Understanding and Living in Grace

The late C.S Lewis once entered a discussion where he was asked to define the difference between Christianity and all other religions. 'That's easy,' he said. 'The answer is grace.'

I. Grace: What is it?

Biblical grace may be defined as ‘an undeserved display of divine favor’. In theological terms, we can speak of ‘common grace’ and ‘saving grace’ although various denominations have other terms such as ‘prevenient grace’, ‘sanctifying grace’, etc.

Common grace refers to the grace God has granted to every human being whether they accept or reject Him. Scripture teaches that ‘all have sinned’ (Romans 3:23) and that the wages of sin is death. Yet God does not carry out a death sentence against people, but in His grace, gives them time to recognize their sin through the conviction of the Spirit, repent, and turn to Him for forgiveness.

Throughout our lives, until the time of our deaths, God gives grace to all human beings and does not withhold His blessings from them even if they refuse salvation, or even acknowledge His existence. On the contrary, He freely gives an abundance of food and resources, He gives us an ability to understand truth, He puts within us the desire to seek answers to life, gives us gifts of creativity, and the ability to understand moral principles of right and wrong. 

Common grace, therefore, is that undeserved favor from God that is freely given by Him to grant every human being the opportunity to recognize their sin, recognize His grace, and respond in repentance. For those who refuse, the penalty will result in eternal death (separation from God), for grace ends at the moment of death and then judgment is executed.

Apart from Christianity, every religion in the world requires a person to earn their salvation by one means or other. The gospel has a different message. It's not what we do, but what has been done for us. God is perfectly holy, and to dwell in His presence requires perfection. Such a standard is impossible for imperfect creatures. Our imperfection is a chosen thing, for every human being, apart from Jesus Christ, has willfully chosen to sin (Romans 5:12). 

God's holiness requires justice for a willful crime. The act of sin produces death, and only the act of death can erase the effect of sin. But not just any death. In order for perfection to be gained, a perfect life must be given to pay the debt against the holiness of God. Jesus Christ paid that debt. God the Son became the Son of God, submitting His will entirely to the will of His Father, submitting even to death. 

When we surrender our sinful lives into His control, His sacrifice becomes ours, a perfect sacrifice for sin, and we are declared perfect. The Bible says that:

 …because by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. 

(Hebrews 10:14). 

This is the essence of grace, a declaration that we have been made something impossible for us to make of ourselves. Grace is undeserved; it is a gift from a loving Father who watched His beloved Son die a horrific death as a substitute for fallen creatures. No human being can earn salvation by their own works. Yes, we can do good things for others, but only perfection can allow us to enter into the presence of God when our souls depart from this world. 

Jesus, as Savior and Lord, offers every person the free gift of His perfection, a declaration that we have 'forever' - a gift of grace, of eternal life. John 1:16-17 states this.

Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Here John makes comparisons. Those under the law were under general grace, however, the law could not enable humanity to live its standards. The law does not feel, it is a written code, revealing God’s standards but not empowering a person to keep those standards. But in Christ is the fullness of grace embodied, and those who are in Christ are empowered by Christ to live for Christ. The law stated, thou shalt not do this or that, but in Christ, the message is not you cannot, but rather ‘you can’ fulfill the law, because Christ fulfills the law.

Consider the words of Jesus on the cross and Stephen before his death. Jesus, full of grace cried out to the Father to forgive those crucifying Him. The last words of Stephen in Acts 7:59-60 were ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit’ and ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’. Both Jesus, and Stephen were crying out to God to not withhold His grace to those committing these acts, to not immediately take revenge. Stephen could only do this because he was ‘full of the Holy Spirit’ (v55), he had received the fullness of Christ. 

Furthermore, when we understand what grace is we can begin to understand why humility is the key to God's favor, and why He hates pride so intensely. Pride comes from self-evaluation. We compare ourselves to others. Usually, of course, we choose to compare ourselves with people like Hitler or Stalin, rather than some saintly unselfish individual. But God's standard is Himself; God's standard is Jesus Christ. Pride fails to see the evil which lingers in its own heart, rather, it looks down on those it perceives as evil and pats itself on the back. God sees our evil and our potential for evil. 

Our choices in life are nearly always influenced by our station in life. If we've never experienced starvation, never watched while someone we loved was tortured and killed, never been raped and beaten, then in truth we cannot know how we would react. When we see a beggar on the streets, or watch TV reports about heinous crimes, what goes through our minds? Compassion and disgust, or do we dare to say 'there, but for the grace of God go I'? 

The humble person can accept God's grace because humility recognizes not only our present sin, but our potential for sin. The man who considers himself righteous compares himself with those he considers less holy than himself. Jesus, and only Jesus, is the standard for all humanity. The Bible declares,

It is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8)

The key to receiving saving grace is in humble and honest recognition of the evil which dwells in every human heart. ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’ (James 4:6). And after we are born again, God’s grace continues in our lives. 

II. Grace! A License to Sin?

As we have previously said, God's declaration of perfection is forever. For those who have been born again the perfection of Jesus Christ covers their sin - past, present and future. If this were not the case, we would be starting by grace, and continuing the race solely by our own efforts. The moment we failed, salvation would be forfeit. We start the race having been given the power and motivation to finish it. 

Before we were born again we had just our flesh nature dominating every thought and action, but after salvation the Divine Nature lives within us (2 Peter 1:3-4). It is His nature which gives us the energy, the motivation and the power to live for Him. Our part is merely to continually 'take up our cross' and rely on Him, submitting daily as we did at the beginning. 

The Christian comes to the source of his/her changed life every day and simply admits, 'Lord, without you I can do nothing; I would fall back into what I was before'. Those who teach that we can lose salvation argue that grace may be abused as a license to sin. 'If all our future sins are forgiven, then we can do whatever we like', they suggest. When I hear such claims I can't help but wonder if these people have ever met Jesus Christ. St Augustine once said that 'if you truly love God, you can do whatever you are inclined to do”. 

He was right, because we will be inclined to do whatever pleases the Lord we love. Jesus said that if we love Him we will obey His commandments, and His commandment is to love. It is all about our hearts. Yes, we will sin after we are saved, but we will feel ashamed and sad that we acted against our Lord, and be quick to repent. Anyone who plans to sin and to ask forgiveness later, the person who thinks he can abuse God’s grace, is in dire need of true repentance.

Two desires dwell within the soul of the saved; the mind which is being renewed still desires to sin, whilst the Divine Nature within us hates sin. When a Christian sins the Holy Spirit within is grieved. We feel His grief, His disappointment and loathing for the sin. A Christian who doesn't repent is the most miserable and depressed person around. If a person claims to be a Christian and can happily live in sin, they are simply deceiving themselves. 

The truth is they are not a Christian, but a hypocrite. The unrepentant Christian is urged by the Spirit to repent, then commanded to repent, and haunted by feelings of shame until they obey John's words to 'confess their sins and be cleansed from all unrighteousness' (1st John 1:8-10). Living in and with sin is not an option for those who have Christ as Lord, not if they want to have any peace or joy in their lives.

III. Culture of Merit

Understanding grace is difficult enough, but living in it is contrary to almost everything we are used to. We live in a world which promotes reward for good behavior, and discipline or punishment for wrong action. This system is drummed into us from the earliest years of our childhood. Our parents promise little rewards like candies if we behave well and, if we misbehave, forms of disciplinary action. 

When we get to school it becomes about grades. We are rewarded with good grades for diligence and we get an 'F' for 'fail' if we're lazy or complacent. The world tells us that we get what we deserve. Human effort is the key to self-discipline and success. The problem is that we naturally transfer this system onto God. As previously stated, all religions, apart from Christianity, teach a form of works and merit, but sadly these forms have also become a part of mainline Christianity as well. 

We throw around verses like 'you reap what you sow' and these become something akin to a Buddhist idea of karma. New Testament Scripture has many warnings about judgment in verses which say that God ‘will give to each according to what we have done’ (Romans 2:6). Yet these verses are never speaking of even the remote possibility that through our own actions we may be rewarded with eternal life, unless those actions are acts of faith in the grace of God. 

Salvation does require a response on our part, but that response is not to make ourselves good enough for God through righteous actions. In the same way, as Christians we strive to live godly lives motivated by the Spirit within us, and when we fail on occasions, His grace covers us as He helps us back on our feet to continue the race.

God calls us to firstly recognize our status as creatures, to then recognize our sinfulness, to seek Him with all our hearts, count the cost, and finally submit our lives to Him. Hebrews 11:6 says that God 'rewards those who diligently seek Him'. 

When we begin to seek we may still have the idea that God is going to reward us in a similar way that our parents did, but when we finally understand that the bloody, mutilated body of God's holy Son was the price paid for our reward, all thought of our good behavior disappears as our pride is reduced in honest humility. Yes, the reward is eternal life, but all of the merit goes to Jesus Christ, and He alone. 

However, there is another issue here which for some can be rather confusing. Jesus said that His disciples will be known by our fruit and Paul gives us a list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. They include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We should see all of these in increasing measure as we grow in Christ, and if they are not present, we should examine our faith to see if it is genuine. 

So how do we know if we are genuinely in Christ and being transformed by the Spirit, or just a strong-willed religious person relying on our own strength? 

In my experience, I have met both types, and have found that there are two signs which distinguish them. Firstly, the genuine Christian always points to Christ as the reason for change in their life, and such people constantly grow in love for Him. Their focus is on the Lord, not themselves. The ‘religious’ and unregenerate person always points to themselves and often in very subtle ways, and seldom speak of their love for Christ. 

They may know the Bible, may live seemingly godly lives, may be strong-willed and disciplined, but they seek glory for themselves and recognition rather than pointing to the Lord.

Secondly, Scripture teaches that the Lord will test our faith to see if it is genuine. Peter speaks about the wonderful inheritance that awaits the saints in heaven, and then writes these words.

6 In this you greatly rejoice, although for now for a little while you may have to suffer grief in various kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that you faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proven genuine and may result in praise and glory when Jesus Christ is revealed. 

8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter: 1:6-9)

Every person experiences trials, temptations and suffering. It may be the death of a loved one, a serious car accident, an illness, the loss of a job, financial hardship or some situation completely out of our control. Those who are relying on their own strength, those who are not genuine Christians, often fall away and even walk away from Christianity altogether. They thought that their smooth, easy life was evidence that God was pleased with their performance and get very disillusioned, and often very angry, when suffering enters their lives.ew

In times of suffering and trials the true Christian turns to Christ in the same way as before the trial began. Yes the trial tests their faith, and sometimes the test is extreme and almost unbearable, but they clutch the Lord’s hand even harder and He guides them through. 

As I am writing this updated version of this book, there is a full-scale war raging in Ukraine where I serve the Lord. When one is sitting in a bomb shelter as loud explosions are heard outside and close, faith is tested in the extreme. But notice verses 8-9 in the passage above. Peter speaks of loving Christ and believing on Christ even though we have never seen Him. Those who do this through times of trial can be filled with ‘inexpressible joy’ as they focus on Him and their salvation from this world.

IV. Legalism: The Absence of Grace

Someone once said that living by grace is like having a highway with a ditch on either side. 

On the left is the idea of having a license to sin, whilst on the other is the ditch of legalism. 

The Old Testament contains the Covenant of the Law given to Moses about 1300BC. There are approximately 613 laws covering every topic pertaining to living a god-centered life and having a functioning community. 

The law was given shortly after the Jews were brought out of their slavery in Egypt. It served several purposes other than, and including, those stated. Firstly, the law made us aware of sin. Paul refers to the law as a tutor, a kind of schoolmaster who teaches us about the evil which lingers in our hearts. 

Secondly, the law teaches us about the holiness of God. Within the law are a multitude of ceremonial rules and regulations for purity, sacrifice and atonement. These laws taught us that approaching a holy God was impossible without the shedding of blood. 

Thirdly, the law taught us how impossible it was to be holy, for the flesh nature in all humanity drives the unregenerate person into sin. Without the indwelling Holy Spirit, without regeneration, it is impossible to even begin to obey God's law in its entirety. Christians are not under the old covenant, for God has made a new covenant (Hebrews 8:13, Colossians 2:14). 

Yet, despite this, Churches make lists of rules, both written and unwritten. This is simply legalism, and the unspoken idea behind legalism is, again, about seeking and gaining God's approval. The length of a girl's dress, not wearing baseball caps in church, not smoking, not drinking alcohol, not wearing excessive jewelry, standing up for prayer, wearing a head covering if you're a woman, and always preaching in a suit and tie if you're a man. 

All of these things and many more are often used to measure a person’s level of spirituality and approval before God. The real issue in many of these cases is the absence of a real and life-changing relationship with Christ, a relationship in which a person wants to honor Him. Setting rules may make a person look more like a real Christian, but simply leaving them in an unregenerate state.

Before I was born again I played in various bands, including entertaining in public bars. The town I lived in was quite small so most people knew me. After I was saved I quit playing in bands, but after my work was over, about 9:00 pm, I'd often stop at the local pub and spend some time talking to people who were really curious about why I'd stopped working part-time as an entertainer. I'd usually buy orange juice as I didn't want people to think I was there to get drunk. 

One of the deacons of the little Baptist Church I attended passed the pub on a Friday night at about 10:00 pm and saw me sitting with a group of guys. There were several empty jugs of beer on the table, but I hadn’t touched any of it as I simply hate the taste of beer. I was called to a disciplinary meeting of deacons. This Church had many folk who were members of the Temperance Society, a group who considered all alcohol to be 'of the devil'.

I explained that I was witnessing and was told that such a place was inappropriate for a Christian. Several deacons informed me that they had never stepped inside a public bar, and the minister at the time was fond of telling the congregation that 'strong drink has never passed my lips'. In truth, I never touched alcohol before I was saved. The martial art I'd been practicing since thirteen forbade it, so the first time I had a glass of wine was after I was born again.

The Church I attended was full of legalism. I was a smoker at the time I was saved. I was also divorced and had nineteen demons living within me until the moment Christ entered my soul, so the Lord had a lot of heavy issues to deal with in beginning my process of living a changed life. I tried everything to give up smoking. I wanted to look like a good witness. I tried and tried and failed repeatedly. I'd heard of people who'd miraculously stopped smoking when born again and pleaded with the Lord for this experience, but His reply was always the same; 'my grace is sufficient for you'.

Our little church had no home groups, no worship team, and no program for evangelism. It had a fortress mentality, a foolish idea that it was an island of righteousness in a sea of iniquity. All of my friends were non-Christians and my desire was to see them saved. I would invite them to my home for discussions on spirituality. Many of them smoked and used more alcohol than was wise, but over time some of them came to know the Lord.

This started a pattern of non-Christian or 'seekers meetings' in my home which the church fundamentally disapproved of because I allowed people to bring cans of beer and smoke cigarettes. Within about two years the Lord had established a kind of house church in my home. Fortunately for me my father was a retired Baptist pastor. He threw me into part-time Bible study, learning Greek and church history, and I fumbled my way through discipling myself and others. These people didn't want to join the Baptist church; they felt like unwanted aliens whenever they attended.

Then something amusing happened. The Baptist Union in the USA used to send teams out to New Zealand to teach the latest evangelism project they'd come up with. This particular program was called 'Total Involvement Evangelism', or TIE. The idea was to have seekers' groups, to create an environment in one's home which would make non-Christians feel comfortable and give an opportunity to present the gospel. My home group had been going for about five years at this stage. 

During that time I'd given my testimony in dozens of churches around New Zealand, but never been allowed to speak in my home church because I still smoked, although I smoked much less than earlier. Suddenly, I was mister popular. In order to look good, and to add some baptisms to the head count, my group was invited to be on the official church register and advertised in the newsletter. It seemed amusing at the time, but looking back, perhaps it was rather sad. 

I went to university as an adult student. I'd already done correspondence courses with the New Zealand Bible College, but had a passion to study theology full-time. I'd pretty much given up on giving up as far as smoking was concerned. Maybe the Lord has a sense of humor, or maybe He wanted to ensure that I never became an arrogant legalist. Being a smoking Christian was always a great source of shame for me and a reminder of how pathetically weak I was.

While at university I would often find myself standing outside shivering in the frost with the other social rejects, huddling around an ashtray, as smoking within buildings was banned in NZ years ago. Otago University had about 16,000 students at the time, so complete strangers often met while feeding their addiction. For me, the conversation often went something like this.

'Man, it's cold. I've got to give this up.'

'Yeah, me too.'

'What's your name and what're you studying?'

'Steve, and I'm studying theology. What about you?'

'John. Good to meet you. I'm doing economics. Theology...that's religious stuff right? Why would you want to study about God in this day and age?'

'Because of something that happened to me in 1982.'

'What happened?'

'I was a Satanist, rock musician and arrogant jerk, but I met someone I thought was long gone and dead.'

'Yeah, wow, who did you meet?'

'I met Jesus Christ and He changed my life.'

'Sounds like you've got quite a story, Steve.'

And these conversations led to more seekers' groups. I never met Christians standing outside having a smoke. The Lord used my weakness to introduce me to many people as weak as I, and gave opportunities to share my testimony and the gospel. Is smoking a sin? If your Lord has commanded you to quit and you don't, then yes, it's a sin. Is it a form of slavery? Yes, it is. My prayer was often 'Lord, just tell me to quit and I will, because I know you'll give me the strength to stop'. One day He answered that prayer and provided me with the strength to quit, but during the years that I skulked around in the shadows hiding from judgmental Christians, He used my weakness to introduce the gospel to many. 

Legalism is the ingrained idea that we must somehow earn God’s approval. We know we are not good enough for God, and we presume, through all that we have been taught as we live in a world of reward by merit, that our own works will help us to be accepted by God, and others. In religions other than Christianity legalism is rampant. 

In some Muslim countries morals police patrol the streets with clubs in order to beat women whose clothing offends them or who dare to drive a car. Legalism makes rules which are supposed to make us practice holiness and keep us away from sin. The problem is that legalism never brings anyone closer to God; rather, it makes us judgmental and proud. I have come to believe that the Lord hates our pride far more than our weaknesses.

Jesus told a story about a Pharisee and a sinner who went to the temple to pray (Luke 18:9-14). The Pharisee thanked God that he was different to other men; he wasn't a robber, adulterer or evildoer. He stood there and prayed about himself. The tax collector stood away from the holy place, his hand on his chest, staring down at his feet and muttered, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner'.

Legalism is a form of what Philip Yancey called ‘ungrace’, and ungrace is rampant in Churches. There is a notion that the saints are inside worshipping God while the sinners are outside doing what sinners do best, sinning. In part, this may well be true, but it fails to be honest about what and who we are. Those who believe they are righteous are correct, if they attribute their righteousness solely to the declaration of perfection we have through the righteousness of Christ, for it is only through His sacrifice that we are perfected in Him (Hebrews 10:14). 

'There but for the grace of God go I' is the pattern of thought we must maintain if Christ is to be the center of our lives. We are only able to demonstrate grace because of the grace demonstrated and gifted to us. If we ever forget that, we will fall into forms of legalism and ungrace which put walls of pride between ourselves and those we are called to serve. The reality is simple. Inside the church are forgiven sinners who continually seek forgiveness when they fall, and outside are unrepentant sinners.

I have met many godly people in my life, mostly Christians who've been in the Lord for many years. I have noticed something profound about such people. The closer to Christ and more holy their lives have become, the more acutely aware of their sin they are. Holiness comes through our relationship with Christ, and the closer we get to Him, the more His glory and our sinfulness are displayed. 

The positive thing is simply this: The more we see our sinfulness, the more our love for Him deepens, for we have an enlarged vision of His incredible grace in loving us in spite of what we are. 

And finally, a word about motivation. 

If we are truly born again, the Divine Nature lives within us, and that nature gives us a desire for holiness. Those who have knelt at the foot of the cross and received Christ as Lord and Savior will hate sin as the Lord hates sin. Our motivation to live holy lives will not be some performance trip to impress the Lord, but motivated by love for His grace. 

His sacrifice covers our failures without condemnation, and His Spirit gives us the power to live for Him with a godly and gracious motivation (Romans 6:6).

Steve Copland