Grace & Truth

I have a simple quiz for you.

How do you respond when someone close to you — a family member, friend or coworker — falls into really serious sin? Do you uphold the biblical standards of righteousness and remind him or her that actions have consequences? Or do you put your arm around that person and say, “God still loves you, and so do I”?

Now I have another question for you — how do you think Jesus would respond in the same situation?

The answer, I believe, is that Jesus would do both. He would uphold His Father’s standards of righteousness, and He would also extend His love to the person who fell into sin.

Unfortunately, most of us have trouble following Christ’s example! For example, many of us tend to emphasize God’s high standards. But we can be quick to judge and slow to forgive. We fall into legalism. Others of us love to forgive and extend mercy. Our favorite Bible stories are ones like the Prodigal Son returning home. However, we hate to hurt or offend anyone, and so we end up tolerating sin.

This tendency to veer one way or another is why I have been so blessed by a book written by Randy Alcorn. It’s entitled The Grace and Truth Paradox: Responding with Christlike Balance. Order this remarkable book today by clicking the picture.

Randy begins The Grace and Truth Paradox with a simple, two-point checklist for being like Jesus. It’s found in John 1:14, which declares.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

You see, Scripture compacts the character of Christ into two essential ingredients—grace and truth. And these two qualities are exactly what we need in our lives today!

Grace is the first trait mentioned in the Book of John. It’s the quality that made sinners love to be around Jesus. They flocked to hear Him preach and eagerly asked Him for healing. This grace was on full display when the woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus — He didn’t condemn her.

Wherever grace appears, it’s like a breath of fresh air or a cool spring shower in a parched and brittle world!

But grace is only one side of the coin. Truth was also on full display in the life of Jesus!

Truth motivated Jesus to say, “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20). Truth made our Lord boil in anger when He saw the moneychangers in the temple and truth made Him drive them out.

And when He extended His grace to the woman caught in adultery, Jesus also told her, “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11). He upheld His Father’s highest standards.

Unfortunately, we Christians have difficulty incorporating both grace and truth in our lives. We tend to overemphasize one or the other. We either drive people away from God or cheapen grace to the point it has no effect.

I struggle with this myself. I have a library full of theological books that proclaim the truth, and I love delving into them. But when I immerse myself in the facts of our faith, sometimes I can forget about the needs of the people around me. I can overlook their frailties and even overlook my own failings!

On the other hand, sometimes it’s difficult for me to confront a fellow believer or loved one and speak the truth to them in love.

That’s why Randy Alcorn’s book is such a powerful resource. I believe you’ll find this book to be a practical, life-changing tool, because we’re all faced with situations where grace and truth are needed.

For example, you may know coworkers who don’t know the Lord. Many of these people have been hurt by “religion” — and that’s their excuse to stay away from church. Others are living in outright sin, directly violating God’s laws.

Or perhaps you have family members who have strayed from the Lord. A teenage son or daughter is dabbling in drugs or immorality. Or a husband or wife is caught in a harmful habit.

Then there are friends at church or in Bible study . . . the woman who maliciously gossips or the man who thinks pornography is no big deal.

What do these coworkers, loved ones and friends need from us? How should we respond to them?

Do they need to know that God loves them and we do too? Of course! Without genuine love from us, we only drive them further from God.

However, these people also need to hear the truth. They need to be confronted with the righteousness found in God’s Word. They need someone to say lovingly, “This is God’s standard, the only way to find real happiness.”

In short, they need us to model grace and truth in our lives — just like Jesus did!

That’s why I hope you’ll purchase The Grace and Truth Paradox. Just 92 pages long, this book can be read in a few sittings. Because of its compact size, you can slip it into a briefcase or purse to read in spare moments. Yet I truly believe that this small but powerful book can help transform your thinking and give you new encouragement to follow Christ’s example.

The principles in The Grace and Truth Paradox may help you mend a relationship that is painfully strained . . . win a loved one for Christ . . . or restore a fellow believer who has fallen into sin.

You see, when we finally balance grace and truth in our lives, people can get a clear picture of who Jesus is just by looking at us! And as we let Christ’s life flow through us, God’s transforming power can begin to work.

On the other hand, when we fall short, the results can be devastating . . .

If we overemphasize truth, we focus too much on sin and God’s law. We can grow coldhearted and legalistic. We may dehumanize sinful people and forget that God loves everyone so much He sent His Son for them.

Or we may err on the side of grace. We may find ourselves compromising our principles. People might not even know we are Christians because we’re so worried about offending someone.

But with God’s help, we can achieve balance in our lives. And The Grace and Truth Paradox is a great tool for that purpose.

You can purchase a copy of The Grace and Truth Paradox by CLICKING HERE.