I REMEMBER TRYING TO explain grace to a room full of children. Without warning, I took a large chocolate bar and gave it to the child who had been misbehaving the most all morning. The look of sur- prise and pleasure on the child’s face told me he understood that this was far from what he deserved. A chorus of howls from the other children of “That’s totally not fair!” told me they had grasped it too. “Exactly,” I said. “That’s grace!” In response to this the boy immediately began to behave well and continued to do so for the rest of the morning.
When we appreciate the grace that we have received and understand the inward change that has happened to us, it will affect every aspect of our lives. Christians will find their drinking habits, their sex life, their relationships, and their attitudes toward work and authority trans- formed. In short, every aspect of their behavior will begin to change. We are not passive in this process but work to become what we already are. We have been changed by an encounter with Jesus who is not the long-dead subject of a historical biography but is very much alive today. (Page 145)
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