“The law was added so that the trespass might increase.  But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:20-21).

How many Christians (never mind people who are not yet Christians) do you suppose misunderstand grace?  Surely there are tons.

One problem, as I’ve heard it put, is that law is our native language.  We speak law fluently.  There exists a native tendency toward self-righteousness, toward punitive justice, toward dead external works.  Though the law should condemn us–and condemn us good!–we unwittingly believe ourselves able to rise up to the demands of the law.  Of course, we would never say such a thing.  We just live that way.  We would never resort to the law for justification–we’re not legalists, after all.  But, we do imagine perfection a genuine possibility.  We make it a goal to “always strive for perfection.”  What is that, but the law pronounced with more syllables?  Surely the older we get the less confident we ought to be of ever attaining perfection.  But we remain confident and committed to the goal of perfection because grace is not our native language; law is.

But there are other problems, too.  Other ways we misunderstand grace.  If we insist that grace is greater than sin, some think that “grace” becomes license to sin even more.  The apostle Paul encountered those problems during his ministry.  He anticipated those objections in Romans 6, where he asks rhetorically, “What shall we say, then?  Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” (v 1)  And a little later, “What then?  Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?” (v. 15)  Having anticipated the misunderstandings, the apostle doesn’t leave these rhetorical straw men standing in the field.  He burns them down with a scorching, “By no means!” “By no means!”  Grace is not license.

Well, why not?  Why is super-abounding grace not license and enticement to sin?  Paul develops a longer, wonderful argument in chapter 6.  But for this post, I want to identify something he says at the end of chapter 5.  Specifically, “grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Notice: Grace increases all the more in the presence of sin so that grace might reign through righteousness.  It’s as though sin and grace are two warring kings, clashing in armored conflict for supremacy.  Wherever sin rallies its knights, grace arrays its pikemen and archers to quash sin’s rebellion.

Can you tell I like movies set in the Medieval period of kings, castles, knights, and battles?  The problem with those movies, however, is that once the king has defeated his enemies, the movie fades to black and we’re left to imagine what his peaceful and benevolent reign entails.  We’ve not seen the movie about the king’s perfect reign.  That’s partly the problem with our discussion of grace.  We’re quite versed in grace’s victory over sin.  We speak much of saving grace.  But then the movie fades and we hear little of “reigning grace.”

But because of God’s victory over sin, we who believe are “under grace” as Paul explains in chapter 6.  But what does that entail?  Well, it entails being ruled by grace.  Grace reigns over us.  ”Sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace” (6:14).  Sin does not master us because grace masters us.  Grace reigns.  It rules.

And what is the character of grace’s reign in the Christian life?  Grace reigns through righteousness.  When grace vanquishes sin, it establishes the reign of righteousness throughout the realm until eternal life is consummated.  That’s why grace and license are incompatible.  License reigns through lust and sin and death.  But we’ve been freed from that.  We’ve died to the law and died to sin.  We are each day to “count ourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (6:11).  Did you begin today considering yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus?  The benefit of that mental application is we no longer allow sin to reign in our mortal bodies by obeying its evil desires (6:12).  Grace and license are incompatible because grace reigns through righteousness.

Perhaps that’s the point we most often misunderstand.  Perhaps that’s why so many allusions to grace look to us like sly winks at sin.  Have you heard Christians respond to the correct application of scriptural command with, “But we’re not under law but under grace”?  Have you ever heard Christians oppose the biblical practice of corrective discipline by appealing to “grace”?  From time to time, we hear Christians offering a soothing palliative to an unrepentant sinner, leaving them in their sins by saying in so many words, “it’s okay because it’s all about grace anyway.”  Sounds suspiciously like the hardened unbeliever who proclaims God must forgive him his sins because “that’s what God does.”

If we’re guilty of thinking of grace in these terms, I suspect the Apostle Paul would correct us with an “Absolutely not!  By no means!”

What’s wrong with many of these statements?  Somehow they divorce the idea of grace from its reign through righteousness.  They forget that “the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.  It (saving grace) teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope–the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:11-14).  Grace teaches us righteousness.  Grace teaches us to “just say ‘no’” (that belonged to Paul before Nancy Reagan).  Positively, grace instructs us in self-control, uprightness, and godliness–even in an age of lawlessness and darkness.  Grace becomes for us a purifying agency, and creates in us a strong inclination to do good.  Grace reigns in the Christian life, but it does so through the inculcation and cultivation of righteousness.

It would profit us greatly to beware that godless teaching that “changes the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord” (Jude 4b).  And we must beware of our own heart’s tendency to turn grace into lawlessness, or to resort back to the law as a means of righteousness.  Both are gospel denying retreats.  For the true grace of God turns the lawless into the righteous and brings eternal life where the law brought death.

“The smallest drop of grace is a greater sign of Christ’s love than all the glory and pleasures of the earth.”

David Clarkson, Works, cited in Richard Rushing (ed.), Voices from the Past: Puritan Devotional Readings, p. 77

Each of the four gospel writers record that faithful night when the apostle Peter denied our Lord with three statements of increasing rejection.  They tell us of Peter’s bitter weeping when he realized that Jesus correctly predicted his denials before the rooster crowed.  But Luke includes a profound little detail.

Luke 22:61 says that just as Peter was denying Jesus for the third time and the rooster crowed, “The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.  Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him….”

That look must have killed Peter a thousand ways!  When the Lord looks at us in our sin and rejection we can’t help but be stricken with grief.  And the truth is, the Lord sees us all the time in our various faults, sins, denials, and rejections.

But what was this look.  What did Peter see in Jesus’ eyes?  Did the look say, “I told you so”?  I don’t think Jesus was gloating over Peter’s failure.

Did Jesus look at Peter with eyes of fire, angry.  I don’t think so.  Jesus will not break a bruised reed or snuff out a smoking candle.

Did the look say, “How could you?”  I don’t think the look communicated personal hurt.  Jesus did not come to burden us with guilt, but to take it away.

I think the look was pure and holy love… which we cannot bear to see in our sin.  In our self-righteousness, we could understand—even want—anger or disappointment or hurt or even an “I told you so!”  But when the Lord continues to look at us with unfeigned and unblemished love… it robs us of all self-righteousness and makes us see what holy love we rejected… and what wretched messes we are.  We can’t bear to see him look at us with such pure and holy love when we’ve failed so miserably. So, like Peter, we turn our faces away and weep bitterly when we fail our Lord.

And that’s a terrible mistake.  If when we sinned against our Lord, we could continue to look in His face, we would eventually see that this holy love accepts us.  It pardons.  It cleanses.  It relieves guilt and removes shame.  It heals the broken and lifts the worthless.  If we could but look in His face, we’d see a loving look that says, “Come unto me.”

It’s a face of One who loves in such a way as to overcome our sin… to take our sin as His own… to bear our guilt as if it were His… a love that joins us to himself.  To look into that face by faith… is to feel and know the holiest, most sacrificial, redeeming love possible.

Peter’s biggest problem isn’t that he denied Jesus three times.   He will be restored from that.  Our biggest problem isn’t our failing or denying Jesus.

Peter’s biggest problem is that he wept alone and turned away… rather than run to Jesus’ loving face.  Our biggest problem is looking away from Jesus.  He has taken away our sins.  Now we must look to Him and continue looking to Him until we rejoice in His loving acceptance.

If we’re Christians for any length of time, we come to discover that our lives are full of failure and sin… even denials of various sorts.  But we also discover that He keeps looking on… and He keeps calling us to himself.  Christian… look to Jesus.  Do not turn away.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Bob Kellemen at RPM Ministries offers a gracious review of Glory Road: The Journeys of Ten African-Americans into Reformed Christianity.  Kellemen is a good student of African-American theology and church history and offers a warm critique of Glory Road.

For my part, I think Glory Road could be one of the most important, helpful, and encouraging books published in the last ten years on African-American Christianity.  I think its warmth, humor, honesty, and theological integrity

could be a winsome tool in capturing the hearts of many people who have not come to know the wonderful truths and history of the Reformed tradition.  If you haven’t read this book, rush out and make it a stocking stuffer or New Year’s read.  It’ll reward you.

HT: Phoenix Preacher

Jim Elliot:

I see clearly now that anything, whatever it is, if it be not on the principle of grace, it is not of God. Here shall be my plea in weakness; here shall be my boldness in prayer; here shall be my deliverance in temptation; at last, here shall be my translation. Not of grace? Then not of God. And here, O Lord Most High, shall be your glory and the honor of your Son. And the awakening for which I have asked–it shall come in your time, on this principle, by grace, through faith. Perfect my faith, then, Lord, that I may learn to trust only in divine grace, that They work of holiness might soon begin….

In Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot, p. 110.

I appreciated this post from Mockingbird on the return of Mark McGwire to major league baseball as a batting coach. I wonder if you agree?

Awoke about 6:30am. Brief prayer and reading of scripture.

Two posts today really lifted my heart. They both were meditations on grace in their own way.

First, was Lee Irons’ comments on the Law and legalism (HT: JT). Here are the couple of paragraphs that struck me as fresh insight:

The way to avoid legalism is to believe that, as the Law teaches, only the perfectly righteous may be admitted into heaven. This counterintuitive premise accomplishes two things in a single blow: it crushes legalism and clarifies the meaning of grace.

First, it crushes legalism because legalism cannot get off the ground unless the standard has first been lowered. But if the Law requires perfect righteousness, clearly the half-baked, imperfect obedience promoted by legalism will not do.

Second, it clarifies the meaning of grace. Grace is that God provides and accepts the imputed righteousness of Christ, in place of our own inherent righteousness demanded by the Law, as the righteousness by which the unrighteous can attain heaven. Now that’s grace! The true Gospel, then, presupposes the Law as its antithetical counterpart. Otherwise grace is no longer grace.”

Second, was John Piper’s meditation on why he has no merit of his own. This is the meditation in full:

This is my confession:

I was born into a believing family through no merit of my own at all.

I was given a mind to think and a heart to feel through no merit of my own at all.

I was brought into the hearing of the gospel through no merit of my own at all.

My rebellion was subdued, my hardness removed, my blindness overcome, and my deadness awakened through no merit of my own at all.

Thus I became a believer in Christ through no merit of my own at all.

And so I am an heir of God with Christ through no merit of my own at all.

Now when I put forward effort to please the Lord who bought me, this is to me no merit at all, because

…it is not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)

…God is working in me that which is pleasing in his sight. (Hebrews 13:21)

…he fulfills every resolve for good by his power. (2 Thessalonians 1:11)

And therefore there is no ground for boasting in myself, but only in God’s mighty grace.

Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:31)

I read these today, and my heart said, “Yes! Glorious grace!”

It’s been a really full and joyful week at FBC this past week. We’ve had vacation Bible school and Upward Basketball activities going on each afternoon and evening.

Yesterday we joined in the wedding celebration of Shane and Ronnie Ebanks. We try to make our weddings worship services, focused on the Lord Jesus Christ and thanksgiving to God for the gift of marriage. Yesterday was as Christ-centered marriage as I’ve ever had the privilege of attending. The couple did a wonderful job of focusing on the Lord. And it was a tremendous time of celebration in the church family, with seemingly everybody in the church pitching in in some way. It was truly a family affair, and it was lavish in love. The couple wrote their own vows. See them below and let me know what you think.

Today, we had the joy of baptizing four persons following the morning service. Their testimonies of God’s grace and salvation were powerful. And while we were at the ocean conducting their baptism, an older lady who has attended the church for years and wrestled with many questions, decided to profess her faith in baptism. It was one more example of the Lord’s kindness to us all.

———————————-

Shane and Ronnie’s Vows

I confess that I am a sinner who has offended a Holy and Righteous God, as a result of my sin I was separated from God and his perfect justified wrath was upon me.

God being rich in mercy and love sent His Son. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, being without sin thus the perfect sacrifice, died on Calvary’s Cross to take the punishment for my sins. The Father has given me a faith in him, so I can now confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart that the Father raised him up from the grave.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. I have been given a new eternal life in Christ. Christ has become my righteousness. I am adopted into the kingdom of God. By the spirit of Christ I call out Abba, Father. The Holy Spirit has sealed me for the day of redemption. And it is in this new life…

I promise to love you all the days of my life. I will treat you as if you were part of my own body. I will be quick to listen and slow to speak. I will exist with you in the covenant of marriage in a way that glorifies God, communicating the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Husband

Sharon I will care for you always. I will honor you and cherish you with a love that I possess only through Christ. I will esteem your counsel above all others. I will always try to be first to the cross, when it comes to sacrificing for you. Knowing that adultery is detestable to the Lord, I will keep our marriage bed pure. Should the Lord see fit to bless us with children, I will endeavor to raise them with you in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. In the example given by Christ the groom to the Church his bride I will attend to your needs helping you to become all that God wants you to be. I Love You!

Wife

Shane I will joyfully submit to your God ordained leadership in everything. I will love you and cherish you in all that you do. I will esteem your counsel above all others. Knowing that adultery is detestable to the Lord, I will keep our marriage bed pure. Should the Lord see fit to bless us with children, I will endeavor to raise them with you in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. I will support, trust and respect you, for I love God and He has given you to me. I Love You!

You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. (1 Thes. 5:5-6)

Gene L. Green in The Letters to the Thessalonians (PNTC) has this helpful comment and reminder about Paul’s words in these two verses:

The believers’ existence as “children of the light and children of the day” has moral implications that the author begins to elaborate in [v. 6]. The imperative is put in the first person plural and begins with the words so then, which introduce the inference drawn from the previous statement (v. 5). Since Christians are “children of the light and children of the day,” they should not sleep but rather be alert and self-controlled. This intimate relationship between their new existence and their new moral life touches a fundamental aspect of Christian ethics: What they are is what they should do. The moral exhortation finds its roots in the previous work of God in their lives. They have been made “children of the light and children of the day” via their salvation, and now they are to act according to that new state of being. The gift of grace includes within it the call to obedience. As V.P. Furnish states, “God’s claim is regarded by the apostles as a constitutive part of God’s gift. The Pauline concept of grace is inclusive of the Pauline concept of obedience.” Since the imperative is integral to the indicative, the summons of Christian ethics becomes, “Act what you are.” (pp.237-238)

Breaking off the indicative and emphasizing the imperative leads to gospel-less moralism and even legalism.

Breaking off the imperative and emphasizing only the indicative leads license and cheap grace.

What God has joined together (grace and obedience) let not the Christian or the preacher separate.

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope–the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:11-14)