Grace is not Mortal

Over the years where I have been studying and teaching about the subject of grace, I am often confronted by the “human-ness” of the subject material. Understandably, most people, when they first learn about grace, relate it to themselves and those around them. The notion that God has forgiven them of all their life foibles and fumbles through His grace is captivating in its liberation. Growth and maturity in grace unfolds as we extend grace to those in our life – and this becomes the roadblock to so many.

Humans posses a sense of entitlement through victimhood. The subject of grace brings with it the issues of forgiveness and mercy which entitled people resent particularly when there is any perception of having been inflicted by another. Note, I did not say actually being inflicted, only the perception of the act having occurred. There are a multitude of professional studies which will tell you from their findings how your mind does not know the difference between an actual event or one which was imagined. If you believe you are a victim, you re-live life accordingly.

Victims rarely, if ever, will be, or are, capable of offering true grace, forgiveness or mercy to another. Victims live in a conditional frame of mind as a means to protect their status as a victim. Unconditional grace, forgiveness, and mercy are too painful to consider as the means to living a spiritual life. Therefore, a victim will withhold simply to maintain their perception of emotional strength.

Regrettably, victims who withhold find it equally hard to extend true grace, forgiveness and mercy to the one person who desperately needs it the most – themselves. Their efforts to shore up the walls of protection around themselves will not allow the dismantling which occurs from true grace to transform their thoughts and lives. This is why as I’ve claimed that grace is not mortal. Mortal means having a beginning and an end, a birth and a death. Being a victim gives a person the power to determine, or establish self-imposed conditions, to the end, or the death of something or someone. As long as we have the ability to offer grace, forgiveness or mercy to another, particularly on our terms and conditions, we are functioning from this mortal, worldly realm.

Jesus stated that the kingdom of God is within you and me. Within every kingdom, there is a place, a seat, a throne where the King declares his plans and purposes through His spoken word. In the kingdom of God, which resides within us, this seat is called the throne of grace. How did it come to be called this?

In the book of Isaiah we encounter a declaration from God which says, “…For my thoughts are not your thoughts and your ways are not my was, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.” When any mortal looks at the throne where God sits, declaring the plans and purpose of His kingdom, the highest human thought, the highest human way which can describe those actions is “grace.” While it is a mortal concept of grace, the reality, the truth of such work is higher than we are capable of conceiving. Grace is beyond our perceptions.

Grace, in the kingdom of God, which is within us, speaks to Paul when he has tried to rid himself of a throne in his flesh three times. It is announced that grace is sufficient for Paul in his weakness because grace is his strength. This claim transforms Paul.

True grace, from the kingdom within us, is transformative, as is forgiveness and mercy. It restores us back to wholeness, harmony, life everlasting. Grace is the power of God to transform mortality into eternal life simply because it does not recognize death or separation as a function of love. This is way above our thoughts! Higher even than we act! Yet it is residing and functioning within each of us this very moment whether you believe it or not.

Now, consider this carefully. Every single person, past, present and future is entitled to, as well as a recipient of, true grace from the victimhood of our own thoughts of who we believed God to be. It flows to us unconditionally, abundantly, yet in proportion to our perception of our weakness. It cannot be turned off or diminished, ever. It is the power of God within us which is higher than our thoughts and ways. Look at yourself and see your neighbor. In transformation, there is no difference with grace.