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When you’ve been a Christian for a while, you become numb to some of the Bible buzz words we use. Grace is one of those. We sing songs about it, but many Christians don’t live like grace is all that amazing. Instead, we live like it has to be earned. And if we’re not performing like we should, then watch out, cause God’s ready not with open arms, but a rod to severely punish and discipline us. We live like we are constantly letting him down, not bringing him pleasure, but disappointment and frustration. My primary goal in writing all this is to help you rediscover, experience, and pass on God’s amazing grace.
With all that said, I have written with three different types of people in mind.
The person who is spiritually dry
If you are someone who is just no longer excited about your relationship with God, or your need for his grace, this article is for you. By the end I hope to have helped you catch a glimpse of his glory and awoken a hunger and craving in your soul to spend time with him for who he is.
The person with mixed up spiritual priorities
If you are a master of arcane secondary doctrines but you can’t help someone struggling in their relationship with God because they don’t understand grace, I pity you.[1] Pick whatever secondary doctrine you want (the rapture, views on creationism, etc). If you are better at defending it than you are at defending grace, you need to get your priorities straight.
The person constantly burdened by guilt
If you’re someone who is constantly crushed by the weight of your guilt, or continually filled with overwhelming regret because of sin in your life, you desperately need to hear the good news of God’s grace. You need to know that grace is greater than your sin![2]
At various times in my walk with Christ over the past five years, I’ve had all of these kinds of mindsets, and I’ve talked to enough Christians to know that I’m not the only one. All three of these outlooks have one thing in common. They all miss grace. Hebrews 12:15 (NIV 1984) says, “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” At the time this was written, calling a plant “bitter” was a metaphor for saying it was poisonous.[3] So, the writer of Hebrews is giving a warning that Christianity lived without grace is spiritually toxic. This article is my attempt to make sure that you don’t miss the grace of God.
I will give you a warning up front. I’m going to cite a ton of scripture throughout this article. I encourage you to read AND meditate on these scriptures. Plant them in your soul so they begin to take root. Read the article multiple times if you have to.
We Must Keep Grace Primary!
Grace is essential to our view God. The Bible is explicit that every member of the Trinity is known for and defined by their grace. God the Father sits enthroned on grace (Heb 4:16) and he is the God of all grace (1 Pet 5:10). God the Son, Jesus, had the grace of God on him (Lk 2:40), is full of grace (Jn 1:14), and revealed grace to us (2 Tim 1:9). The Holy Spirit is called the “Spirit of grace” (Heb 10:29). Not only that but God’s glory is his grace! This is what is meant is John 1:14 when it says of Jesus, “We have seen his glory… full of grace and truth.” John Piper has said of this verse, “If you want to be really alert to seeing Jesus’ divine beauty, his glory- the spiritual brightness that sets him apart as self-evidently real and true- then make sure you tune your senses to see his grace. That’s what his glory is full of.”[5]
Grace is also central to the gospel. The gospel is called “the message of grace” (Acts 14:3). God’s word is called “the word of grace” (Acts 20:32). And we are given the task of testifying to the grace of God (Acts 20:24). What I find ironic is that Christians talk about the importance of the gospel, which means “good news,” but when it comes to living Christianity out day to day, they forget what makes the news good! We can sum it up in one word…grace. Simply put, if we lose sight of grace we lose sight of the gospel. So what is grace, and why is it such good news?
Grace- A Gift, Not a Wage
Scripture is extremely clear that grace is
a) God’s gift of righteousness to us, making us totally justified before him, and
b) Our works (a.k.a. behavior/performance) do not merit or earn his grace or love.
Romans 3:23-28 says, “23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24 They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as an atoning sacrifice in his blood, received through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. 26 God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law of faith. 28 For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.” In context, Paul has spent two chapters talking about the Gentiles being lost in their sin, and the Jews are in the same state, and they need to believe the gospel. From these verses we see that grace is what justifies us, and that it is free! We don’t have to work to get it or keep it. This is explicit in verse 28 when it says, “apart from works of the law.” Grace is God’s justifying us freely, by faith alone, apart from our obedience or performance. Paul then uses Abraham as an example to illustrate grace.
Romans 4:1-5 says, “What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness. 4 Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who declares the ungodly to be righteous, his faith is credited for righteousness.” Paul is making his point very clear- if Abraham was saved by works (a.k.a. behavior or performance), then God owed him salvation, and he could boast because grace isn’t a gift, it’s his rightful earning! However, Abraham wasn’t given righteousness because of his works. He was given righteousness because he believed God. God declares the ungodly (the sinner), to be righteous by faith, not works.
Paul makes this even more clear in the following verses (Rom 4:6-12), “just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” 9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.” In other words, Abraham was right with God before circumcision or law keeping ever came up. He was justified by faith, apart from any works. It was not his obedience afterwards that made him right with God. This was so that he would be the father of both Jews and Gentiles, because both groups need only faith to receive God’s grace.
As if it were not already clear enough, Paul defines grace for us in Romans 5:17 when he says, “Since by the one man’s [Adam’s] trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” Notice here that Paul considers grace to be God’s gift of righteousness. A true gift cannot be a wage that God owes us for our obedience or performance, otherwise it ceases to be a gift. Paul says that explicitly near the end of his letter, “Now if by grace, then it is not by works; otherwise grace ceases to be grace” (Rom 11:6).
Titus 3:4-7 says, “But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared,5 he saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.6 He poured out his Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life.” Again, grace is what justifies us before God, and it is not earned or kept through our good works. If it was, then God would owe us salvation. No, grace is a gift given to us simply out of God’s love and mercy.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast.” Are you getting the picture yet? Grace is a gift, and as a gift it is not something you work for, otherwise it’s ceases to be grace. It becomes a wage.
Galatians 2:21 says, “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” This verse is crystal clear. Righteousness is given to us through grace, not earned through works. If you think your works are needed for God to give you grace, or that God’s grace won’t quite make it over the hump unless your works are added to the mix, then you actually nullify the grace of God, and your theology says (even if your mouth doesn’t) that Christ died for no reason.[6]
Galatians 3:1-11 says, “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? 4 Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5 So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? 6 So also Abraham ‘believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ 7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’ 11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because ‘the righteous will live by faith.’” The background of this letter to the Galatians is that false teachers had told them that in addition to faith in Christ they needed to live according to religious rules and regulations. This kind of living though was a “yoke of slavery” (Gal 5:1) that sucked the joy out of them.
Sadly, I think many Christians share the same mindset as these Galatians. Though we begin in God’s grace, we think we have to finish by means of our works. It’s like God gives a free pass in, but to stay you’ve got to do stuff. Jerry Bridges says it this way, “We are saved by grace, but we are living by the ‘sweat’ of our own performance.”[7] Paul calls this thinking foolish, because no one will be justified by their works. Faith is how we receive God’s justifying grace. Not through works of the law (a.k.a. obedience/performance). That’s true not only at our conversion, but all throughout our life in Christ.
I think a modern real-life example will be helpful here. Jud Wilhite, a prominent pastor in Las Vegas, was a drug addict prior to his coming to Christ. It was grace that drew him in. After he’d been saved for a while, Jud felt called to be a pastor. He was so grateful for what God had done in his life, he wanted others to experience the same grace and freedom God had given him.
But when Jud began attending a Christian college, his motivations began to morph imperceptibly. He found himself wanting to make up for lost time since he was not saved until his late teenage years. He wanted to work really hard to show that God made a good choice when he saved him. So, Jud put lots of pressure on himself to please God through his good deeds and spiritual disciplines. Jud now calls this mindset “the performance trap.”[8] He says, “I fasted for days. I prayed endlessly. I served the homeless. I gave away everything I owned until all I had was a pair of jeans, a shirt, and shoes. People would talk about how mature I was as a Christian- and, yeah, I was doing some good things, but it was for the wrong motivation. And I wanted others to be as sacrificial as I was. When they weren’t, I was critical of them. I became a judgmental jerk.”[9] So Jud quit Christianity for a while. He couldn’t keep it up. It was just too much. It wasn’t until he read 1 John 4:10 that he came to his senses. He realized, “It doesn’t matter how good I try to be; what’s important is how good God is. He never demanded that I become a super Christian in the first place; all he asked was that I love him in return.”[10]
God doesn’t love us because we make ourselves valuable to him through service. Rather we are valuable because we are loved by God.[11] When we realize that, we’ll be able to see that grace liberates, but performance imprisons us. It is absolutely crucial that we know this truth: God’s love for us is not conditioned on our obedience or performance.
Romans 5:6-10 says, “6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. 8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 How much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath.” If God loved us so much while we were his enemies, then why would we think that being disobedient now that we are his children would make him love us any less?
The verse we all know, John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever should believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” God loves the entire world, including you. No matter what you’ve done, you cannot escape his love. And notice what the verse doesn’t say. It doesn’t say “whosoever works” or “whosoever believes and adds sufficient works.” It says whosoever believes! Works are not even part of the equation.[12]
Ephesians 2:1-5 says, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously lived according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!” Even while we carried out all kinds of evil desires, God still loved us. Why would it be any different once we have been saved?
As mentioned earlier, Jesus was and is full of grace (Jn 1:14). He loved to talk about grace often times through stories. The Parable of the Prodigal Son is one of them (Lk 15:11-32). Just think about that story. Upon returning home, the son thought he would have to work to earn his keep and didn’t expect to be considered a son any longer. Only a servant. The Father though was full of grace and did not make the son work to regain what he had lost. Rather the Father was full of unconditional love and gave the son the best robe (which would have belonged to the Father himself), a family signet ring reinstating him as a son, sandals unlike a slave, and threw him a feast large enough to feed a whole village.[13] The son didn’t merit that kind of response from the Father. That was a gift. That parable is a picture of God’s grace toward us.
Jesus not only taught about grace, he lived it. Two of the clearest pictures of this during his earthly ministry are his encounters with the Samaritan woman (John 4:1-30) and the sinful woman who washed his feet with her hair (Luke 7:36-50). Of all the people of great notoriety Jesus could have spent time with on this earth, he chose to pursue someone of a different nationality whom his people despised, who was also a five-time divorcee currently living with someone to whom she was not married. She was ashamed for others to see her in public, which is why she came alone in the middle of the day to the well in that culture. Yet she is precisely the kind of person Jesus loves, and wants to meet with. That is grace. As for the sinful woman who washed his feet with her hair, he praised her above the Pharisee who invited him. That sinful woman taught us all a lesson in grace. The person who is forgiven much loves much. Kyle Idleman put it well when he said, “Our ability to appreciate grace is in direct correlation to the degree to which we acknowledge our need for it…The more I recognize the ugliness of my sin, the more I appreciate the beauty of God’s grace.”[14]
Does Grace Have Limits?
Are there some people who have done such terrible things that they are beyond God’s reach? Can we sin so much, or sin so badly that it becomes too great for grace? No. Kyle Idleman wrote a whole book on this topic, called Grace is Greater. He based the title on Romans 5:15-18 where it says twice, “even greater is God’s wonderful grace…” He writes the simple equation shown below, and asks you to fill in the blank with your worst sin.[15]
Grace > _________
I think that simple equation is so powerful. It symbolizes Paul’s point well when he says in Romans 5:20, “Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more…” Based on this verse, Jud Wilhite calls Las Vegas, where he pastors, “Grace City” instead of “Sin City.”[16] What is incredible to know is that God gives us abundant provisions of grace (Rom 5:15-17; 1 Tim 1:14; 2 Pet 1:2) because he is immeasurably rich in grace (Eph 2:4-9). Out of his fulness we receive grace upon grace (Jn 1:16). He doesn’t ration it out because supplies are limited. There is nothing we can do so great that God’s grace cannot redeem us.
Let me briefly give you one of the most powerful testimonies I’ve heard to show you how much greater God’s grace is than our sin. The Khmer Rouge was a communist regime under the command of Pol Pot in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. They were responsible for killing 2 million out of a total population of 8 million.[17] Especially horrendous torture was carried out at the compound just outside Phnom Penh, called S-21. Comrade Duch (pronounced Doik) was in charge of the institution. “On a list of eight teenagers and nine children, Duch wrote the order: ‘Kill them all.’”[18] These torturers would force confessions by hanging people upside down with their head in a bucket of urine and feces. They used electric shocks, suffocation with a plastic bag. They slit throats, bashed heads in with shovels. “Babies were killed by dropping them from balconies or swinging them by their legs and smashing their heads against trees.”[19] When the Khmer Rouge was overthrown, Duch escaped and disappeared, but did not have time to destroy the records of their foul medical experimentations. Today, S-21 is a genocide museum.
A pastor named Christopher LaPel began planting churches throughout Cambodia, and after preaching would offer an altar call. One man named Hang was suffering from depression and began attending these meetings led by LaPel. Hang stepped forward during an altar call, and said he had done a lot of bad things in his life and didn’t know if his sins could be forgiven. LaPel assured him that they could, so Hang committed his life to Christ and was baptized the following day. LaPel saw an instant change in this man’s demeanor and attitude. He discipled Hang, and eventually Hang served with the American Refugee Committee, saving lives during a typhoid outbreak.[20] One of the officials there called Hang their best worker. Hang later went on to work with World Vision. One of the leaders in that organization said Hang was popular with the people he served. Through the years LaPel lost contact with Hang, until he received a phone call from a reporter one day informing him that Hang Pin was Comrade Duch.
Duch confessed to his crimes before a “United Nations-backed tribunal for crimes against humanity, murder, and torture. He didn’t hide from his past as other Khmer Rouge killers were trying to do.”[21] He asked to be able to apologize to the families of his victims at S-21, and his request was granted. Today Duch is locked in a prison in Phnom Penh, and will be for the rest of his life. LaPel is permitted to see Duch because he is a pastor, and LaPel says that Duch is thankful for God’s grace, and shares Jesus with the guards and other prisoners, many of whom are former Khmer Rouge. Duch doesn’t deserve God’s grace. He tortured and murdered children. But God’s grace is a gift. Grace is greater than Duch’s sin, and it is greater than my sin and your sin as well. Let this thought challenge you: God loves Duch just as much as he loves you and me.[22]
What About Works?
I really hope by this point you are feeling pretty uncomfortable. Maybe you’re thinking, “Now wait a minute Jordan. It sounds like you’re saying we don’t need to do any good works. We can just live in sin and God will forgive us.” If that’s your conclusion so far, I’ve done well. I’m not saying your conclusion is correct, but I’m happy you think that. Why? Because if we talk about grace, and people don’t get the feeling that it’s scandalous, then we’ve missed it. If even Paul got the question… twice, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” (Rom 6:1-3, 14-15) then who am I to think that I won’t get the same question?[23] It’s a sign you’re getting it. You are understanding that grace is a free gift, not a wage to be earned, and that your salvation whether you’re a new believer, or a mature believer is by grace alone apart from any works (a.k.a. obedience/performance).
So then where do works come in? This is what makes grace even better than you realize. Grace is not only pardon, but power.[24] What I mean is that the same grace that justifies us also sanctifies us. Grace is too powerful and too persistent to leave us where it found us, enslaved to sin. True grace will be the Holy Spirit’s power at work in us transforming us into the image of Christ with ever increasing glory (2 Cor 3:18). Simply put, grace will make us more and more like Christ. Good works will just be a natural result of that process. Does that always mean I will commit fewer sins tomorrow than I did today, or that my sins tomorrow won’t be as bad as my sins today? No. We will have real falls. But if you look at the big picture (not just this week or month or year or years) you see the overall trajectory is one in which you look more Christ-like than where you started.
Sadly, many Christians forget all those verses about grace being a free gift apart from any works, and interpret James to be saying that at the end of the day your works are what save you. So, let’s take a look at what James says, and then examine the role of works in the life of the believer a bit more. James’ states his main point twice when he says, “faith without works is dead” (James 2:17, 26).
Now think about that for a moment. We often look at it from one side of the coin so to speak, but not the other. If faith without works is dead, then faith with works is alive.[25] The former is not genuine faith, but the latter is. Once realize that, it turns out James and Paul actually agree. James’ theology like Paul’s, says it is faith alone that saves. The only reason works even come up in the conversation is because James wants to know if your faith is real. Works can serve as an indicator of a living faith.
Though this analogy isn’t perfect, I think it can help illustrate the point. Think of faith as a living, beating heart. Works are kind of like the littles spikes on the chart of an EKG reading. They can show you if the heart is living or not. Sometimes they may be weaker than others, or even very irregular, but the heart is still living. Having an EKG chart but no heart does you no good. And the spikes on the EKG aren’t causing the heart to beat. Rather, it’s the heart beating causing the spikes. Similarly, works are not a substitute for faith. It is a living faith that saves, and a living faith will produce works. That is James’ point. Dr. Michael Heiser puts it this way, “Works are essential to corroborating salvation; they are not the meritorious cause of salvation.”[26] I think this table below will clarify what we mean.
To recap, it is God’s free gift of grace that saves you through faith alone, apart from any works. And that grace not only pardons and justifies you in the sight of God so that you are declared righteous, but it also liberates you from the power of sin because it is the Holy Spirit’s power at work within you conforming you to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29; Col 3:10; 2 Cor 3:18). That doesn’t mean you will be perfect in this life. You won’t. Many will struggle with various sins throughout their entire lives. We’ll talk more below about how to deal with that. But, you will see yourself becoming more like Christ than when you started. Good works are a result of the Holy Spirit’s work within you, sanctifying you. Our obedience/good works can serve as an indicator of the state of our faith. It’s not the only indicator, but it’s a useful one.
I hope this helps you see how crucial it is to keep a proper perspective on grace and works. Works can become spiritually toxic if we see them as necessary to please God, or to keep him loving us, or to earn his grace. When you see them like that, you become spiritually dry and bitter toward God. Our motivation for doing good works must be kept in check. Ask yourself, am I trying to earn God’s approval today by doing x,y, and z? Am I believing He won’t accept me unless I do x,y, and z or He won’t love me unless I do x, y, and z? If your answer is yes, then you are in the performance trap. You have missed grace.
To keep yourself out of the performance trap, and fixed on the grace of God, remind yourself that good works are done out of love, not for love. They are done out of grace, not for grace. To cultivate genuine love for others, we first have to cultivate genuine love for God. We do this by letting our souls feast upon the beauty of the grace and love we have received. Only upon receiving will we then have something to give. And God gives us love and grace in such abundance, that it becomes a natural overflow in our lives to share that love with others.
Jesus loved people, and therefore served them (Mt 20:28). To be conformed to his image, and to be his disciple, means we will serve people, so as to show them love as well. Love is the ultimate goal of our good works. They are to be done out of a love for God and a love for people (Mt 22:36-40). We are to “stir one another up to love and good works” (Heb 10:24). Ephesians 6:6 says, “Don’t work only while being watched, in order to please men, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will from your heart.” We are to devote ourselves to good works, because that is what we were created for (Eph 2:10), and because it profits people (Titus 3:8,14).
Let’s make sure when we do good works it is not to earn God’s love or approval, but simply an act of love from our hearts. This is the idea of “faith working through love” (Gal 5:6). 1 Thessalonians 1:3 says, “We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work of faith, labor of love, and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ…” Genuine faith results in genuine love like Jesus, which leads us to work and labor, not for our salvation, but to benefit others, to be a blessing to them. And what drives endurance when the work is hard is hope. With the recognition of the love of God in our own lives, we are compelled to show others his incredible life changing love as well. Then we don’t work begrudgingly, but joyfully and thankfully. If we find that that isn’t our attitude, then we clearly need to go back to God’s grace. It is God’s grace that has effects. It produces hard work. 1 Corinthians 15:10 says, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them- yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”
The Many Gifts of Grace
We have looked at grace as a gift pardon and power, but it has many other gifts as well. Be encouraged by these…
Our belief/faith is a gift of grace from God (Acts 18:27). I couldn’t believe if left to myself. God’s grace is the reason I believe.
God’s grace builds us up and gives us an inheritance (Acts 20:32).
Grace produces a heart that overflows in thanksgiving to God (2 Cor 4:15).
Grace is our strength when we are too weak to endure (2 Cor 12:9). Our hearts are strengthened by grace (Heb 13:9). God’s strength is most visible when everyone perceives our weakness. God gets greater glory when people can see it was his strength carrying us, not our own. So let’s boast about our weaknesses, because our God is not ashamed to be our God, and he rejoices in being our strength. Let’s be strong in the grace of Jesus (2 Tim 2:1).
Grace gives us encouragement and hope that will last for not just this life but all eternity (2 Thess 2:16-17). That encouragement makes us strong so that we can do the good works and speak the good words God has for us.
God’s grace has many forms (1 Pet 4:10), expressed through various gifts he gives us. That kind of grace is used to build up the body of Christ.
It gives us a new identity in Christ which we need to embrace EVERY DAY! This will largely be how we handle our guilt and shame. This identity in Christ will be the topic of my next blog post.
What Are We Called To Do With Grace?
Christians are called to live in the grace of Christ (Gal 1:6-7)
We should continue in the grace of God (Acts 13:39,43)
We are commanded to always keep our conversations full of grace (Col 4:6).
We are commanded to be stewards of God’s grace (1 Pet 4:10).
We are commanded to make sure that no one misses the grace of God (Heb 12:15).
Giving is a way that we can show grace (2 Cor 8:7). This images the grace of Jesus, which is that though he was rich, for our sake he became poor, so that through his poverty we might become rich (2 Cor 8:9).
Conclusion
Let’s set our hope on grace (1 Pet 1:13), and grow in grace (2 Pet 3:18). How? Through the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord (1 Pet 1:2). I know this post was lengthy but I hope I have helped you begin that journey. I hope that whether you are spiritually dry, have mixed up spiritual priorities, or are broken by your sin, I helped you catch a glimpse of the good news of God’s glorious grace, and planted in you the desire to experience this grace. I would encourage you to make a Bible study out of grace over the next several weeks. To help you get started, I have included a list of verses here taken from the appendix of the Lee Strobel book I mention below. Check out the other resources as well. I highly recommend them.
Recommended Listening/Reading
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 213- Do Good Works Contribute to Salvation?
The Case For Grace by Lee Strobel
Grace Is Greater by Kyle Idleman
Footnotes
[1] This is my paraphrase of a quote from Old Testament Scholar Dr. Michael Heiser in his podcast on grace and works. His actual quote was “…if you know all this arcane stuff that by and large is a lot of speculation…If you’re a master of those domains and you can’t help somebody with this one [grace and works], I not only pity you, I pity them. It’s just a misplaced priority.” Naked Bible Podcast Episode 213. Transcript pg.24.
[2] Idleman, Kyle. Grace Is Greater. (Baker Books). 2017.
[3] Idleman, Kyle. Grace Is Greater. Pg. 15.
[4] https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/grace-is-pardon-and-power
[5] Piper, John. https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/from-his-fullness-we-have-all-received-grace-upon-grace--2 emphasis mine.
[6] Naked Bible Podcast Episode 213. Transcript pg. 5.
[7] Strobel, Lee. The Case for Grace. pg. 53.
[8] Strobel, Lee. The Case for Grace. (Zondervan). 2015. Pg. 53.
[9] Strobel, Lee. The Case for Grace. pg. 52. Emphasis mine.
[10] Strobel, Lee. The Case for Grace. Pg. 54.
[11] Strobel, Lee. The Case for Grace. Pg. 55.
[12] Naked Bible Podcast Episode 213. Transcript pg. 7.
[13] Keener, Craig. Bible Background Commentary. Pg. 222.
[14] Idleman, Kyle. Grace is Greater. Pg. 22-23.
[15] Idleman, Kyle. Grace is Greater. Pg. 32.
[16] Strobel, Lee. The Case for Grace. Pg. 46.
[17] Strobel, Lee. The Case for Grace. Pg. 91.
[18] Strobel, Lee. The Case for Grace. Pg. 95.
[19] Strobel, Lee. The Case for Grace. Pg. 96.
[20] Strobel, Lee. The Case for Grace. Pg. 98.
[21] Strobel, Lee. The Case for Grace. Pg. 100.
[22] Strobel, Lee. The Case for Grace. Pg. 103.
[23] Naked Bible Podcast Episode 213. Transcript pg. 12.
[24] I get this phrase from John Piper. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/grace-is-pardon-and-power
[25] Naked Bible Podcast Episode 213. Transcript pg. 10.
[26] Heiser, Michael S.; Heiser, Michael S.. Brief Insights on Mastering Bible Doctrine: 80 Expert Insights on the Bible, Explained in a Single Minute (60-Second Scholar Series) (Kindle Locations 1597-1601). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.