus did not come just to save you so you could go to heaven. He saved you to get heaven into you, so that on earth you would let Him live His life through you to the people around you.

"Christ in you, the hope of glory." - Colossians 1:27

Glory is the manifestation of who He is and what He is doing. When Christ lives in you and expresses Himself through you, that is the glory of God on display. Jesus said He did nothing except what He saw the Father doing and said nothing except what He heard the Father saying. That same pattern is available to every believer.

The world is not waiting for a better argument for Christianity. It is waiting to see grace and truth lived out in real people.

A Story of Grace Under Impossible Circumstances

Horatio Spafford lost his son. Then the Chicago fire destroyed his business. He sent his wife and four daughters ahead by ship to England for a rest. The ship sank. His daughters did not survive. His wife sent back two words: "Saved alone."

On his way across the ocean to meet her, Spafford wrote these words:

"When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul."

And then the verse that captures everything:

"My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul."

That is grace and truth together. Not a denial of pain. Not a shallow optimism. It is a man who knew what he had received and chose to stand on it even when everything around him had collapsed.

Life Application

This week, pay attention to where you are out of balance. Are you leaning too hard on truth in a way that has made you cold or critical toward people who are struggling? Or are you leaning so far into grace that you have stopped letting truth shape your decisions and your character?

The challenge is to ask God to show you where the imbalance is and then take one practical step toward correction. If you have been harsh, look for an opportunity to extend grace to someone who does not deserve it. If you have been drifting, open the Word and let truth anchor you again.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Am I trying to earn something from God that He has already freely given me?
• Do I actually believe I am fully accepted by the Father in Christ, or am I still trying to prove myself to Him?
• Where in my life am I leaning too far toward grace without truth, or truth without grace?
• What would it look like for the people in my world to see both grace and truth in the way I live this week?

Grace and truth are not opposites. They are the two sides of the character of God, and together they are what the world saw in Jesus. They are also what the world is still waiting to see in us.