An Age Of Grace

John 12:44-50

I have come to save the world and not to judge it. (John 12:47)

MEDIEVAL CHRISTIAN THINKERS paid a lot of attention, with almost mathematical obsession, to degrees of sin—which sins resulted in certain consequences, which categories of righteousness and unrighteousness merited which levels of rewards and punishments in the afterlife hierarchy, and how long each degree of sin detained a person before he or she reached the ultimate paradise. The entire framework, however varied and fluid it was, reflected not the Kingdom of God but the world’s desire for meticulous justice. Society was full of injustices; the church envisioned a system that worked, even in the afterlife.

We can understand that. Something gnaws at us when people get away with evils and injustices. We want them to pay. And we are right to expect authorities to keep the peace and establish order in society. That’s the role of government in this world, and God has made it clear through the prophets that he is fully on the side of justice. But if we apply our vengeance instinct to personal relationships and spiritual adversaries—and to ourselves—we run into a problem. All are guilty of multiple offenses. We need a Savior who forgives, cleanses, and renews. None of us can bear the weight of our own flaws, weaknesses, and sins.

We are called to demonstrate another way, an alternative to a world full of payback—a Kingdom of grace. We can’t live in both systems at the same time, selectively applying justice to some and grace to others and ourselves. It’s all or nothing. When we enter into God’s grace for us by faith, we also enter into an understanding that we are to give what we have received. That’s how his Kingdom works. We have been thoroughly forgiven; we are to thoroughly forgive.

Jesus was not sent into this world on a mission of judgment. Neither are you. His mission statement at the synagogue of Nazareth declared a time of God’s favor (Luke 4:18-19), and we are to declare the same. As a minister of God’s search-and-recovery mission in this world, embody the culture of grace.

{Jesus, you have proven that hearts grow full in a climate of love; it’s the way of your Kingdom. Thank you for your grace in my life. May others experience it through me. Amen.