“Grace and Truth + Time = Change”
Truth is the second ingredient necessary…truth is the structural aspect of [God’s] character. Truth is the skeleton life hangs upon; it adds shape to everything in the universe. God’s truth leads us to what is real, to what is accurate…it describes how things really are.
(Henry Cloud)
Just as God is Grace, so God is Truth. All Truth is His. But as broken people, I wonder if we can know Truth without first experiencing Grace. Grace creates a safe place for Truth. The two are interdependent in God and visible in Christ.
So the word of God became a human being and lived among us. We saw his splendor (the splendor as of a father’s only son), full of grace and truth. John 1:14 J.B. Phillips New Testament
Jesus did not come to strike a balance between grace and truth.
He brought the full measure of both. Andy Stanley
When we look at what the Scripture says about law, about truth without grace, we see that the law silences us, brings anger, increases sin, arouses sinful passions, brings death, puts us under a curse, holds us prisoner, alienates us from Christ and judges us harshly … The law without grace destroys us … In the same way that Truth (without grace) can be called Judgment, Grace (without truth) can be named License. (Henry Cloud)
Grace, by itself, gives us no framework, no path to follow and no support in the process. Truth, by itself, gives no mercy. Truth is best where there is a firm foundation of Grace.
God’s truth tells us the truth about ourselves,
but His grace forgives us for the truth He reveals. (Jill Briscoe)
So perhaps our prayer should be:
Lead me in your truth—teach it to me—
because you are the God who saves me.
I put my hope in you all day long.
Lord, remember your compassion and faithful love—
they are forever! Psalm 25:5-6 Common English Bible
But the closer we move toward God,
the closer we come to Grace and Truth!