Grace is NOT FAIR!

This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing.”  I traveled to Georgia this weekend to help one of my friends celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary.  While on the road I was thinking about God’s grace and a thought occurred to me that emphasizes why grace seems to hard to receive.  It’s a simple reason: grace is not fair.  This thought is not original, but it helps me remember that I am not God and He is not me.  Let me explain.  When we read the Bible we almost always read it from our own perspective.  However, this is God’s book and His ways are far above ours.  When we do something wrong, our mentality tells us that we should be punished for it.  That’s why we often “feel” like we have disqualified ourselves from God’s best when we mess up.  Why?  Because that would be fair.  We want things to be fair, so when we do good, we expect to be rewarded; and when we do bad, we expect to be punished.  However, God does not see things the way we do.  He made plans for us before we were born and He already knew all we would do right and all we would do wrong, and He still made plans for us to succeed.  Our failures are not news to God, so He is not necessarily looking for equity, He is looking for submission to His plans and purposes.

I keep providing you this passage from 1st Corinthians because it is such an great example of grace.  If Paul would have said, “God takes the best and brightest minds from all over the world, the strongest men and women with the greatest work ethic, to use for His glory”; we would not have a hard time understanding that.  That seems logical and it would be something we can all strive for.  If we looked at the people God used and we saw exceptionally bright, hard working, and unquestionably righteous men and women, we could accept that with a human mentality without issue.  If I were able to tell you that Paul was selected to write over half the New Testament because he won the “best Apostle” competition, then your human mind could easily wrap itself around the idea.  However, when I tell you that Paul was not even in the running, that he was not even one of the original Apostles, and that he was actually on the opposite team persecuting everyone who named the name of Jesus, and God selected him anyway and used him in a greater way than all of the other Apostles, that does not make sense.  That is not fair.  That is somewhat scandalous.  But that, my friends, is grace.

So what does this mean to you today?  Two things:
1.  Grace is not fair.  When I teach on sowing and reaping, cause and effect, and the free will of humans, the teaching makes sense because we can logically understand how we reap whatever we sow.  That’s fair and it seems like we are getting (good or bad) what we deserve.  However, if you deserve it, then it is not grace.  With grace God freely gives you what you do not deserve.  God is not doing it to be fair, He is doing it because He loves you.

2.  Don’t fight grace with your human mindset.  You may not always understand what God wants to give you and why, but just accept the fact that He loves you and receive all that He wants to do in your life.  When your human mindset tells you that you should be punished, and the Holy Spirit is telling you that He wants to bless you richly, don’t fight it, just accept it, and allow yourself to become overwhelmed by God’s love and grace.

Closing Confession:  Father, I thank You for Your grace.  The more I learn about grace, the more I understand why it is so amazing.  You know me better than I know myself.  You know all the times I have messed up and You know how my mindset immediately attempts to force me over into self-condemnation.  Thank You Father for loving me, forgiving me, and calling me by Your grace.  You already knew all the failures I would ever commit and You called me anyway.  Not because I was the best.  Not because I was the brightest.  Not because I earned it.  Not because I deserve it.  No, Father, You called me by Your grace and for that I will never cease to give You praise.  I realize that grace is not fair, so I will stop disqualifying myself from what You have qualified me for.  I accept all You want to do in my life and I seek to fulfill Your Kingdom plans and purposes before I die.  I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.