Using "Grace" As A Excuse

The greatest gift of love that God has given us is His grace. It is by grace that God saves us (Ephesians 2:8). It is by grace that God releases us from sin and places us in a condition where we aren’t required to live perfectly under a law of works (Romans 6:14). Grace is a free gift given by Jesus through His sacrifice on the cross (Romans 5:2). Grace is the greatest gift we can obtain, but we need to know how God’s grace works.

I read an article today that spoke very strongly about grace… or at least the author thought it was grace. He spoke about Christians who continue in sinful lifestyles after their conversion and how “because of grace” they can continue living that way without any repercussions. Because they believe in God, accept Jesus, and are “converted” they get a free pass when it comes to their sin. He also went on to call the apostles “thugs” and compared some of them to ISIS and the KKK, but that’s besides the point. I believe the main reason for the article was to say that Christians can’t tell other Christians what to do because we’re all saved and you can’t tell anyone otherwise. Is that what God’s grace is? Is it that whoever wants grace just claims it and then automatically has it no matter what?

You Can’t Put A Limit On Grace

God’s grace is unlimited. He offers it to everyone in the world and there is not one human being that can tell you if you can or can’t have it. It is God’s to give. But where most people get tripped up is not the power of God’s grace but the method that God gives grace. Do we decide for ourselves how God gives grace? Does your preacher? Do your parents? Is it not God who decides Himself how He gives any blessing?

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” We can tell through this verse that grace is a gift. It is not earned by doing good works nor gained by something that we do to deserve it. However, grace does come through something: FAITH. It is true that we cannot put a limit on God’s grace but apparently God has limited how it can be obtained.

By Grace You Have Been Saved Through Faith

How is grace obtained by faith? Genesis 11 is the first time we meet Abram (later renamed Abraham). If we recall the story of Abraham, we see a powerful example of faith. Abraham left his homeland, had confidence that Sarah could produce children at 100, and was even willing to offer his son as a sacrifice all because God told him so. Paul said of Abraham in Romans 4:21 that he was “fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” and it was because of that faith that Abraham was counted righteous and was justified. To be justified means that the guilt that someone has as a sinner is taken away. Justification is the process of becoming “not guilty” of your sins. It was by faith that Abraham obtained this and through which we obtain salvation (Ephesians 2:8 - “by grace you have been saved through faith.”)

Faith and Works or Just Faith Only?

Abraham was justified by faith. But what does this mean? I am reminded of a story of two farmers who prayed for rain. One prepared his field and one did not. Obviously they both believed God would send rain or they would not have prayed. But the one who had faith got out and prepared the field. Faith is not belief. They aren’t the same thing. James said that even demons believe that God is one and shudder at the thought (James 2:19). But does belief save Satan’s demons?

Faith, rather than belief, is defined in scripture as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11:1). If something has substance it is observable. You can tell that something’s there. The same goes for things that have evidence. If there is evidence for something it means that there is an argument for that thing existing. If faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things unseen then faith is observable. Faith cannot just be belief, but is something that we (and God) can observe.

Justified by Works & Faith

The only time “faith only” occurs in the Bible is in James 2:24. “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” This seems to be in complete contradiction with Paul. You can either choose to stop here and call the half-brother of Jesus a liar or you can hear him out. What James is saying is belief alone cannot save. Remember how he said, “even the demons believe”? Like the Hebrew writer implies, there is something that must be observed when there is belief, and when we can observe belief by its works (just like Abraham) you have faith.

What Shall We Do?

In Acts 2, Peter gives the first gospel sermon about the crucifixion of Jesus and the guilt of all humanity for their sin. Those believing Jews who were cut to the heart by the message and realized their sin asked, “What shall we do?” Peter responds in verse 38, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Sounds like this is what Paul is telling them to do after they were convicted of their sins. It was his response to “what shall we do?” The same goes for us today. We HAVE to repent of our sins and be baptized. In baptism, we are buried with Christ and are raised to walk in a new life (Romans 6:3-4). After baptism, we begin our new life having the forgiveness of sins, but like Paul says in Romans 6:1, we must not continue to live in sin. Grace is not an excuse to sin. We need to repent, turn 180, and head in the direction of God and His commands. Because it is commanded by Jesus to repent (Luke 13:3), let us encourage others to follow Jesus and reject their old sinful lives instead of making excuses for them for the sake of political correctness. Jesus is not politically correct. He wants you to change and become more like Him. Let's make the effort to be more like Him every day.

With love,

Zack