Balancing Truth and Grace

Melissa Fryrear

If we were to define the Love Won Out ministry at Focus on the Family in just a few words it would be these: truth and grace.  We are committed to proclaiming the truth of God's created intent for human sexuality as well as to sharing His forgiving and transforming grace for those who have lived outside of it. 

Applying these truths more specifically, we are called to articulate the biblical sexual ethic to the church and in today’s culture, to defend the institution of marriage, and to support the ideal home environment in which children are raised by both a mother and a father.

Beyond this, in the proverbial larger picture, the most important purpose of the Love Won Out conference – and Focus on the Family as a ministry – is to lift high the Person of Jesus of Christ and to spread His Gospel. Likewise, we believe this should be the number one mission of every individual Christian and Christian organization.

I have repeatedly been struck by the magnitude of this calling during my time at Focus – particularly when I recall the many stories of people making decisions to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord and the role that our Love Won Out conference played in this decision. There are no words to describe how grateful we are for this.

Here, I am reminded of Jesus’ prophetic proclamation, recorded in John 12:32 – and following His triumphant entrance into Jerusalem – when He said, "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself" (NIV). Immediately thereafter, it was ordained that Christ would willingly offer Himself as a sacrifice for all the sins of the world.

I have heard preachers refer to Christ’s death on the cross as "The Great Attraction" or "The Great Magnetism." How magnificently said! Christ’s death on the cross, they explain, draws people to Him because the cross ultimately carries the message of love. It is in the cross of Christ that we see God’s love expressed most profoundly; and it is this love that draws people to Him and they are saved. And the Apostle Paul ministers this truth clearly in Romans 5:8-10: "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!" (NIV).

Thus, within the scope of the Love Won Out ministry, we serve to act as a gateway that provides for the sharing of Jesus Christ—who He is; what He has accomplished through His death and resurrection; and what He offers to those who accept His Messiahship. Yes, as it relates to issues of sexuality—homosexuality in particular—but much more significantly and profoundly than that as well. In short, our mission is to proclaim the cross – upon which Christ was lifted up, that those who hear and see may be drawn by His sacrificial love and saved.

Melissa Fryrear is the Director of the Gender Issues Department at Focus on the Family.

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