Legalized Grace

Something I’ve observed over time is in our attempts to describe/define grace: we have a tendency to rush off to the law. the law is an extension of a relationship, yet, is not the defining point of the relationship. biblical attempts to reveal the incredible intensity and desire of God to be close to His creation naturally center on a law. yet, I wonder, does the centrality of a law have something to do with the context of an emerging immigrant community leaving behind the dust of Egyptian oppression? does the centrality of law in the New Testament have something to do with both a highly formed Jewish economy centered on the law while at the same time a wider, political context where the rule of law (a Roman legacy) served as ample metaphors to give a window into this Divine desire?

my point may be that our attempts to explain grace through the prism of the law may, while being biblical, be somewhat narrow. does scripture provide other metaphors, other windows, into the centrality of grace? i believe it does. before there was the rule of law, there was a Creator-Created relationship. IOW, relationship becomes a central fulcrum for the establishing of grace as the core component of our intimacy with God. using legal means as the sole proprietor of grace seems to narrow the vast depth of grace. if the poison is mysterious (sin), then can in some way the antidote (grace) be mysterious?

a legalized grace, I find, weakens the depth and power of grace. what strengthens grace, I find both in life and love, is the centrality of the I-Thou, the core component of desire for the Other. grace centralizes through an equivalent desire for the Other. the image of Jesus standing at the door knocking, waiting to be asked out on a date, is one that goes beyond legaleeze. it transcends stone and documentation and moves on to flesh and blood. one can twist legal language to redefine “is.” however, I cannot twist language to rebuild the relationship. the heart knows things the mind can never touch.

so, what power can we find in other metaphors, metaphors much more central and core in a contemporary culture today often defined more by litigiousness than by grace? how has our “rule of law” changed so drastically that perhaps we must find other analogies and metaphors that can capture not just the imagination of people but the heart and soul of a guilt-ridden person? search on, I say, search on!