The grace of God is offensive. It just is. Christians might commonly believe that grace is all feel-good and mushy, but a true revelation of God's grace will offend when we truly understand what it is trying to say to us.
You might be thinking, "Oh no! Grace is wonderful and there's nothing offensive about it." I once thought that way before until I truly received the grace of God through faith.
There seems to be nothing natural in being a free-loader. Many people would even despise someone who appears to be one. This is because we like earning what we receive and trying our best to feel "worthy" of it.
But the grace of God gives us something that we truly do not deserve — the love and favour of God. Ecclesiastes 7:20 says, "Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins." We have all fallen short of God's sweet mercy, and there's nothing we can do to earn it back.
Because there is not the slightest chance of us ever redeeming ourselves, God makes the move of bringing redemption upon ourselves through the sacrifice of His one and only beloved Son Jesus Christ so that we may be set free from our own inadequacy. Our sin and shame were imputed upon Christ as His righteousness and favour were imputed upon us.
And the most offensive part about it is that we receive pardon and forgiveness and we can do nothing to work for them.
I realise that saying "sorry" is one of the hardest things to do simply because it's hard for people to admit that they did something wrong and that they would have to receive forgiveness so graciously. That offends us. That is grace.
And it's this sweet offence that's probably the best sounding one of all. Through God's grace we are given favour here on earth as it is in heaven. Through God's grace we can approach the Father confidently and feel His satisfying and fulfilling presence. Through God's grace we can live not just in this life but for all eternity. Grace is a beautiful thing, but it all starts with a slap on the cheek.
We aren't worth it, and there's nothing we can do about it. But God made a way for us so that we can walk in the freedom of God through Christ and not through our self efforts.
We are offended by the idea of being free-loaders of God's grace, but let it be an offence altogether because it has been given freely to those who humble themselves before God and those who trust in Christ's strength.
