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And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Acts 4:33.
“And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace [or, grace upon grace]. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” John 1:16-17
If we appreciate truth, we certainly ought to appreciate grace as well. The law was truth, and the natural man can understand and promote the law, even though he cannot keep it. And “the law is light;” but it may be misrepresented as raw truth. God’s purpose in this dispensation is to introduce light with love—truth with grace—and this may only be done with a proper personal appreciation of grace. True grace does not compromise truth. Rather, it upholds it as holy, and seeks to present it graciously, humbly, and even sacrificially.
God’s character, heart, and mind are revealed in grace and truth. His veiled desire to be so revealed is intimated in the Old Testament in the repeated use of the phrase “mercy and truth” and in other ways. Let us consider a few of these:
All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. Psalm 25:10. All of His paths as regards His own were and are so characterized; and so ought ours to be, toward all of His elect. And that is constantly challenging because we do not always know whom among those we may encounter day by day may be one of His elect.
Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Psalm 85:10. We tend to naturally assume that the components of these two pairs are in conflict with one another. But they are all divine virtues, so they cannot be so opposed. We see here mercy and truth perfectly coordinated and cooperating—effectively and efficiently interdependent like two perfectly engineered and precisely meshed gear wheels. As mercy and truth so meet, so righteousness and peace sweetly complement each other.
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: Proverbs 3:3. Certainly our Lord Jesus fulfilled this injunction. It was said of Him that “Never man spake like this man.” He comforted the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1:14.
By mercy and truth iniquity is purged [or atoned for]: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil. Proverbs 16:6. It is God’s great plan and purpose to remove all sin from His sight; and this is the power and purpose of the “gospel of Christ” in Romans 1:16.
The desire [charm] of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar. Proverbs 19:22. Here are the two companion virtues linked in an indirect way—kindness and honesty—grace and truth. Grace and truth ought to characterize every man (and woman) of God. And a man who would be attractive to a woman would do well to particularly heed this simple and profound proverb.
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures [a basket or a setting] of silver. Proverbs 25:11. In Scripture, gold represents righteousness and silver redemption. What then does this passage suggest but righteousness (truth embodied in and typified by the law) presented as nestled in redemption—truth in grace—Ephesians 4:29 fulfilled!
And so, in the New Testament, we are introduced to God as He had waited and wished to be revealed—in grace and truth. The order is significant. Truth is something which we tend to think we can manage, and so we tend to have a false sense of power. Truth is both impressive and powerful, but God’s mind is that it should be presented humbly, as it was by and in our Lord Jesus Christ. The law (light, truth) condemns—grace humbles.
Grace, sacrificial and serving, is God’s way of introducing His truth in this dispensation. And grace is not only to introduce truth—it teaches truth. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Titus 2:11-14.
God’s grace is holy because it leads us to God, and to the true knowledge of God. “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3:18. In Ephesians, where the highest truth is presented, grace is presented first and foremost; and we find truth humbly represented—“as the truth is in Jesus.” Ephesians 4:21.
We may know amazing grace and tremendous truth. Nevertheless, we too often reverse God’s order and put truth first—we emphasize truth at the expense of grace. Truth is indeed essential—the conscience is the door to the heart. But, for tenderly touching the conscience, grace is essential. Note the Scriptures quoted or referenced in this article and substitute the word “truth” for the word “grace” and see what an awful difference it makes. Truth is plainly no substitute for grace. No doubt it is because of a lack of grace on our part that His truth is presently so unappreciated and so un-recognizable to so many. Consider 2 Corinthians 8:9 and Ephesians 2:8.
There is here definitely no desire or purpose to denigrate truth in any way, but rather to challenge and to encourage the reader (as the writer) to appreciate and to present God’s truth God’s way. “God is light” and “God is love” are companion truths. The light was revealed first in order that the love might be appreciated. Then the love was revealed that the light might be appreciated. It is the grace of Philippians 2:1-11 which precedes and provides the effective light of Philippians 2:12. Truth is best reinforced with truth, but best represented with grace.
JAK
Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Hebrews 12:28.
Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of His grace.” Acts 14:3.
And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. Acts 20:32.