Grace and Truth: How Jesus Held Both Together (And How We Can Too)
One of the greatest tensions in the Christian life is knowing how to hold grace and truth together. Our culture has redefined both, and many believers have drifted toward one extreme or the other. But Jesus modeled something different, and His example is worth a closer look.
What Does It Mean to Be “Full of Grace and Truth”?
John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Jesus did not come full of grace OR truth. He came full of both, at the same time, without sacrificing one for the other.
Our culture tends to define grace as accepting everything without challenge, and truth as simply your personal perspective. But Scripture defines them differently. When grace exists without truth, the result is deception. When truth exists without grace, the result is an attack.
Why You Can Be Right and Still Be Wrong
How you say what you say matters. It is possible to speak something completely accurate and still handle it in a way that misrepresents Jesus.
Consider this: a student of Hebrew Scripture once challenged a Jehovah’s Witness at the door by pulling out the Old Testament written in Hebrew and saying, “Show me” in response to the other’s statement. The information may have been correct, but the motive was ego, not love. That is a moment of being right and still being wrong.
Truth does not become false because of poor delivery, but it does become unhearable. And that matters.
Why Motives Matter When Sharing Your Faith
Before speaking truth into someone’s life, it is worth asking: why am I doing this? Is it out of a sincere love and burden for this person, or is it to win an argument, be right, or check a box?
Motives shape everything. When the goal is to love someone well, truth can be received. When the goal is to be right, even accurate words can push people further away from Jesus.
Relationship Makes Truth Hearable
Relationship does not make truth true. Truth is truth regardless. But relationship makes truth hearable. When trust is built over time, when someone knows you genuinely care about them, their ears open and so does their heart.
You earn the right to share Jesus with people through relationship. That is not a compromise of the gospel. It is wisdom.
The Story of Zacchaeus: Who Does Jesus Actually Pursue?
Luke 19 tells the story of Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector who was wealthy, despised, and considered a traitor to his own people. He wanted to see Jesus but could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree.
“When Jesus reached the spot, He looked up and said to Him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.'” – Luke 19:5
The crowd was stunned. This was the last person anyone expected Jesus to single out. They muttered that Jesus had gone to be the guest of a sinner.
The Crowd Saw a Problem. Jesus Saw a Person.
The crowd saw everything Zacchaeus had done. Jesus saw who He could become.
Luke intentionally parallels this story with Joshua 2, where Rahab, a prostitute, becomes an unlikely hero of faith as Israel passes through Jericho toward the promised land. Just as Rahab was the last person anyone would expect, so was Zacchaeus. And yet both are beautiful pictures of what grace and truth look like when held together.
Zacchaeus responded to Jesus by standing up and declaring, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” – Luke 19:8
Jesus replied, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” – Luke 19:9-10
Who Is the Modern-Day Zacchaeus?
This story raises an important question. Who is the person in your world that gets pushed to the back of the crowd? Who is the one that others assume does not belong, would not be welcomed, and could not possibly be chosen by God?
That is exactly the person Jesus sees and pursues.
The people Jesus chooses in almost every story are not the people we would choose. Tax collectors. Prostitutes. Outcasts. And yet He says to them, there is a place for you in the kingdom.
How Christians Can Hold Grace and Truth Together
So how do we actually do this? Here are three practical starting points:
- Walk with Jesus. As you spend time with Him, reading His encounters with people, His character begins to shape yours. Abiding in Him is how your heart starts to look more like His.
- Examine your motives. Before you speak, post, or engage, ask yourself honestly: is this out of love and burden for this person, or is it about being right?
- Pause and pray. In the moment, with the coworker, the neighbor, the stranger at the store, just quietly ask God for the right words. James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” – James 1:5
What Christians Get Wrong About Changing the World
Many believers feel anxious about the state of the world and respond by speaking truth louder and with more anger. But volume and anger are not the same as wisdom.
Jesus promised that the gates of hell will never prevail. That promise does not depend on how loud Christians are. It depends on the finished work of Christ. He conquered death. Because of that, our hope does not fade.
The call is not to impact the entire world. The call is to love every single person you come into contact with, every single day, with the same grace and truth Jesus modeled.
Life Application
This week, identify one person in your life who might feel like the modern-day Zacchaeus, someone who is pushed to the margins, overlooked, or assumed to be too far gone. Make a deliberate effort to see them the way Jesus sees them. Before any conversation, pause and ask God for the right words. Let your motive be love, not being right.
Ask yourself these questions as you go into the week:
- When I speak truth to others, am I doing it out of genuine love, or am I trying to win?
- Who in my life have I been pushing to the back of the crowd instead of welcoming in?
- Am I walking closely enough with Jesus that His character is actually shaping how I see and treat people?
Grace without truth is deception. Truth without grace is an attack. But together, held with wisdom and love, they look like Jesus walking through Jericho and calling a tax collector down from a tree.