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Summary:
John 1:14 tells us Jesus brought a gospel of grace and truth. But so often we only share the grace or the truth of the gospel, not both. Learn how to share the whole gospel and to beware of messages that omit part of the gospel.
Podcast Transcript:
Welcome to Journey Together, a podcast for Christian women who want a deeper relationship with God. I’m your host, Brigette, and today we’re talking about grace and truth.
Your 2024 Word of the Year
Before we get started, if you chose a Word of the Year for 2024 and God has already used that Word to speak to you this year, I want to hear from you! I’m hoping to do a special podcast episode where I share stories of how God is speaking to you through your Word. This is a great opportunity to encourage other women in their relationship with God by sharing what God has done in your life! You can contact me at my website, brigettehenry.com, that’s (spell). Or you can find my email in the show notes.
Introduction
I keep thinking I need to create lighter podcast episodes, like episodes with a more lighthearted or relaxed feel. But God keeps giving me these big topics to tackle, so I guess that’s what we’ll keep doing! If you start to feel overwhelmed as you’re listening to this one, keep listening to the end. I’m going to cover a lot of context for the passages I use today, so you’ll want to hang in there to get a full understanding of what I’m talking about. And as always, if you have any questions or comments, please message me! You can find the link to email me in the show notes.
John 1:14
In John 1:14, John writes, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The “Word” in this passage is Jesus, and He brought with Him a gospel of grace and truth.
Years ago, I heard a pastor share this idea that there are two parts to the gospel, grace and truth. The truth of the gospel is that we are sinful and unable to save ourselves from the consequences of our sin. But God made a way for us to be saved by sending His Son to pay the penalty for our sin. The grace of the gospel tells us God sent His Son to die for us because He loves us, and He wants a relationship with us.
After I first heard this concept preached, I started to notice how often we preach a partial gospel. We may tell others about God’s infinite love for us, but we don’t tell them about their need for salvation. Or we stress our sin and depravity and the need for change, but we don’t share God’s grace and love.
I think this quote from G. Campbell Morgan’s book, “Searchlights from the Word” sums this up perfectly:
“God is grace, and truth. Not one without the other. Not the other apart from the one. In His government there can be no lowering of the simple and severe standard of Truth; and there is no departure from the purpose and passion of Grace.”
So, today, we’re going to talk about the beautiful gospel of Jesus Christ and the danger of preaching a partial gospel. But before we jump in, I want to take a moment to pray for today’s topic.
Prayer
God, you are so good to us. You give us more blessings than we could ever deserve. We know that the message of Christ’s death and resurrection is sacred and beautiful, and we want to share it with others the right way. We don’t want to hold back your grace, and we don’t want to hold back the truth. We want to be immersed in the reality of Who You are and what You’ve done for us. Help us to learn today how to communicate your gospel to others. Show us where we bend the truth or withhold grace. Give us a passion for sharing the whole truth of your gospel, and guide us as we share your grace and truth with the world. Amen.
From the Law to Grace and Truth
We started in John 1:14 and, a few verses later, in John 1:17, John repeats this concept of grace and truth:
“for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
John creates a connection between the Law of Moses and the Grace and Truth of Jesus Christ. He is explaining to a primarily Jewish audience that Christ is not eliminating the Law they have followed for centuries, He’s fulfilling it. Jesus shared this idea during His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:17-20. He says,
“Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”
The Law of Moses
If you’re unfamiliar with the Old Testament, the “Law of Moses” might have you scratching your head. Generally, when someone in scripture refers to the “Law” they’re referring to the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. These books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) are all believed to have been written by Moses and tell us about creation, the fall of man, and the beginning of God’s awesome plan to rescue us from sin.
The Law and the Prophets, which are the books that detail the lives of the prophets and the messages God gave them, make up the Old Testament. And the Old Testament points towards a future Savior, who is Jesus Christ. When Jesus came to earth, He fulfilled the promises God made to send us a Savior.
Do We Still Follow the Law?
But many Jews who witnessed Christ’s death and resurrection were confused. Was the Law that was established by Moses no longer relevant? Did it mean anything? What rules did they still need to follow?
Paul explains this well in Galatians 3:23-26:
“Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for through faith you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus.”
The Law acted as a temporary guardian, a guide to help us live holy and righteous lives. But we cannot save ourselves, and following the Law of Moses can’t save us either. So the Law held its place as a guide for holiness until Christ came and made a way for us to be saved through His sacrifice. Because of that sacrifice, we can have a personal relationship with God, and holy living is an extension of that relationship. The Law has fulfilled its purpose through Christ.
A Gospel of Grace and Truth
As John 1:14,17 explained, Christ brought a gospel of Grace and Truth. But what does John mean by Grace and Truth?
When someone shows us grace, they’re giving us a good thing that we don’t deserve. That’s what Christ did when He died for our sins so that we can spend eternity with Him. He loves us and wants a relationship with us, so He did everything He could to make that happen. That’s the grace of the gospel.
On the other hand, truth is fact and reality. The reality is that we are sinful and God is holy and just; He knows a penalty has to be paid for our sins. He sent His Son to pay that penalty so that we could be saved. That’s the truth of the gospel.
Now here’s the problem I have with the way many churches and individuals share the gospel: they only share half. They either tell someone with overflowing exuberance that God loves them and ignore the need for salvation, or they detail how sinful and wretched people are without reminding them that there is grace and forgiveness. Both perspectives are incredibly dangerous. The gospel requires truth and grace.
A Gospel Without Grace Brings Shame
So what happens when we remove grace from the gospel? If we are constantly told we are wretched human beings, undeserving of Christ’s love and affection and murderers of Christ we can become overwhelmed with shame. This is the perspective I was exposed to growing up. I grew up in Baptist churches, and they tend to lean towards truth more than grace. That’s not a judgment against Baptist churches, that’s just the honest truth. Few churches balance the grace and truth of the gospel well.
It is true that we are deserving of hell and God has made a way for us to be saved if we choose to accept it. Knowing that should fill us with overwhelming gratitude and thankfulness. Unfortunately, an overemphasis on the truth of the gospel without being reminded of the grace of the gospel can cause overwhelming shame. Christ died for our shame too; He has already forgiven us for everything we could possibly be ashamed of.
When the shame of our depravity becomes too much for us to bear, it becomes a weapon in the hands of the enemy, making us depressed, hopeless and ineffective for God’s kingdom. We were not meant to wallow in that shame. We were meant to be reminded of both parts of the gospel.
A Gospel Without Truth Brings Confusion
A gospel of grace without truth may actually be worse than truth without grace. If we are only presented with the grace of the gospel, we’re told we are loved, cherished, uniquely made by God. And all of those things are true! But, sometimes that gospel is preached without initiative. In other words, people who hear a grace-only gospel don’t realize they have to believe in or accept Christ. They just embrace the warm fuzzies and move on with their lives.
Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
Believing in Jesus is a choice, a life-changing choice. We cannot save ourselves, but we can, and we need to, accept His gift of salvation.
Universalism
Many who embrace a grace-only gospel believe in Universalism, which is a concept I covered in episode four when I talked about Spiritual Formation and the Gospel. Universalism is the belief that God is going to save everyone. Some Universalists believe that hell is just a place where we are cleansed so that we can be righteous. Others believe in some form of purgatory, where we are given the opportunity to make a new choice.
Scripture is very clear that is not the case. Hebrews 9:28 says,
“So also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” (Emphasis mine)
John 3:16 tells us that those who believe will have eternal life. Acts 10:43 says that “those who believe” will receive “forgiveness of sins”. Romans 6:23 describes salvation as a “gift”, and gifts must be received. Believing God loves you isn’t enough. You have to believe that Christ is His Son, that He died and rose again to save you from your sins, and you need to accept His gift of salvation.
“All Roads Lead to God”
There are others who believe that people don’t have to know or worship God. They believe that someone who worships Buddha or Hindu gods may also be saved, they just don’t realize they’re worshiping the same God we do. This is usually referred to as “all roads lead to God”.
This is also unbiblical and very misleading. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that “in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (emphasis mine) In John 14:6, while Christ was on earth, He told us, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Scripture makes it very clear that other gods cannot save us, and they are not the same as the One True God. We must believe in the One True God. No one comes to the Father except through Christ.
Preaching a Balanced Gospel
It is difficult to tell someone their sin is going to take them to hell. And it’s hard to explain there’s nothing they can do to save themselves except turning to God. Those are difficult conversations. It’s easier to have a super positive, “God loves you!” conversation and never clarify that we are in need of a Savior.
I do want to be clear here; in my experience, those who were only exposed to a gospel of truth need a healthy dose of grace. I know I did. And likewise, those who are only exposed to a gospel of grace may need a healthy dose of truth. But both of those things can be done kindly, and in a Christ-like manner. Sometimes we get our theology wrong and need to be corrected, and that’s okay! We pick ourselves up and try again, because sharing the gospel isn’t something that God has asked us to do passively. It was Christ’s last command when He left earth:
“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.” Matthew 28:19
How to Live the Whole Gospel
Preaching a whole gospel begins with living a whole gospel. Let me ask you a few questions:
- Do you live like you’re forgiven by God? Or do you wallow in shame?
- Do you live like you’re loved by God? Or do you believe you’re unlovable?
- Do you live like you believe in God? Or do you just “do church” on Sundays, or Christmas and Easter?
- Do you live like you’re saved from your sin? Or do your sinful desires run your life?
We can preach a gospel of grace and truth until our faces turn blue, but are we living like we believe it? Like we believe Christ is the Son of God, the Savior we desperately need, that God sent to die for us because He loves us immeasurably?
A Personal Confession
I will confess, writing this episode really got me. This is something I care deeply about and until I worked on the script for this episode, I was pretty confident that I preached a whole gospel, in word and in action. But now I’m realizing that I am prone to wallow in shame, and most days I don’t share the gospel because I don’t believe I deserve the goodness of God’s grace. But it’s not about whether I deserve it. The grace of the gospel is that God loves me anyway.
We all tend to lean towards one side of the gospel or the other. Which side do you lean towards?
Conclusion
Thanks for sticking with me today. This was some heavy stuff! I think I spent more time praying over and researching this podcast episode than I’ve ever done before. I hope you have a new appreciation for the gospel as a whole and you’ve learned what you need to work on as you continue your journey to look more like Christ.
As always, message me if you have any questions. If you need to spend more time on this subject, start with the questions I asked in the last few minutes of the podcast. You can find the link to the podcast transcript in the show notes; that will make it easier to find those questions. And then journal through them and pray over them. Ask God to reveal your blind spots and show you what you need to surrender.
And if you think someone you know would enjoy this podcast, be sure to send it to them! Learning in community is such a beautiful part of how God made us and this episode would make a great discussion topic.
That’s all for today! I’ll see you ladies next week as we continue this spiritual journey together. Bye
Links:
Music by: Morning Garden – Acoustic Chill by Olexy on Pixabay
My website: https://brigettehenry.com
Interested in 1:1 coaching: https://brigettehenry.com/coaching
Subscribe to my weekly email: https://brigettehenry.com/subscribe
“Searchlights from the Word” by G. Campbell Morgan: https://www.amazon.com/Searchlights-Word-Campbell-Morgan-Reprint/dp/1608992918
Contact me at: brigette@brigettehenry.com
All scripture is CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
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