Cutting Off Grace

“See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God.”—Hebrews 12:15

Grace vs. Law. The Law is a mirror to our soul, revealing to us its wrinkles and imperfections—the true state of our hearts. But grace kindly covers up what the Law reveals, and that grace is made available by the blood of the Lamb.

Law and grace go hand in hand. We cannot appreciate grace unless we understand the Law. Law reveals the extent of the damage done by our sin, while grace rebuilds and restores us. Grace goes where Law cannot. The Law kills, but grace gives life. The Law convicts, grace sets free. The Law restricts and limits, while grace liberates and enables the child of God within us to live at peace.

Each recipient of salvation receives grace when he enters onto the highway of holiness by way of the onramp of Jesus Christ and Him alone. Each of us must travel on this highway of holiness, staying within the confines of the rails of truth (Proverbs 16:17). There are many who have elected not to traverse this wild and wonderful highway, but for all of those who have, they would not trade it for the world. This highway has only one destination, the city of God (Psalm 84:5).

Along the highway of holiness, there are casualties that have crashed because of their sin, neglecting the guardrails of truth, thus wrecking their lives and causing others to despair and wreck themselves. Whenever there is a crash upon the highway, God sends His ambulance of grace to nurture and restore those who have been hurt or devastated by Satan’s deceptive schemes.

As God’s ambulance of grace makes its way to hurt believers, we must make every effort not to get in its way. Many of us have driven along, moving aimlessly, losing direction, not realizing that we are cutting off grace! We all need to pull over (set self aside!) and let God’s ambulance through to others who need grace. But for some of us, we want Law and justice, and we refuse to pull over and let the ambulance of grace through. We all need grace, but in our pride and desire for righteousness we sometimes can make grace very difficult for others to obtain. Sure, we want grace for ourselves, but sometimes for others we cry out for “justice.” We must resist this selfishness and self-righteousness, because not one of us can stand before God in our own merit but rather as beggars who rely upon the indescribably kind and sacrificial grace of God. To hinder grace for others, or to wish to hoard it for ourselves, is contrary to the heart of God and indicative of a cold and proud heart. Grace gives life, right standing, and righteousness, not based upon Law (what one does or does not do), but through faith, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith…”—Ephesians 2:8. Grace saves us through our belief or trust in Him. We believe in the Giver (God) who gives the Gift (grace). And we respond accordingly. It was grace that saved us, and it is grace that sustains us when we fall. Let us never look disdainfully at a brother or sister who has fallen, but let us reach out in humility, recognizing our shared dependence on God for our very lives.

Making way for the ambulance of grace can seem annoying at times, because it can be inconvenient for us. We are traveling along when we see the lights of grace in our rearview mirror. We may pull over out of duty, not out of joy. We are more frustrated by the inconvenience of pulling over than we are relieved and empowered by those on their way to the hospital of healing by the ambulance of grace!

How often do we in our negligence cut off grace from reaching others? Are we annoyed at the effort that it sometimes takes to extend that grace? Like the self-righteous brother of the Prodigal Son, we may be tempted to feel some degree of frustration when grace comes to others, yet when we are injured on the highway we want grace to get there as soon as possible! Our job is not to stop grace, but to let it get to others as quickly as possible, knowing that we too have at one time or another been a recipient of that same grace. So, let’s pull over along the highway when we see the lights of grace in our rearview mirrors, and let grace through to those hurting on the highway. And may the Lord’s ambulance of grace make it to our hurt brother or sister quickly so that they may feel and know the wonderful healing power of His matchless and sufficient grace. Amen.