Grace

In the comment section of my recent post about God's Church over at Banned by HWA, Scout observed: "It is in the doctrine of grace that the Armstrongist denominations fail to rise to the level of Christianity. The doctrine of grace is also what binds Christian denominations together. While Armstrongist theology pays lip service to the idea that salvation cannot be earned by works, they have a stealth doctrine of Qualification which is a full-bore doctrine of salvation by works. This doctrine of Qualification places them well outside the Christian pale. And, of course, we have all witnessed the misrepresentation of the doctrine of grace coming from the Armstrongist pulpit. For decades they have spoken calumny against the doctrine of grace. One would think in the course of that time, someone in the Armstrongist denominations would have actually looked into what the main Christians churches (not some fringe sect or one-off preacher) believe about grace. Instead, they choose to wallow in misunderstanding." As I read that comment for the first time, the utter failure of the Armstrong Churches of God in this regard was underscored for me in a way that it had not formerly appeared to me.

The Greek word charis appears in most English translations of Scripture as "grace." The word is indicative of God's good will, loving-kindness, and favor. In his article for Christianity.com, What is Grace?, Justin Holcomb wrote: "Grace is most needed and best understood in the midst of sin, suffering, and brokenness. We live in a world of earning, deserving, and merit, which result in judgment. That is why everyone wants and needs grace. Judgment kills. Only grace makes us alive." He continued: "A shorthand for what grace is - 'mercy, not merit.' Grace is the opposite of karma, which is about getting what you deserve. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve and not getting what you do deserve. Christianity teaches that what we deserve is death as the price of sin, which separates us from God, Who is life. While everyone desperately needs it, grace is not about us. Grace is a word about God: his un-coerced initiative and pervasive, extravagant demonstrations of care and favor. Michael Horton writes, 'In grace, God gives nothing less than Himself. Grace, then, is not a third thing or substance mediating between God and sinners, but is Jesus Christ in redeeming action.'" In short, grace is Jesus Christ making God's good will, loving-kindness, and favor available to us by erasing our sins.

In the Gospel of John, we read that "the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17, ESV) Likewise, Paul wrote to the saints at Rome: "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:21-26, ESV)

It is, however, in the fifth chapter of this epistle to the Romans that we find the clearest expression of Christ's role in this grace which Christians have received. Paul wrote: "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 5:1-21, ESV)

Unfortunately, the ACOGs have always portrayed more traditional Christians as turning grace into a license to sin, but the reality is that they have turned obedience into a requirement to receive grace! Paul's letters to the Galatians and Ephesians, however, make short work of such a notion. Paul wrote to the saints of Galatia: "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." (Galatians 2:20-21, ESV) In other words, Paul considered his righteousness to be totally dependent on what Christ had done for him - NOT on his own obedience to God's law! Later, in the same epistle, Paul spoke about the symbol of Israel's obligation to obey Torah: circumcision. He wrote: "Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love." (Galatians 5:2-6, ESV)

In his letter to the saints at Ephesus, Paul was even more explicit about Jesus Christ and the role of grace in the life of Christians. He wrote: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth." (Ephesians 1:3-10, ESV) He continued: "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:1-9, ESV)

Clearly, for Paul, it was/is Christ who makes us righteous in God's sight, NOT obeying Torah. Now, as a consequence of what God and Christ have done for us, and with the aid of the Holy Spirit, Christians walk in the spirit of the Law of Love (Love for God and neighbor). Hence, the notion that we have turned grace into permission to sin is LUDICROUS! As Paul explained to the Christians at Rome: "Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." (Romans 13:8-10, ESV)

So, grace is an expression of God's love for us. It is a gift that is extended to us because Jesus Christ loved us so much that he sacrificed himself so that we might stand in righteousness before Almighty God! And it is because of God's gracious mercy toward us that we feel compelled to reflect his love in our own lives - all the while realizing that our own works of love are NOT what saves us. As the author of the epistle to the Hebrews wrote: "Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16, ESV) So let us be bold in our acceptance of God's grace, and thereby avoid falling away from it!