Does God really expect us to live our lives in the truth, working at being righteous and holy, while at the same time being gracious and forgiving?

Many Christians wonder why God would expect us to follow the Law if we are free from the consequences because of His grace. Why should we work to excel at living out the Ten Commandments if we are forgiven?

Is it our place to hold people accountable for their theology? Thoughts and attitudes? Words? Relationships? Isn't that God's business? What right do we have as sinners to hold other sinners accountable to truth and righteousness?

Of course for every person asking those questions there seems to be another person asking how can't we hold people accountable? If we don't, aren't we ignoring sin? Isn't it true that we not loving people as best as we could by tolerating behavior that we know is bad for them? Are we loving God less by not standing up for the truth and righteousness?

Understanding how truth and grace fit together is something that all of us struggle with. And if we are going to grow in our faith into maturity in Christ this is a lesson we need to be committed to learning.

2 Corinthians 3:18 says, And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more. The "him" is Jesus Christ. What does it mean to become more and more like Jesus and reflect His glory even more? God answers this question for us in one remarkably powerful sentence. In John 1:14 God says that Jesus came from the Father full of grace and truth.

That's what Jesus is like: full of grace and truth!

In light of John's description of Jesus we can say that as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we will become more and more like him by living lives full of His grace and truth. Truth teaches how we are to conduct ourselves with others. Grace teaches us how we are to relate towards others.

Living Grace and Truth Ministries was founded in 2008 by Daniel R. Ledwith in order to, with God’s blessing, help to renew and encourage the Church through embracing the call to be full of grace and truth.

Renewal (Truth): by helping correct the error of focusing on truth or grace or meeting somewhere in the middle. We need to be fully committed to both truth and grace.

Focusing on truth tends to judgmentalism and an unhealthy preoccupation with doctrine. Focusing only on believing right doctrine takes away from the relational aspect of faith. Life is not found in right doctrine but in being made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul teaches this very clearly in Romans 10:9-11 (NLTSE) "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.’" We need to be careful that we do not replace faith and trust in Jesus with belief in any system of doctrine.

We cannot put ourselves in God’s place as judge. Paul says in Romans 14:4 (NIV) "Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand." We need to be careful that we do not put our own scruples on the same level as God’s word.

Focusing on grace tends to license and moral equivalency. The Bible makes it very clear that God’s grace does not give us the right to act however we want. We cannot use grace to justify our actions that are counter to God’s Word. "But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world?" (Romans 3:5-6, NIV).

Freedom and license are not the same. We are free from the consequences of failing to obey god’s law, but God still expects us, with the power of the Holy Spirit to be transforming into people who do obey the law.

Even doing gracious acts that God wants us to do, apart from truth, means nothing. The Scriptures say that there is no greater love than to lay your life down for a friend (John 15:13), yet in 1 Corinthians 13:3 (NIV) we are also told, "If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." Acts of grace and sacrifice by themselves do not guarantee they are signs of saving grace.

Trying for a "middle ground" tends to leave your spiritual life shallow and ineffective. When we are happy with a little of each and not pursuing being full of both, our growth is stunted and our experience of God’s grace is limited.

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 (NIV) says, "Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?" Shallow grace led to a limit in truth that they could handle. Our ability to see and appreciate truth is connected to our living out grace in our relationships.

This is where most of "popular" evangelical teaching sits today. Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:48 (NIV) "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Knowing that you are accepted just as you are is only half the story. You are not accepted just as you are. You are accepted just as Christ is. God is not about loving us as we are. He is about transforming us into his image as 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLTSE) teaches, "So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image." Being more and more like Jesus means being more and more filled with God’s grace and truth.

Encouraging (Grace): by helping the Church create an atmosphere and culture where this call is seen as essential to healthy spiritual growth both individually and corporately.
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