Truth and Grace

Was reading this book call "Changes That Heal" by Dr. Henry Cloud. And the first chapter of the book talks about Truth and Grace, which really amazes me and open up my mind. He describe the two in this way.

Grace:-
"Grace is the first ingredient necessary for growing up in the image of God. Grace is unbroken, uninterrupted, unearned , accepting relationship. It is the kind of relationship humanity had with God in the Garden of Eden... (Grace) is the relational aspect of God's character. It shows itself in his unconditional connection to us."

Truth:-
"Truth is the second ingredient necessary for growing up in the image of God. Truth is what is real; it describes how things really are. Just as grace is the relational aspect of God's character, 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.

And he goes on to describe how dangerous is it to have grace without truth or truth without grace. And I could understand both cause I have experienced the both extreme.

I used to be a person with truth and without grace. And when I see someone doing something wrong, I just go ahead and address the issue. "Hey. That's wrong. Very wrong. The Bible says it's wrong. And you know it's wrong. You shouldn't be doing this."

But very often, it hurts the person when I address the issue without showing the love and acceptance. It will only create more barriers and hinder me from helping the person to overcome his/her struggle and to grow to be more Christlike. But then the other extreme really isn't helpful also.

"Oh... it's ok. God will forgive. God is good. No problem about it. He will understand. Just go on with life ."

Well... That's sure a lot of grace for everyone. And I have a friend in NUS who tells me, "Don't need to go church lar. Cause God will forgive me even at the last minute one right? So what's the point of confessing my sins and committing to Him now? Just wait till when I'm older lor. God always give chances right?"

And the author gave a wonderful illustration to grace and truth working hand in hand with respect to the adulterous woman in John 8:3-11. He wrote: -

"Jesus shows what it means to know grace and truth in him. He offered this woman grace in the form of forgiveness and acceptance... He also showed the power of grace as an agent to end separation from her fellow human beings as well. The Pharisees were no different from her: She was a sinner, and they were sinners... But Jesus did not stop with just acceptance. He accepted her with full realization of who she was: an adulteress. He accepted her true self, a woman with sinful desires and actions. He then gives her direction for the future: "Go now and leave your life of sin." These 2 ingredients together - acceptance and direction- serve to bring the real self into relationship, the only way that healing ever takes place."