On grace

In a prayer meeting with other church leaders today we got talking about grace and the gospel and church discipline and truth and so on. The question seemed to come down this: How do live by grace without compromising the truth. Now there was a lot of discussion which I can't remember or do justice to without writing a long essay, but two things stood out in the discussion.

First, we all tend towards having rules because it's a safe way to live, so we all want rules. Grace doesn't abandon rules it just says that keeping the rules isn't the solution to the root problem, sin. Judaism understands this because, when all the rules are listed and a few added in for good measure, if you ask the question, "What does it mean to walk with God?" the answer that comes back is, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, and love your neighbour as yourself." In other words, it's not about the rules it's about grace.

The second thing that painted a wonderful picture was the phrase: Wide arms and high standards.

God's arms are wide, wide enough to be inclusive of anyone who chooses to be included. But the standards are high, too high for us to achieve on our own. That's why we need Jesus, it's why we need the cross. And if you imagine wide arms set against high standards, the shape you get is the shape of the cross.