What better topic for the inaugural post to the GTCC Blog than a brief excerpt on the idea of “grace and truth”?  The name of our new church plant, Grace and Truth Community Church, is just a name.  Ultimately, Christ is the head of His Church and this local assembly is just one part of the larger body of believers that comprise this bride of Christ.  But it is fitting that characteristics of the incarnation of our Lord were described in John 1:14 in this way, “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 (italics mine).”  The living Word Himself, Creator God, the perfectly obedient Son of God, Yahweh in flesh came to us “full of grace and truth.”  This summary of the nature of Christ is supremely instructive. 

There is no compromise of the truth in Christ.  He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6).  Jesus’ ministry is characterized by an unswerving proclamation and demonstration of the truth.  In the temptation He was not swayed by fleshly temptation, but rather stood firmly on the rock of the truth (Matt 4:1-11).  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus revealed to us the truth of the Law, revealing a far greater standard than the “letter of the law” that the Pharisees appeared so skilled at manipulating (Matt 5-7).  Even in His resurrected form, Jesus appealed to the truth of Scripture to introduce Himself to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35).  Jesus was indeed full of truth, as He said so often in Matthew 5-7, “You have heard it said…but I say to you”.  Jesus is not only full of truth, He is truth.  In Matthew 5:17 Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”  It is only fitting that some of Jesus’ last words to His disciples before He was crucified were “When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13a) and some of His last words before He ascended were, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you (my italics).” (Matt 28:18-19a)  Jesus is full of truth and both taught and modeled a life lived under the authority of Scripture in His ministry on the earth.

Yet, Jesus was also “full of grace”.  There is a time for firm chastening and even righteous indignation, but the way of Christ was characterized by grace.  His words, countenance, and even emotions are saturated with compassion, grace and mercy.  Time after time we see Jesus draw near to those whom society had ostracized.  Time after time we see a disdain in Jesus for those who would place religious burdens too hard to bear on the shoulders of the people, without lifting a finger to help them (Matt 23:24).  How easy it is for us to have a corrupt view of sanctification as we grow more distant from our own conversion and forget our time languishing on spiritual milk instead of solid food.  We should by no means lower our expectations of the converted sinner, but we ought to ”stir one another up toward love and good deeds” through a steady diet of grace and truth. 

I still recall the day outside of a supermarket where I listened to some men from a church in the area angrily and even arrogantly accost the patrons with their call to repent and be saved from hell.  Perhaps this was an attempt to follow in John the Baptist’s footsteps?  I could not help but think of Jesus, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matt 11:28-30)  There is a lesson here for us in how to be filled with “grace and truth.”  Jesus here calls on us to surrender to Him as Lord, and Master.  He is calling us to be His servants.  That is what it means to be under His “yoke”.  Can you call someone to be a slave with more sweetness and “grace” than this?  The “truth” is repentance calls for us to turn from our own authority to the authority of God Himself.  But we cannot miss the manner in which grace calls for this surrender.  However, grace goes far deeper than kind and gentle words: it flows from a sovereign plan to save rebels and God haters (Eph 2:1-10) like us; it continued through an unspeakable transaction on a hill called Calvary (2 Cor 5:21; 1 Pet 2:24-25); it results in rebels becoming sons (Eph 1:3-5), and will be finished when those rebels are finally glorified in His presence (Rom 8:29-30).  This is just one expression of the rich nature of the grace and truth our Savior has modeled for us.  Let us pray that our lives would be characterized by “grace and truth”.