Scripture teaches us to come boldly to the throne of grace, so that we might find mercy there (Heb. 4:14-16). Notice the possible tensions here—the first is between throne and grace. Grace is not a kindly senility. Grace is not soft or indulgent. Grace is regal, grace is majestic; grace sits on a throne. Like the Queen of Sheba having the spirit go out of her when she beheld the majesty of Solomon, so also the wrong kind of spirit goes out of us when we behold the greatness of grace.
The other tension is seen between the word boldly on the one hand, and grace and mercy on the other. Those in need of grace and mercy don’t deserve grace and mercy (by definition), and so it is odd that supplicants are told to come to a throne of grace, and are told to come to that throne with boldness. We are to walk into this throne room as though we have every right to be there, and yet, our qualification for being there is that we are not qualified to be there.
God rules through His grace. This is how we see that grace is not indulgence. God rules through His grace, which means that He is the one who has made provision. Grace is something the ruler can extend, and not something we can merit. And when the ruler extends it, we know that He has a solid foundation for doing so.
That foundation is the fact that Christ has died, and has risen again. This is the grace He offers, and Christ crucified and risen is all the boldness we need.