Whos Afraid Of The Big Bad Grace? Grace that requires obedience is not grace. It’s law. Grace plus promising to stop sinning is not grace. It’s law. It’s also futile. By grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus alone It’s a little awkward to let grace stand alone. It’s more than a little awkward to acknowledge our only contribution is faith. However, the need to help grace elevates us and diminishes grace. It suggests we have abilities we don’t have. It’s subtle arrogance. Do you remember the first arrogant one was the Devil. Could it be that we are like the devil when we try to help grace? Trust grace, don’t help it. Grace terrifies moralists, religionists, legalists and weak believers. Your freedom may terrify you. Fear of grace is doubt. Trust grace. Guilt, shame, and law won’t take you where you want to go. Freedom will. Why We’re Afraid of Grace This is super important because the biggest lie about grace that Satan wants the church to buy is the idea that grace is dangerous and therefore needs to be “kept it in check.” By believing this we not only prove we don’t understand grace, but we violate gospel advancement in our lives and in the church. A “yes, grace…but” disposition is the kind of fearful posture that keeps moralism swirling around in our hearts and in the church. I understand the fear of grace. As a pastor, one of my responsibilities is to disciple people into a deeper understanding of obedience – teaching them to say “no” to the things God hates and “yes” to the things God loves. But all too often I have (wrongly) concluded that the only way to keep licentious people in line is to give them more rules. The fact is, however, that the only waylicentious people start to obey is when they get a taste of God’s radical unconditional acceptance of sinners. The irony of gospel-based sanctification is that those who end up obeying more are those who increasingly realize that their standing with God is not based on their obedience, but Christ’s. The people who actually end up performing better are those who understand that their relationship with God doesn’t depend on their performance for Jesus, but Jesus’ performance for us.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 17:35:44 +0000
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