The Appearing Grace: Living and Waiting in Christ

A devotional reflection based on Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics II/1, 361 ff., on The Grace and Holiness of God

The grace of God has appeared, Barth tells us, and it is no abstract concept or fleeting feeling. It is found in a person, Jesus Christ, in whom God has concluded His eternal covenant with humanity. This is why, in the Early Church, the coming of Christ meant “the grace of God hath appeared.” This grace, Barth emphasizes, is universal: it brings “salvation to all men.” In Christ, salvation is not reserved for a select few but extends to every person, breaking down barriers and reaching across the world. Yet grace does more than save—it also teaches. Barth reminds us that it is “grace itself and as such (incorporated in this person),” not something that precedes or follows grace, that instructs us. Grace is both the principle and the command, shaping us ethically and sanctifying us through its own power.

This teaching is radical and incisive. It calls us to “deny ungodliness and worldly lusts,” a renunciation that would be impossible if we relied on our own strength. But here, Barth assures us, “we have a true and overmastering principium,” a commanding force in the person of Christ. This grace opposes the false principles of the fall, our estrangement from God, and our domination by self-will. On the cross of Golgotha, the old Adam dies, and in his place, peace between God and humanity is made possible. Grace’s instruction does not stop at denial—it calls us to live: “soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” It does so not merely by stripping away what is false but by giving us what belongs to God: “all the wisdom and righteousness and holiness of the Son of God.” In Christ, we are treated as His own, His members, sharing in all He is and all He gives.

Barth draws our attention to the concluding phrase, “looking for that blessed hope.” This hope is not a separate aim but the culmination of grace’s work: that “we should live” under its sphere and authority. In this waiting, grace continues to instruct us. “Our instruction for that life still proceeds and is not, therefore, completed,” Barth says. Grace must continually be received and learned, for sanctification is an ongoing process. This waiting does not diminish the reality of our life in Christ. “What has happened—happened for us—has really happened,” Barth insists. Though we wait for the full epiphany of Christ, for the day when we will see face to face, our life now “does not lack anything of reality, and therefore of significance and power, of truth and force.”

Barth warns us, however, not to misunderstand God’s grace. It does not mean He compromises with our resistance or ignores it. Instead, grace is a holy grace, opposing and breaking down our rebellion. “Just because God is gracious we must fear Him,” Barth reminds us, for His grace is a revelation of both His love and His opposition to sin. Grace is corrective, a refining fire that works against our opposition to God, reshaping us into His image.

In Christ, the grace of God has appeared. It saves, teaches, corrects, and sanctifies. It draws us into a life that is real, significant, and full of hope, even as we wait for its full unveiling. And in this waiting, we are not left alone but are upheld by the unshakable reality of what God has already accomplished for us in Jesus Christ.