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Question 4
Schiemer’s “three kinds of grace” move from law/light (conviction) to Christ/divine righteousness through the “furnace of suffering,” then to joy by the Spirit; how does this sequence correct (or disrupt) the way you were taught to think about grace, and which “grace” do you tend to want without accepting the others?
Another way to ask: Schiemer describes grace as a path: conviction, then Christ through suffering, then joy by the Spirit. How does that differ from how you learned about grace, and which part do you want without the others?

Direct Answer The sequence disrupts any view of grace as instant comfort by presenting grace as a God-led process: conviction by divine light, then Christ formed in us through suffering, then Spirit-given joy. It challenges a desire for the “joy” stage without the conviction and cross.

Support from Transcript:

  • Schiemer: “Grace, the first is the word…as a divine light, and that is the law…shows what man’s sin is,” and “not all accept it.”
  • Dean links this to the Spirit’s work: the Holy Spirit “convicts the world of righteousness, sin, and judgment.”
  • The second grace is “Christ or divine righteousness,” but “in order to see the second light, one must…go through the furnace of suffering,” like “gold tested by fire” (1 Peter).
  • Dean explains “glossonheit” and the idea: “the uncrucified Christ is like untried metal,” meaning “an untested faith is no faith at all.”
  • The third grace is “joy and rejoicing…promise of the Holy Spirit,” and a God-fearing life has “a sad beginning” but ends with “unspeakable joy.”
Discussion Follow-ups When you think of “grace,” do you mainly mean comfort and relief? How would your discipleship change if you expected conviction and suffering to be part of grace, not the opposite of grace?

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