Grace | Daily Devotional

“Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.”

Psalm 32:1

In the Old Testament, certain English translations use the word “lovingkindness” for the Hebrew word “hesed” or the Greek word “charis.” Although it’s a sort of archaic, clunky-sounding word, it does well in communicating both a beneficial, intimate kind of action (“loving”) and a positive, gentle state of being (“kindness”). God’s grace is more than an absence of bad consequences; it is a proactive enacting of God’s goodness and love towards His people. One local minister appropriately likened God’s grace to His “operating system.”

The grace of salvation by way of negation: a partial picture

When someone starts talking about defining God’s grace, phrases like “unmerited favor” or “unearned love” might come to mind. Those are good definitions for quick reference, but they might not capture all that might be contained in the word. This is in part because we are often using words that give definitions by way of negation; in other words, we are saying what grace is by referencing what it isn’t.

The Bible gives us examples of God’s grace through negation, but that’s not all it is; it’s a positive disposition as well. In God’s case, that orientation is at its perfect, highest, and most holy state. As people who follow Jesus Christ and understand His words from John 10:10, we see the benefits of God’s grace in ways that not only give life, but give life in the most abundant ways. This is supremely important to us as we read, study, think, and learn about God.

Prevenient grace: the music that was playing before we recognized the tune

To clarify, God’s grace existed before sin came into creation and His grace was not stopped because of it. One of the most profound dimensions of God’s grace is that it goes ahead of circumstances and needs that we (as recipients of it) perceive we need it. The Apostle Paul brings this idea to light in 2 Corinthians 15:10, where he writes, “But by God’s grace I am what I am, and His grace towards me was not in vain.” Where was Paul born? How he was raised? Why did his life take the turns it did? What about the circumstances of his salvation? And the processes in his sanctification? All grace. As Shane and Shane write in their song “Fringes”: “I sing for grace, for grace, it lets me sing / And all I've ever seen or heard / Or haven’t seen or heard, it's His / There is no other all of this is but the fringes.”

If we take the aforementioned “negation” aspects, we can apply them here, but not immediately in the direction of salvation. Before salvation happens, God’s ordering of the world had to be connected to His own lovingkindness for those who would live in it. God’s grace towards Paul took a particular form that was unique to him, but our stories are just as intricately and intimately formed by the same grace.

God’s grace leaves His fingerprints over each life in ways as unique as those who receive it. As we move in our lives day to day, let us be mindful of the magnitude God’s grace has on all aspects of our lives. Not just the things that we have been saved from that are related to our sin, but the positive ways we experience life as God shapes us to be more conformed to the image of Christ.