(A)
The most classic and perhaps complete statement on the role of grace in our salvation is in the following:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8)
Being saved is a process that has begun for the Ephesians at a point in the past, indeed, before the foundation of the world, and has consequences that will continue into the ages to come. Those who have been saved are those who have been made alive with Christ and who share the glorious hope expressed in these verses. We are saved by grace through faith. It is a gift from God, “not the result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Salvation is neither our doing, nor “the result of work.” A ‘work’ is anything of our own achieving of which we might boast. It is anything that we have done in which we place our trust. Salvation does not come from our own efforts; it is a pure gift from God. This gift becomes real for us “through faith.” Faith is a turning away from dependence on any thing good and praiseworthy in our own selves. It is a turning to and utter dependence upon the grace of God. As a result, we cannot “boast.” To boast would be to hold up some achievement or claim of our own before God and saying to our neighbour, “Mine! See what I am and what I have done!”
If grace is a gift from God, it implies that we must “receive” through faith. It is not easy for people to receive like ‘little children’ (Mark 120:14b-15). Our society teaches us that we must earn our way, that we must go ahead by our own efforts. The church often simply reinforces this message. In church we are often taught to give: give our time, our money, our commitment. Much of the message is motivating people to give; of course those who are ‘leaders’ in the church would proclaim: ‘We have given our lives to Christ; we give our days and most of our time to the service of the church.” We value ourselves to a large extent by what we have given.
Grace sounds simple, but it is difficult, childishly difficult. Before we can give, we must receive, and grace is about receiving. We would rather depend on our own performance. After all, this gives us credit that is denied to others. It is hard for fearful people to receive grace. We want a world that adheres to our ideas of justice and fairness, a justice in which we receive the rewards due to our goodness. We empathise with the elder brother in the parable of the prodigal son: “All these years I have slaved for you… but this son of yours” – it is not fair! ‘This son of yours had squandered his inheritance and lived a ‘terrible’ life in contrast to my hard work and faithfulness; yet, you treated him so well’ – this could be what was in the thoughts of the elder brother.
(B)
Whenever we teach and preach grace, we are proclaiming the free and unmerited love and mercy of God. If we complain that God is unfair and we deserve better, we do not realise that what we truly deserve is condemnation and God’s wrath as ‘descendants’ of Adam – we were destined for hell; we deserve curses as those who have sinned and rebelled against God – but God, in His love, mercy, grace sent His Son to redeem us b being our substitute and the propitiation for our sin.
It is difficult for those receiving the message of the gospel for the first time to receive the grace of God; they think they are better than others, they deserve better and it is unfair for God to punish them in the same manner as He punishes others.
For believers, this mindset still remains; when things go wrong in our life, according to our understanding, we feel that God is unfair to inflict us with illnesses, difficult relationships, especially as we ‘have done so much for God and His people”. We have given our time, our commitment; we have served the best we can – surely we deserve better! We have in fact not fully appreciated God’s grace; if we seek what we deserve, we truly do not deserve to be forgiven, to be adopted as God’s children, to receive God’s inheritance and to share His glory in the new heaven and new earth.
Having said that, grace is free but not cheap. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves; it is the teaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession. We meet God not only as total acceptance, but also as total demand. The demand rests upon grace, The demand that does not rest on grace is legalism.
Grace and demand cannot rightly be separated in the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Indeed the demand of a gracious God is itself grace (Matt11:30).
We know we are of immense worth because of grace. If we have been grasped by grace, we know that God loves us with a passion and a depth beyond our power fully to conceive. People who are loved like this know that they are not worthless – they are ever grateful that God, in HIs grace, reaches out to them in love and mercy, even though they are wretched and unworthy in every sense of the word.
(C)
We noted in our previous sharing that we meet God, not only as total acceptance, but also as total demand. The God who bestows upon us mercy, kindness, love, and grace also demands from us faith, repentance, holiness, and a growing likeness into the image of His Son – this is the path to building a holy temple, a path to godly maturity, and a path to be the unblemished bride of Christ.
In case we think of grace as only receiving – grace also leads to giving, but giving to God’s requirements and desires that rest on grace. By grace we are saved through faith; but grace ‘accompanies’ us throughout our Christian living.
The grace of God “leads to”: a naturally proud person becomes humble; a naturally quick-tempered person is taught patience; a naturally contentious person is endowed with self-restraint and wisdom; a natural egoist, conscious of his great ability is set free from self-seeking to serve the servants of God. These are the increasing moral effects of grace in the life of a born-again believer as he meets God’s demands by resting on grace, and as he learns to increasingly submit to the ministry and guidance of the Holy Spirit (in the context of the church and body-life, and in receiving the revelation and teachings of the Scripture). Receiving God’s grace begins and leads to a permanently transforming heart-regeneration of the one who is saved as he is united with Christ in his/her conversion. Grace ‘follows’ him/her in the journey to the new heaven and new earth as the person grows in holiness and spiritual maturity.
As the believer appreciates the plan of salvation and the wonders of God’s grace, he/she begins to dwell on these great and awesome realities and becomes awestruck at the greatness of God who is making it all happen; the believer will learn to give God praise for the greatness of His glory.
The Triune God of the plan of salvation is great – transcendent and immutable in His omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. He is eternal in His truthfulness and faithfulness, wisdom and justice, severity and goodness – and He must be praised and adored as such.
Just as there could be for Jesus no crown without the cross, so there can be for us no holiness without the praise, no moulding into the image of the Master without His grace. As we receive grace, mercy, and love of God, let us give HIm the honour, the glory, the praise, due to Him, increasingly.