Gratification ≠ Grace

As followers of Jesus, we stand in grace. We walk in grace. We rest in grace. We live by grace, and, at our last day on this earth, we will lie down in grace. In terms of our redemption, it is all of grace. Any hint of merit or self-sufficiency is incompatible with that which we have received freely, by grace.

But we must admit that, in our daily lives, we often do resort to merit and self-sufficiency. I cannot attribute that earlier outburst of anger to grace. That indulgence in selfishness was not from grace. There is another word for it, and it might sound something like it. It is the word, “gratification.”

Latin has a word “gratis.” I suppose that both “grace” and “gratification” come from that root. But my point is that, though “grace” and “gratification” may come from the same Latin root, they do not come from the same source. “Grace,” as we have been speaking of it, comes from God. God is the Great Giver of Grace; the never-ceasing source of grace; the only repository of pure and holy grace. “Gratification,” on the other hand, comes from me; from you. We offer it to ourselves.

“Today is a special day.” “This is a special situation.” “I deserve this.” For just this moment, “I can excuse myself” for stepping off the path of grace, and riding the roller-coaster of gratification. It offers a momentary escape, or amusement, or thrill, that I deserve. 

Do you catch the anomaly? We ever opt for something other than grace because we deserve it, - but, by definition, grace is not deserved, it is freely given. And when we excuse ourselves, we step aside from grace, because it is God alone who is able, by grace, to excuse us, and not we ourselves.

The old song begins, “Grace, grace; God’s grace…” Grace is from God. We cannot attribute gratification to God, but to ourselves, which is why we call it self-gratification, a very different thing, and a very serious departure.