Awkward Grace

A few days ago, I came across a great statement in Robert Farrar Capon's The Fingerprints of God. It seems to me that he is absolutely correct in his assessment of human nature and tendencies. He says,

The human race, faced with the choice between a gift and a deal, will almost invariably prefer the deal.

God says "I love you" and we respond by trying to justify His love. He offers us His Son and we start looking around the house to see if there is anything we can give Him in return. God sends the Spirit to help us and we say, "Well, maybe we can use a little help, but generally we can manage on our own." The whole idea of God gifting us with something makes us somewhat uncomfortable. Grace is awkward. We'd much rather make a deal with God and keep our end of the bargain than let Him keep both ends. Such is the nature of humanity and the essence of sin. Pride can easily be defined as inability to accept gifts. So, how does God decide to eradicate sin and free us from this overconfidence in our own abilities? Well, He gives us a gift.