So, i had an interesting conversation with one of my best friends today and she asked me, 'what is grace?' Well, i've given this quite a bit of thought during many long dry Presbyterian services. The conclusion i've arrived at requires defining 3 terms together...
Justice is getting what you deserve
Mercy is not getting what you deserve
and Grace is getting what you don't deserve (as is injustice on the flipside, but stay with me)
Have you read or seen some version of Les Miserables? If not, please take this moment to go here because frankly, you need to know something about it now and the next time it comes up in conversation or you need to impress a girl (if you watched Star Trek: DS9, you'd know all about it).
Justice would be throwing the main character (Jean Valjean) back into prison for stealing candlesticks from the priest.
Mercy would be letting him off with a week's worth of community service at the abbey.
Grace, the whole point of the story (same as the Bible), is giving those candlesticks to Jean. It's a gift he does not expect or deserve. He actually deserves punishment. But that gift is the price paid to save and redeem him. It's a gift given to give him a new life, which is all the priest wants for him, a life he didn't know he could have.
Justice is getting what you deserve
Mercy is not getting what you deserve
and Grace is getting what you don't deserve (as is injustice on the flipside, but stay with me)
Have you read or seen some version of Les Miserables? If not, please take this moment to go here because frankly, you need to know something about it now and the next time it comes up in conversation or you need to impress a girl (if you watched Star Trek: DS9, you'd know all about it).Justice would be throwing the main character (Jean Valjean) back into prison for stealing candlesticks from the priest.
Mercy would be letting him off with a week's worth of community service at the abbey.
Grace, the whole point of the story (same as the Bible), is giving those candlesticks to Jean. It's a gift he does not expect or deserve. He actually deserves punishment. But that gift is the price paid to save and redeem him. It's a gift given to give him a new life, which is all the priest wants for him, a life he didn't know he could have.
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