“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” – John 15:13
I recently started listening to a sermon series called ‘Activating Grace’ from Christ Church Fulham. One of the pictures that Stuart Lees paints in the series is the principle of Grace. And what that might look like in everyday life, knowing that we are now ‘friends’ of Jesus.
We tend to lean towards the principles of either justice or mercy. Especially when someone has done something wrong and they are caught out. These are both biblical principles. However, it is by the principal of grace that we are saved.
The principal of grace
He speaks about a hypothetical situation where someone named Paul steals 1000 pounds and he then gets caught. The principle of justice would say that Paul should go to jail and take responsibility for his actions. The principal of mercy, which at times might be more popular in the church today, is that Paul would not be punished for his actions, he would quite simply be let off to carry on with life. When it comes to the principal of Grace, however, Paul would not only be let off from the penalty of his crime – but would actually receive more than what He stole in the first place! God does not only restore us, but He also shows favour.
This principle of Grace is the currency of our salvation. Ephesians 2:8 says that we are saved by Grace and through faith. This means that God no longer holds anything against us, because His son Jesus literally absorbed all the punishment that was due to us because of our sin. For more about God’s amazing plan of salvation, read more here.
We are friends of Jesus
There is mercy, in that we no longer need to pay the penalty for the sin we commit. However, Jesus Christ calls us to an awareness of His scandalous Grace lavished over us as His children. We aren’t just saved into heaven by the skin of our teeth, instead the principle of Grace applies to us today. We are enabled to walk in the inheritance of sonship, knowing confidently who we truly are because of Christ.
“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. “ – John 15:15
This Easter, we encourage you to think about what God’s Grace might look like practically in your everyday life. If this message brings to mind any way in which you have personally encountered the Grace of God in your life, we would love to hear from you!
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