But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.”
[James 4:6 NIV]
Christians often use words to mean something entirely different from the way it is commonly used. The word 'grace' is a good example of this. If you conduct a Google search for 'grace,' this is the result. Grace means 'smoothness and elegance of movement' or 'courteous good will.' These definitions are not helpful if we want to grasp what James is telling us. Google also quotes from the Encyclopaedia Britannica and provides a theological definition which is nearer the mark.
What is the real meaning of grace?
grace, in Christian theology, the spontaneous, unmerited gift of the divine favour in the salvation of sinners, and the divine influence operating in individuals for their regeneration and sanctification.
This is such an important concept that it is worth examining what all these big words and phrases mean but taken in a different order.
Unmerited gift - this reminds us that we cannot do something to please God. We do not deserve 'grace' and this is at the heart of this important Bible truth. We all make this big mistake of imagining that religion starts with us. But the Bible makes it abundantly clear that grace starts with God and He longs to treat us in a way we don't deserve.
Spontaneous. This is not a word I have often used in relation to God's dealings with the human race. God is completely different from us. We often do things on impulse and behave in a random, unpredictable fashion. Most human religions have a god who is like us - whimsical and unpredictable. But God is overflowing with grace - he does not need to wait until we have improved. He is generous and eager to respond to us sinners.
Divine favour. If you read the story of Cain and Abel in the first book in the Bible, you discover that these two brothers were seeking to please God - to win His approval (Genesis 4:1-16). God is holy and He cannot tolerate sin. The two brothers had a totally different attitude to God. Abel had faith in God. He had the right attitude towards God. He trusted in God completely and did not challenge God. His brother Cain was resentful towards God and he never found favour with God.
Regeneration. This is just a big name for the new birth. We are born sinners and we need to be born again. This was the message Jesus gave to the religious Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus when visited Jesus in secret. By nature, we are sinners and we need a whole new start. It is not enough to try to do some home improvements to our character and our lifestyle. We need to be 'born from above.' We cannot do this ourselves - the definition from the Encyclopaedia Britannica talks about 'divine favour in the salvation of sinners' and 'divine influence operating in individuals.' We need to give up trying to improve by our own efforts and trust entirely for God to change us from the inside out. This regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a sinner. By nature, we are dead in sins, but the work of the Holy Spirit brings us alive to God.
Sanctification. This is a word which means to be made holy from two Latin words - 'sanctus' meaning holy and 'facere' to make. This is a process which begins when we are converted and become a Christian. At that moment, we are declared righteous in God's sight - judicially. We have no longer a fear of God's eternal judgement on our sin. That has been forever removed from our standing in God's sight - because we are depending on the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God's Son. But practically in our everyday lives, we will soon discover that we still have a sinful nature. The Holy Spirit will continue to work in our lives to make us more like Jesus Christ. We will grow more spiritual and develop spiritual graces as evidence of a changed life.
Notice that James talks about whether we are proud or humble in relation to receiving God's grace. God shows favour or His grace to the humble. We need to be humble enough to admit that we are sinners in need of God's salvation. If we are proud and think that we do not need God to intervene in our lives, we are denying the truth of God's word. We are rejecting the message of the Gospel. We are defying God, our Maker.
Another photo of our beautiful countryside in Autumn taken by Karren McPherson.
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