One-Hundred years ago articles like the one you are now reading would probably have not been often written, just as it is not common today. Yet, the reason articles of this type on grace would not have been often written circa 1900 is different than why it would not be commonly addressed today. Christians 100 years ago, for most part I expect, probably understood Biblical grace well, and so an article like this would not have been necessary.
However, today’s Christians, for the most part, have a very warped understanding of grace, and grace today is commonly trampled by a perverted version of it, and therefore an article like this would not be written because a good many Christians would disagree with it and would thus not write it, and a good many more would be afraid to write it or preach it because of the potential of offending their followings.
So what in the world could be so controversial about grace?
First, let’s define grace. The Biblical definition of grace is simply ‘undeserved favor.’ It is summed up well in Psalm 103:10 - “He does not treat us as our sins deserve, or repay us according to our iniquities.” While this verse does not give us a complete understanding of grace, it does provide a good starting place in beginning to understand it.
Today, there are two perversions of grace that are prevalent in our churches.
The first puts God’s amazing grace in a light that perhaps is not so amazing. God’s grace is regarded as fragile and limited. Thus, a good many well-meaning Christians will doubt their salvation, and feel as if they must approach the altar at church nearly every Sunday to be saved again because they didn’t pray enough the week before, or because they lost their tempers, or because they didn’t feel anything emotional like they do at church. My wife, in fact, was raised with this kind of teaching, and she completely fell away from her faith in high school because she once took a drink of alcohol at a party. Her thought was, “Well, I’ve blown it now. I’ve completely backslidden, so I might was well live it up because I can’t go back.” Clearly, that is a wrong understanding of grace because the overarching message of scripture is that for those who are truly seeking the Lord and striving to live according to His precepts and who have placed their faith in the finished work of Christ, all of our sins are covered. For those living a lifestyle of repentance, we do not have to doubt our salvation.
The other perversion of grace is the opposite extreme, and is probably the most common. It teaches that God’s grace basically gives you a license to live pretty much however one pleases without having to deal with conscience. It teaches that if you once said a “sinner’s prayer,” got baptized, and attend church once in a while, you can live pretty much in whatever way pleases you, and there are no spiritual or eternal consequences. Out of this twisted theology comes sects that literally teach that people can live their entire lives independent of God and His ways without so much as a passing thought about godly character, and still somehow get to heaven because they once got baptized and recited a few words. Of course, they have to throw out 99.9% of scripture and confine their doctrine to a few passages completely wrenched out of context to pull this off, but boy, they sure do believe it, and you had better not challenge them on it if you don’t want to be called a Pharisee or labeled as legalistic. (For a more detailed discussion on unconditional eternal security, see my book, “Eternal Security.” http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Eternal-Security/Andrew-G-Robbins/e/9781425901233/?itm=1 )
Perhaps I should define legalism as well. Legalism is a belief system based upon the faulty understanding that one must adhere to a set of standards – some Biblical, and some not – with nearly perfect obedience if one is to please God. Legalism focuses on outward actions, but rarely deals with the hidden motives of the heart. In other words, I could attend Sunday service without missing even once, use all the correct churchy lingo, not smoke, not drink, not steal, and not murder, and certainly look the part of a good Christian and feel good about myself because I look the part so well. Yet I would be completely oblivious to the fact that maybe I harbor resentment toward people in my heart, enjoy lusting at every pretty girl who walks by, and give lip service to worship, all of which God hates.
And that’s where New Testament grace is in such stark contrast to not only legalism, but also to the diluted version of grace so tragically common in today’s churches.
You see, if you are in love with God enough to actually take Jesus’ words in John 14:15 seriously – “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” – and if you are bold enough to actually proclaim that true love for God is obedience to His precepts, then there is a good chance that someone is going to accuse you of being a legalist. Their mantra is that we live in the age of New Testament grace.
Alright then, let’s examine the implications of New Testament grace. Brace yourselves…I’m about to shake a few paradigms.
The act of murder is forbidden according to Old Testament Law. But under the New Covenant, Jesus said you can’t even be angry at someone without cause, and if you hate someone you are a murderer (see Matthew 5:21-22). The Law simply addresses murder and stops there. But New Testament grace demands a much higher standard.
The Law says you can’t commit adultery. But under the New Covenant even looking at a women with lust is considered a sin equal to that of adultery (see Matthew 5:27-28).
Under the Old Covenant we were commanded to love our neighbors and forgive up to four times. The disciple, Peter, in fact, thought he was being extremely gracious when he asked Jesus if seven times was enough to forgive a person for offending him. But Jesus answered that seven times was indeed not enough, but seventy-seven times, a figurative amount for endless forgiveness (see Matthew 18:21-35). And Jesus also said that we must love even our enemies and do good to those who mistreat us. So under the Old Covenant we could forgive four times and be done with it, but under the New Covenant we must forgive endlessly and repay evil with good endlessly (see Luke 6:27-36).
Pretty high standard if you ask me.
Indeed, the book of Titus tells us that the grace of God teaches us to restrain ourselves, to say no to worldly temptations. If we have truly experienced the grace of God, then a lifestyle of obedience to God’s precepts will be the result. God’s grace motivates us and literally empowers us to live godly lives. Anything less is not grace at all, but a shameless trampling of it for the sake of justifying our self-indulgence.
However, today’s Christians, for the most part, have a very warped understanding of grace, and grace today is commonly trampled by a perverted version of it, and therefore an article like this would not be written because a good many Christians would disagree with it and would thus not write it, and a good many more would be afraid to write it or preach it because of the potential of offending their followings.
So what in the world could be so controversial about grace?
First, let’s define grace. The Biblical definition of grace is simply ‘undeserved favor.’ It is summed up well in Psalm 103:10 - “He does not treat us as our sins deserve, or repay us according to our iniquities.” While this verse does not give us a complete understanding of grace, it does provide a good starting place in beginning to understand it.
Today, there are two perversions of grace that are prevalent in our churches.
The first puts God’s amazing grace in a light that perhaps is not so amazing. God’s grace is regarded as fragile and limited. Thus, a good many well-meaning Christians will doubt their salvation, and feel as if they must approach the altar at church nearly every Sunday to be saved again because they didn’t pray enough the week before, or because they lost their tempers, or because they didn’t feel anything emotional like they do at church. My wife, in fact, was raised with this kind of teaching, and she completely fell away from her faith in high school because she once took a drink of alcohol at a party. Her thought was, “Well, I’ve blown it now. I’ve completely backslidden, so I might was well live it up because I can’t go back.” Clearly, that is a wrong understanding of grace because the overarching message of scripture is that for those who are truly seeking the Lord and striving to live according to His precepts and who have placed their faith in the finished work of Christ, all of our sins are covered. For those living a lifestyle of repentance, we do not have to doubt our salvation.
The other perversion of grace is the opposite extreme, and is probably the most common. It teaches that God’s grace basically gives you a license to live pretty much however one pleases without having to deal with conscience. It teaches that if you once said a “sinner’s prayer,” got baptized, and attend church once in a while, you can live pretty much in whatever way pleases you, and there are no spiritual or eternal consequences. Out of this twisted theology comes sects that literally teach that people can live their entire lives independent of God and His ways without so much as a passing thought about godly character, and still somehow get to heaven because they once got baptized and recited a few words. Of course, they have to throw out 99.9% of scripture and confine their doctrine to a few passages completely wrenched out of context to pull this off, but boy, they sure do believe it, and you had better not challenge them on it if you don’t want to be called a Pharisee or labeled as legalistic. (For a more detailed discussion on unconditional eternal security, see my book, “Eternal Security.” http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Eternal-Security/Andrew-G-Robbins/e/9781425901233/?itm=1 )
Perhaps I should define legalism as well. Legalism is a belief system based upon the faulty understanding that one must adhere to a set of standards – some Biblical, and some not – with nearly perfect obedience if one is to please God. Legalism focuses on outward actions, but rarely deals with the hidden motives of the heart. In other words, I could attend Sunday service without missing even once, use all the correct churchy lingo, not smoke, not drink, not steal, and not murder, and certainly look the part of a good Christian and feel good about myself because I look the part so well. Yet I would be completely oblivious to the fact that maybe I harbor resentment toward people in my heart, enjoy lusting at every pretty girl who walks by, and give lip service to worship, all of which God hates.
And that’s where New Testament grace is in such stark contrast to not only legalism, but also to the diluted version of grace so tragically common in today’s churches.
You see, if you are in love with God enough to actually take Jesus’ words in John 14:15 seriously – “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” – and if you are bold enough to actually proclaim that true love for God is obedience to His precepts, then there is a good chance that someone is going to accuse you of being a legalist. Their mantra is that we live in the age of New Testament grace.
Alright then, let’s examine the implications of New Testament grace. Brace yourselves…I’m about to shake a few paradigms.
The act of murder is forbidden according to Old Testament Law. But under the New Covenant, Jesus said you can’t even be angry at someone without cause, and if you hate someone you are a murderer (see Matthew 5:21-22). The Law simply addresses murder and stops there. But New Testament grace demands a much higher standard.
The Law says you can’t commit adultery. But under the New Covenant even looking at a women with lust is considered a sin equal to that of adultery (see Matthew 5:27-28).
Under the Old Covenant we were commanded to love our neighbors and forgive up to four times. The disciple, Peter, in fact, thought he was being extremely gracious when he asked Jesus if seven times was enough to forgive a person for offending him. But Jesus answered that seven times was indeed not enough, but seventy-seven times, a figurative amount for endless forgiveness (see Matthew 18:21-35). And Jesus also said that we must love even our enemies and do good to those who mistreat us. So under the Old Covenant we could forgive four times and be done with it, but under the New Covenant we must forgive endlessly and repay evil with good endlessly (see Luke 6:27-36).
Pretty high standard if you ask me.
Indeed, the book of Titus tells us that the grace of God teaches us to restrain ourselves, to say no to worldly temptations. If we have truly experienced the grace of God, then a lifestyle of obedience to God’s precepts will be the result. God’s grace motivates us and literally empowers us to live godly lives. Anything less is not grace at all, but a shameless trampling of it for the sake of justifying our self-indulgence.
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Because of space I cannot develop this teaching fully in one post, so I will qualify some of my above statements in the one following.
Because of space I cannot develop this teaching fully in one post, so I will qualify some of my above statements in the one following.
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