by Israel Wayne

One of the most common terms we hear in Christian circles is the word “grace.” There is good reason for that. It is the means by which Christ saves us. Without God’s grace we would all be doomed and damned for eternity. However, I wonder, how many of us grasp the full concept of what grace is, and what it does?

I grew up in a church that had “grace” in its very name. We sang hymns about grace: “Grace, grace, God’s grace. Grace that is greater than all my sin.” We heard numerous sermons about grace. By the time I was a teenager I thought I had learned everything there was to know about that doctrine.

We were taught that we were all sinners and that we needed God’s grace to be saved. We learned that we could never be good enough to earn God’s favor, or to bridge the chasm of separation (caused by original sin) between us and God.

All of this fit it nicely with our church’s favorite scripture passage (Eph. 2:8-9). It’s funny though how our church somehow never got around to reading the next verse (v. 10)!

While these teachings are all true enough, and vitally important, I had only heard half of the story.

Discovering Costly Grace

Isn’t it amazing how you can be quietly reading your Bible one day, minding your own business, and the Holy Spirit can show up and change your entire life? I had that experience as an older teen when I was reading Titus 2. While I’m sure I had read it before, I had always sort of rushed through it, thinking that it taught mainly about older women teaching younger women, or something along that line.

Imagine my surprise when I read:

Titus 2:11-12 (KJV) 

    “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”

I had to go back and read that again. What does God’s grace teach us to do? Have you ever had a moment in your life where you suddenly realized you’d been scammed? That’s how I felt in that moment. I remember asking out loud, “Do you mean that God’s grace teaches us how to stop sinning?! Why have I never been taught this?”

The Christian Con Game

Our church taught that grace is like a blanket that God throws over our sin so that He can’t see it anymore. I had been taught in Sunday School that we are all currently sinners (even though the Bible never calls Christians sinners) and we will sin everyday until we die. That’s the reality of life. That’s why we need grace. Since God can’t allow sin into heaven, we need grace to cloak our sin so that God doesn’t pay any attention to it.

One of their favorite texts was Romans 7. I remember one teacher saying, “Hey, if the Apostle Paul couldn’t obey God, what makes me think I can?!”(We didn’t bother to read the chapter before or after Romans 7.)

That is truly and genuinely what they taught and I have been in dozens of other churches that teach that same basic idea.

Had we bothered to read the context of Romans 7, and explored the backdrop in Romans 6, we would have read:

Romans 6:1-2 (KJV) 

    “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

Romans 6:12-15 (NASB) 

    “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? God forbid!”

The Bible is clear, if sin is still your master, you are NOT UNDER GRACE!

Liberating Grace

Our church didn’t really want to be free from sin. We wanted to sin just as much as the world, we just wanted to get a “get-out-of-jail-free” card so that we wouldn’t receive the consequences of our sin.

My next epiphany was to read 1 John. I read the whole book. I read it several times in a row. I had never heard anything like it. My church NEVER ONCE taught from 1 John. The only verse they ever quoted from it was 1 John 1:9. The rest of the book was ignored. They never taught from James either as I recall.

My final “mistake” (God’s providence really), was to stumble across a book called, “The Cost of Discipleship,” by the German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. When I read his chapter entitled, “Costly Grace,” the deal was sealed. I accepted that I had been snookered by an Evangelical heresy.

I’m thankful that God’s grace forgives me when I sin. I’m amazed that God’s grace saved me from a poisonous mixture of dead works and carnality. But more than anything, I am thankful that God’s grace is transforming me into the image of Christ. I am continually learning to say no to sin and to live a holy life that pleases God, without which I cannot see Him.

Hebrews 12:14-15a (KJV) 

    “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord, looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God.”

How can you fail the grace of God? By failing to live the Holy life that God, through the infilling of His Spirit, has enabled you to live.

2 Cor. 6:17-18 (KJV) 

    “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

Clarification

Let me be very clear about what I am NOT saying. I am NOT saying that we earn our salvation. We could never do that. I am NOT saying we are saved through works (thank God!). I am NOT teaching sinless perfection; where once you become saved you can (or will) never sin again.

What I am saying is that Christ’s blood, and the Holy Spirit within you, are powerful enough to save you not only from the consequences of sin, but from even committing the sin in the first place. That is the kind of grace that Christ bled and died to give us. We don’t need a mere spiritual whitewash to cover over the filth of our everyday existence. We need a grace that is powerful enough to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil. That is costly grace. That is grace God provides. It is free, but it is not cheap. As Bonhoeffer said, “It is costly because it cost God the life of His Son.”

1 Thes. 3:12-13 (KJV) 

    “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: to the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”

Editor’s Note:

I like this Israel Wayne guy.  He is sound, he is passionate, and he is manly, but he wields his theological sword with great honor and love.  He’s the sort of guy that makes every one around him stronger.  Simply put, he’s a class act  And to add to that, he’s an accomplished author and popular conference speaker.  This guy’s definitely worth a closer look.  To check him out, you can visit him at www.WisdomsGate.com where he serves as Marketing Director for Wisdom’s Gate Publishing, or you can take a more personal peek at www.IsraelWayne.com.