Stand Fast in Grace

I enjoy illustrations from real life, and these can be found in the scriptures, our own experiences and those of others.  Recently I read an illustration that reminded me of a past experience and caused me to consider the jarring effect grace can have on our lives--in the best way.  I smiled as I came across this story in Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman:

"During my senior year at the Christian high school I attended, Mr. Hollingsworth was my chemistry teacher.  He did something a little unusual for our last final of the year.  He had been reading an article by Charles Stanley on the grace of God and wanted to show us what grace looked like.  He handed out a test to all of us that we knew would be difficult.  We had been preparing for this test for several months.  Before we began to take the test, he told us, "I want you to read through the entire test before you begin to take it."  As we read through the test most of us realized we were in trouble.  We should have studied more.  But then I got to the end of the multiple-page test and read these words at the bottom:  "You can try and get an A by taking this test or you can just put your name on it and automatically receive an A."  This was not a difficult choice.  I immediately signed my name, walked up to the desk, and headed out, thanking Charles Stanley for saving my chemistry grade.  But there was a girl in our class who was the daughter of the biology teacher.  She was quite intelligent and had studied hard.  Apparently she got quite upset because she had spent so much time studying, and it wasn't fair that everyone else was getting an "A" for nothing.  She stayed and took the test on principle.  If she was going to get an "A" she was going to earn it.  And a fan says, "I'm not taking any handouts--I can do this on my own."  They spend their lives carrying around the heavy burden of religion and making sure others carry that weight as well." (Idleman, Kyle. Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus. Zondervan, 2016. pages 80-81)

I had a similar experience with a final exam in university.  I had been doing well in the course, and crammed for hours to ace the final test and secure top marks.  While there were tests I did not look forward to because they were unexpected or challenging I approached with trepidation, I was ready for this one:  bring it on!  As the class commenced my professor started writing a list of names on the board and mine was included among them.  He said, "If your name is on the board, you are free to go.  You have top marks and there is no need to sit the exam."  A bit surprised by this unexpected turn of events, I experienced conflicting feelings.  Like the girl who wanted to take the chemistry exam on principle, I too had spent hours studying and I didn't want to feel like I had wasted my efforts.  But then again I was receiving the grade I had worked for through the term and was free to leave, so I was glad about that.  I even felt a little guilty I was being spared sitting the exam when a hundred others weren't.

I cannot say my experience in university was a life-changing experience, but the grace shown made a lasting impact in my memory.  There are plenty of final exams I do not remember taking at all that I spent hours pouring over them, yet I do remember the exam I never took!  The comparison pastor Idleman made concerning the one who refuses to receive grace rings true in my estimation, for I have sat in that seat many times.  I have identified with the older brother in the parable who was annoyed his father showed more favour to a wayward son than him; I have also seen myself in the vineyard workers who laboured in the heat of the day imagining I deserved more than those who only worked the last hour.  Receiving God's grace changes us and transforms our perspective towards Him and others.  The one who knows they need God's grace is more apt to freely offer it to others, and how great is our need.  Without the grace of God we perish, and by grace through faith we have new life.

When God's wisdom and grace become the principle thing, it exposes how our sense of justice has been distorted by our self-righteousness.  Our frustrations over unfairness reveals our lack of love and compassion towards others.  Jews in the early church struggled with their tendency to justify loading Gentiles with the Law they nor their fathers had been able to bear.  Gentiles received the Gospel by faith in Jesus and then were deluded to imagine the work God begun in the Spirit they could accomplish by efforts of their flesh.  Romans 5:1-2 is good to recall often:  "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."  Let us stand fast and continue in the grace of God (Acts 13:43) and rejoice in the hope of God's glory.