Grace in a nutshell

The stories in the previous sections underscore two realities of what grace is all about:  

Grace is costly. Grace is a gift that costs everything for the one who gives it. The bishop in Les Miserables gives Jean Valjean his silver dishes and candlesticks, the only belongings he possesses that have any value. In the parable of the prodigal son, the father gives a costly gift, too: he takes on the humiliation due his son when he sprints out to him. In “Babette’s Feast,” Babette’s gift to the church congregation costs her everything – the 10,000 francs that she’s won. 

Grace is undeserved by the recipient. In each of these three stories, none of the recipients of grace had any claim to the gift they received. They didn’t deserve the gift, nor could they have earned it in any way. Valjean is given the candlesticks in addition to the silver dishes he’s already stolen. The prodigal son deserves shame, punishment, and servitude – not the gift the father gives him on the road home. In Norre Vosburg, the church members, in judgment and scepticism, do their utmost to resist the delicious spread that Babette prepares – so obviously, they don’t deserve to partake of something that cost her everything. 

Grace, then, is the idea behind a gift that costs the giver everything and is wholly undeserved by the recipient. All that the receiver has to do with grace is receive it. Or, as the general in “Babette’s Feast” says, “Grace demands nothing from us but that we shall await it with confidence and acknowledge it in gratitude.” 

Receiving God’s Gift of Grace: Salvation

From a Christian perspective, grace is what God shows to humans by offering salvation – freedom from the punishment of sin and the promise of eternal life – through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God’s grace is costly because it cost Jesus Christ his life. God’s grace is also undeserved – humans have sinned against him from the Fall of Adam and Eve and have done nothing – and can do nothing – to earn it. 

In order to understand why Christians believe all people need such a gift in the first place, take a moment to explore Salvation 101, or the four basic principles of salvation. When you understand these, the necessity of God’s grace starts to make sense. The four principles are 

God loves and wants a relationship with each person.

Everyone has sinned. And this sin, whether large or small, separates people from God. (See Chapter 4 to find out more about a Christian’s beliefs about sin.)

God came to earth as Jesus Christ (flip to Chapter 5) and paid the costly penalty for this sin.

Anyone who accepts this gift of grace receives salvation.

 

I discuss each one of these ideas in this section.