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Surprised by
the Man on
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God’s grace is free, extravagant and transforming. The Barmen Declaration of 1934 (the manifesto or confession of what came to be known as the Confessing Church in Germany) speaks of “the proclamation of God’s free grace”. According to Barth, this does not mean anything other than what Romans 1:1 calls “the gospel of God”. He points out that God’s grace is not some godly property. “No, God’s free grace is God Himself, His most inner and essential nature, God Himself as He is. That is God’s secret, as it is now already revealed in Jesus Christ,” he explains. God gives Godself freely, abundantly and conclusively in Jesus – this makes us God’s business. God does not sweep our concerns, cares and needs under a carpet, but, through Jesus, takes them up and they are transformed. Jesus does not ask who we are, or what we have to offer. He simply accepts us. Acceptance is transforming. Such is the extravagance of free grace. As Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, explains: grace is found “[…] in terms of compassionate acceptance, the refusal of condemnation, the assurance of an abiding relationship of healing love”.
God’s grace enables us to respond to God in Christ. Grace enables us to answer Jesus’ call to “Follow me”. Jesus is the paradigm of a “graced” relationship with God. This cannot be taken for granted. Nothing hindered the Christ event from taking place, but we can resist its demands on us. Our personal perceptions and conditions can render the acceptance of grace difficult, even impede it, but nothing can make its coming impossible. Grace can prepare its own way, and make the impossible possible. Paul’s conversion illustrates this truth. Grace sanctions the forgiveness of sins, restores relationship, and enables love and hope.
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