Grace Without Truth
Romans 1:32 They know God’s law says that anyone who lives like that should die. But they not only continue to do these things themselves, but they also encourage others who do them.
We’ve been chatting these past few days about the truth – God’s truth. And we’ve seen that truth without grace is but a steely imitation. Truth without grace isn’t God’s truth at all. But what about grace without truth?
Political tribalism is a real thing these days. And to be honest, to the right of that spectrum, it’s not all too difficult to find graceless purveyors of God’s truth. People who, as Carey Nieuwhof puts it, will crush others with the hard edge of the truth. We’ve all seen it.
But at the opposite end of that political spectrum, toward the left, what you often see is grace without truth. Again, let me quote Carey Nieuwhof:
Remove truth from grace and you don’t have grace, but a spineless imitation. (As you’ve already figured out, this is the shadow side of liberalism.)
Now, these references to the left and right, to conservatism and liberalism, may upset some people. Fair enough … but I too have political leanings, so I’m not picking on any one group here. The important thing is to speak God’s truth, God’s Word, into our contemporary situation. So, here’s His Word on grace without truth:
Romans 1:32 They know God’s law says that anyone who lives like that should die. But they not only continue to do these things themselves, but they also encourage others who do them.
So you can love someone one, you can be full of grace toward them, but unless you also bring God’s truth to the table, then what you’re giving them is a spineless imitation of grace. What you’re saying is, in effect, forget about all that moral stuff in the Bible, that’s from yesteryear. It doesn’t apply anymore, because these days anything goes.
But that’s simply not true. Grace without truth leads to a Christless eternity.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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