Balance Is A Key To All Of Life
Balance is a key to all of life. Biological balance is the intricate formula that sustains life. The quality of your life is affected by the balance of diet, rest, and exercise. Emotional balance is the key to one’s sanity. We talk about the “balance of power” in politics, the “balancing of the books” in finances, and the “work life balance” as a key to human flourishing. But for the Christian there is no balance as important as the balance of GRACE & TRUTH.
Striking a balance is not as easy as it sounds. We are prone to imbalance as sure as not. Most of us tend to think of ourselves as de facto “balanced” human beings. But the truth is that we tend to err on either side of the life sustaining balance that is needed to stay viable as a Christian. Extremes are the norm. People talk about “binge” activities today as if it is an honourable activity, while in reality, binging is an expression of an inability to properly regulate one’s life.
Proverbs 11:1 says, “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.” It’s a marketplace warning to merchants not to cheat their customers out of more than is honest. A shady sales associate could potentially rig the balances in their favour, misrepresenting the real weight of a customer’s purchase. God calls cheating an “abomination.” Transfer that idea to life. Overemphasizing or inaccurately representing any given idea can be deadly to the soul. Overcommitting to a good thing still leaves you imbalanced.
The imbalance in our public life is dizzying. A lot of the information that is reported in popular media is slanted either to the right or to the left. It’s hard to find voices that will strike a “middle of the road” balance. Justice is just as imbalanced in today’s courts. The guilty get off with a slap on the wrist while victims are left with no recourse.
Now back to the idea of the perfect balance of grace and truth. Note the tension in the words. Truth, said Jesus, can set you free, but the New Testament also adds that we are to “speak the truth in love.” It takes discernment to know when to say what needs to be said. You can be too early in what needs to be said or too late. So too if all you do is speak truth without grace, you are imbalanced. And if all you do is extend grace to people without also telling them the truth, you are an imbalanced Christian.
Sadly, too many Christians are known to live in the extreme of grace or truth. The fact of the matter is that you can’t have grace without truth, and you can’t have truth without grace. Both are God’s great gift to us. Grace is His unconditional love, while truth is the unbiased facts of life eternal. Grace and truth balance each other. They are conjoined twins that can never be separated if Christianity is to thrive.
Our Lord Jesus is the one perfect balance of grace and truth. That’s why John said, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The glory John refers to here is not that of the majestic shekinah that settled over the Tabernacle in the Old Testament. It’s the glory of His humility to become flesh in order to presence Himself among us. He lived with us in compassion and love all the while calling us to repentance and faith. He came to reveal the way to the Father, and He did so with breathtaking, stunning gentleness. He preached the Gospel boldly, confronted sin bravely, exposed darkness ruthlessly, rebuked oppressive religious hypocrisy all the while forgiving, restoring, healing and loving us.
Join me this Sunday as we study this great balance of “grace and truth” from John 1:14-18. Our identical services are at 9AM and 11AM. If you are unable to join us, you can watch our livestream on multiple platforms (citycentrebaptist.ca).
Grace Brings Salvation
Christmas has always been one of the hardest and best seasons of the year for me. This season always strikes both April and me with a bit of loneliness. Several of our closest loved ones died in December.
BUT we realize it’s THE best time of the year for all Christians because it’s the celebration of the hope and peace that came to earth in a tiny little baby boy named Jesus. “A virgin shall conceive, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people for their sins.” Christmas is THE season of GRACE! Just think about it. On that first Christmas, waiting became receiving, hope was fulfilled, prayers were answered, and prophecy was fulfilled.
Christmas is THE season of GRACE because:
- Grace describes God’s heart toward humanity even after we continue to sin against Him. God’s grace is the source and supply of our salvation from sin and its consequences. Most people are confused about salvation. BUT Christmas is God’s unmistakable revelation on how to be saved; i.e., only through the indescribable gift that He gave to the world that first Christmas. Do you recall the way that Paul framed this idea when writing to his dear friend Titus? He said that “the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.”
- Grace anchors me to truth. John’s “nativity” story shoots off in a totally different direction than the Synoptic Gospels. John focuses on the “eternal” ancestry of Jesus and shouts that with the arrival of Jesus “grace and truth” came in perfect harmony. Our love of the doctrines of grace must always be bounded by the truth. Grace that ignores truth is no grace at all. It’s mislabeled, heartless indifference.
- Grace produces joy. I stumbled on a quote in the Christian History magazine by Martin Luther recently about JOY found in the Christmas story. He wrote that “there is such richness and goodness in this Nativity that if we should see and deeply understand, we should be dissolved in perpetual joy.” There was a lot of joy that first Christmas time. Remember how Luke records it, “There were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.’”
- Grace teaches me how to respond to others. If God treats me with such grace, I need to respect and honour others in the same manner. Grace follows grace. As Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who trespass against us.” It’s no accident that the Bible describes the act of generosity as an act of grace. “But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8). Christians celebrate God’s indescribable gift in part by generously giving from what He has entrusted to us. Grace begets grace. Kindness and generosity begets kindness and generosity.
