Incomprehensible Grace

The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word "incomprehensible" as - 1) difficult or impossible to understand.

In the book "The Exchange", Joel Engle asks the questions, "If the wages of sin really is death (Romans 3:23) then why are we still here?  Why are sinners not punished by a holy God as they are in the justice system of modern society?"

Then he answers by saying, "...the proper punishment for our sins wasn't overlooked or ignored. Instead, incredibly, He paid it Himself.  In the legal system of most civilized societies, the offender pays the price, but in the infinite wisdom of God, the Offended has already paid the price."

God's wisdom and subsequent grace is beyond our ability to understand.  The justice system established by His grace is more sovereign than any justice system that the most intelligent of our forefathers could have ever come up with, even with today's research and knowledge.  1 Cor 1:25 says, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength."

Our idea of sovereignty and justice is locking away those who commit crime.  Those who are a threat to our way of life are incarcerated or put on probation and forced to pay heavy fines so that they learn their lesson.  "You do the crime, you do the time". That's the best we could come up with.  This is our idea of justice.  It is, for the most part, graceless.  

Incomprehensible grace simply trusts the criminal not to commit crime again. Incomprehensible grace forgives AND forgets the hurt caused by betrayal.  But this grace comes at a great price. It includes not only being the victim of an offense, but then as the victim being willing to suffer the punishment that is deserved by the offender.  

The American Heritage Dictionary also defines the word "incomprehensible" as - 2) impossible to know.  Thank God that nothing could be further from the truth.  This is why God sent His only Son to the Cross; so that through the payment of Christ's life, we can know the Father. 2 Cor 5:21 says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."  So even if we can't wrap our minds completely around understanding His perfect grace, we have peace in knowing the One who's grace is sufficient for all things.