Lesson 114:
Grace Defined, Grace Divine
Kentucky Chaplain David Chaltas
This week one of my dear friends and coworkers asked me the definition of Grace. Then she asked others the same question. Some of the definitions the she received included the following: “Grace is undeserved love, grace is the unmerited favor of God, and grace is a gift of unconditional love, which you have neither earned nor deserved.” Grace is mentioned 170 times in the Bible. But what is grace?
Whenever I think of grace, I think of amazing grace and then my mind wonders to the story of John Newton. John was born in London, England on July 24, 1725. He was the son of a captain that owned a merchant ship. John sailed the seas with his father and at the age of 19, he was impressed into service on the Harwich (man-of-war ship) but soon deserted due to receiving poor treatment. Upon capture he was beaten and busted in rank. He later transferred to a slave ship. He was severely abused by his master but good fortune came in 1748 when a friend of his father, a captain of a ship, rescued him for his plight.
He soon became captain of a ship and during a violent storm, he had what he referred to as a, “Great deliverance’ in which he felt that God had spoken to him through the storm. He recorded in his captain’s log that he thought the ship would sink and stated, “Lord, have mercy upon us.” He felt that God, in His infinite wisdom, had indeed shed His grace on him and the crew. The date of his conversion experience was May 10, 1748 and he reflected upon that date by humbling himself to God’s will. He wrote the song, Amazing Grace, in gratitude to his Creator’s grace of forgiveness. He began studying, in an effort to better himself and by the end of his life had written 280 songs of praise (refer to the Olney hymns).
So the answer to ‘what is grace’ is a complex one that can only be answered with the personal knowledge identified by God’s unconditional love for the sinner, with the sinner’s faith in salvation. In Ephesians 2:4-9, Paul's definition of Grace states; “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. In 1Corinthians 15:10, Paul states, "But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." To me this shows us that we are what we are due to God’s grace through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross. One of my favorite verses pertaining to grace is, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). We as mortals can not even explain eternity when given the example of the universe (what is beyond the last star? A wall? Then what is beyond the wall?) How can we even begin to fathom God’s grace for us? We can’t. The simple truth is that his grace sustains us and through His love we are new creatures.
General Lee understood the concept of grace, as recorded in so many stories. An example follows in prose that tells of his forgiving nature and grace. The poem tells of a stranger that called upon Lee dress in faded blue and as Lee bid him farewell, Parson Pendleton came by and asked Lee was he aware that he had been talking to one of those people. Lee’s response was that he was one of those that fought against us but, “We must not hold it against him.”
We Must Not Hold it Against Him He was talking to a stranger While standing by his gate. But there seemed to be no danger As each recalled his fate. Lee handed him some money As he bid him adieu. It struck me kinda funny: The man was wearin’ blue. When asked he simply listened With silence for a while. “We must not hold that against him We’re all united now.” I later saw the soldier Dressed in faded blue. I asked him, getting bolder Who he’d been talking too. “It was a kindly old man. His name I can’t recall. But with his out stretched hand He has given me his all.” “For I was broke and all alone He asked me in to eat. I’m a soldier going home With shoes now on my feet.” I could not come to tell him Our general he had met. Lee’s love for God compelled him: For that I love him yet.