In the maelstrom of our age, when wars erupt, and tyrants strut, and treacheries abound, what place is there for grace? It seems a gentler, weaker virtue, made for temperate times.
But what could be stronger than the forgiveness that finally heals the blood feuds of the past, or thoughtfully agrees to end the decades lost to vengeance? Negotiated peace is still the longest-lasting kind.
And what is weak about the calm deliberation that stares stark evil in the eye and resolves to love it to death? Those who choose to lay aside their swords are those whom history blesses and God rewards. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God” (Matt 5:9)
Grace reverses all our estimates of power, for grace comes from God, and He rules everything. “God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And He chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful“ (I Cor 1:27).
When we choose grace, we choose the power that need not brandish all its strength. Grace is God’s strength in us, and through us to our world. It heals wounds; it beats back wrong; it builds relationships that last. And it will triumph in the end: “At the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10-11).
Grace wins—both now and when all struggles cease. So stay in grace.
—Bill Knott