Several years ago a friend and I would joke around about obtaining pre-meditated forgiveness for a sin we were considering committing. We were joking but I think these days people actually do this and use Grace as their "get out of jail free" card. I see a flippant attitude to the character God calls us too and when questioned the answer is usually in the form of, "Well that's why there is God's Grace." Well no, not really. I mean, yes, there is Grace from God but no, that's not an excuse for intentional and consistent sin against God and his Word. These days there is ultra-sensitivity to legalism so people have become reluctant to point out the abuses Grace is taking. But it isn't legalism when it is simply God's word straight up. What I may bring up as examples could sting a little. But rest assured I had to go through the stinging before I put it out there for anyone else. Are you willing to be stung so that Grace becomes a point of clarity in your life and not a blurred line?
Here are some questions about Grace that I've been thinking about.
- Can you take Grace too far? How far is too far?
- Where do you draw the line between permissive lifestyle and Grace lifestyle?
Why is Grace important? A couple of key reasons I think.
One, because God's Grace in our lives should lead us to desire holiness. It should prompt us to want to engage in the things of God and not the things of our flesh. As an author I like to read and follow says, "The law exposes the ugliness of sin and drives you to Grace. Grace exposes the beauty of God's law and moves you to obey." (Paul David Tripp) Right on! God's law, a better interpretation of that word would actually be instructions, is beautiful and meant for our good, for our benefit, in all ways - physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. And when I recognize and accept the beauty of God's instructions I want to obey. It's not even that I feel forced to obey, I truly desire to. Grace leads me to an exercise in holiness.
Secondly, Grace offers us a cushion. A cushion on which to land when we fall down. And we all fall down. But Grace is not something to take advantage of. It isn't our "get out of jail free" card. It isn't our license to sin because we know we can ask for forgiveness and will be granted it. In his book, The Truth War, John MacArthur has this to say about the abuse of Grace in the Church today, "....they [believers] presumptuously regarded God's kindness to sinners as a license for immoral conduct....All their stress on freedom in Christ was actually a back-handed assault on God's grace. 'Grace' to them was nothing more than a phony justification for lust-driven behavior." (The Truth War page 137. Also check out: 2 Peter 2:19, Jude 1:4) Stings a little doesn't?
But Beth, I don't engage in lust-driven behavior. Okay, well while that is the focus of MacArthur's text let's talk about some other assaults on Grace. Have you ever...
- Dropped the f-bomb as part of your normal speech? (I get the times in anger but even then we do have the Spirit in us to help us exercise self-control even when we don't want to or feel like it.)
- Called in sick to work when you weren't sick? (That's called lying.)
- Engaged in lustful behavior that edged right up to the line of going over? (I thought I would throw lust back in seeing as how a lot of singles, and even marrieds, don't have a proper and right understanding of lust.)
- Justified your actions regarding: stealing, lying, gossiping, etc.
There's more where that list came from. All of those things, and more, lead us to a lifestyle opposite of Grace. If Grace leads us to holiness then when we engage in word and deed opposite of holiness we are abusing God's gift of Grace in our lives.
Where we abuse Grace in one area we will begin to in others. That's when the gift of Grace becomes a blurred line in our lives and no longer a point of clarity. That's when we begin to treat it as a "get out of jail free" card and not a place to reside in so we can exercise holiness. It's where we begin to shrug off holiness and call it "legalism" so we can justify our unholy behaviors and words.
Where we abuse Grace in one area we will begin to in others. That's when the gift of Grace becomes a blurred line in our lives and no longer a point of clarity. That's when we begin to treat it as a "get out of jail free" card and not a place to reside in so we can exercise holiness. It's where we begin to shrug off holiness and call it "legalism" so we can justify our unholy behaviors and words.
Back to my questions that I've been thinking about. In light of what we've just discussed here's where I land:
I know. It sounds radical. It sounds "legalistic". It sounds so counter-cultural. I suppose you could look at it that way, except for the legalistic label. It is not legalistic when it is God's word straight up. We like to label things that we don't like or that rub us the wrong way as legalistic, get over it. Allow God's word to pierce you, get settled in to the idea that God's word is not called a two-edged sword for no reason. It is meant to divide us from our flesh and show us how to live in God's ways. That's going to pierce. Is this idea of Grace not being a "get out of jail free" card counter-cultural and radical? You bet. Especially in this day where affluence and comfort is the affliction of the Church and living Godly lifestyles. We want our cake (Grace) and to be able to gorge on it with no consequences (permissive lifestyles). That idea, my friends, is counter-cultural to God's instructions.
Are you living in blurry grace? Have you been using Grace as a justification and denying its real mission of sanctification? The thing that I didn't really touch on in this post about Grace is also the way in which it leads us to interact with others. A Grace lifestyle doesn't put us in a place of judgement toward others and their behaviors. Grace lets us know we need only to be concerned with ourselves and trust God is working out Grace in the lives of those we interact with, just as we are hopeful they are trusting God to do the same with us. Certainly we are called to hold each other to higher standards and we can do that without passing judgement. Really we can! So perhaps together we can begin to swing back toward God's instructions (whether we "like" them or not) and begin showing others what the clarity of Grace brings.
- Can you take Grace too far? How far is too far? Yes, I believe you can take Grace so far that it is no longer Grace, it's just a word that is used to provide a cover for what you are really doing. You can take it so far that it becomes your justification not your sanctification. How far is too far? When you shrug it off so that the behaviors and words your engage in fit more comfortably than the holiness Grace compels us too.
- Where do you draw the line between permissive lifestyle and a Grace lifestyle? This particular question came from a conversation I had with a barista in a coffee shop a couple of years ago. (No seriously, this post has been sitting in my queue for two years waiting on me to wrap it up! But I digress.) He and I were chatting while he got my delicious coffee. I love this particular coffee shop in town, the people who own it are a large family that are all beautiful and love Jesus but, yes I said but, the more I spoke with them - the parents, the various kids - the more I saw a permissive lifestyle lived couched in "Well that's why there is God's Grace" accompanied by a shoulder shrug. Huh. I'm not judging, I'm observing. And because I really like this family I started thinking about where is the line? And do you love Jesus "for real" when you don't let Grace sanctify your life? (Remember, Grace should lead us to a lifestyle of holiness.) The line, in my opinion, is drawn when God's instructions are pushed aside for the freedom to engage in our flesh.
I know. It sounds radical. It sounds "legalistic". It sounds so counter-cultural. I suppose you could look at it that way, except for the legalistic label. It is not legalistic when it is God's word straight up. We like to label things that we don't like or that rub us the wrong way as legalistic, get over it. Allow God's word to pierce you, get settled in to the idea that God's word is not called a two-edged sword for no reason. It is meant to divide us from our flesh and show us how to live in God's ways. That's going to pierce. Is this idea of Grace not being a "get out of jail free" card counter-cultural and radical? You bet. Especially in this day where affluence and comfort is the affliction of the Church and living Godly lifestyles. We want our cake (Grace) and to be able to gorge on it with no consequences (permissive lifestyles). That idea, my friends, is counter-cultural to God's instructions.
Are you living in blurry grace? Have you been using Grace as a justification and denying its real mission of sanctification? The thing that I didn't really touch on in this post about Grace is also the way in which it leads us to interact with others. A Grace lifestyle doesn't put us in a place of judgement toward others and their behaviors. Grace lets us know we need only to be concerned with ourselves and trust God is working out Grace in the lives of those we interact with, just as we are hopeful they are trusting God to do the same with us. Certainly we are called to hold each other to higher standards and we can do that without passing judgement. Really we can! So perhaps together we can begin to swing back toward God's instructions (whether we "like" them or not) and begin showing others what the clarity of Grace brings.
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