Cheap Grace

     A young boy once defined salt in this way: "Salt is what spoils the potatoes when it is left out."  Probably everyone on a low salt diet would agree.  The same thing is true, however, concerning an attitude of gratitude—it is what spoils life when it is left out.  The Great Physician, Jesus, never orders a low thanksgiving diet, for, after all, gratitude does not clog the arteries of faith, but rather, clears them so true thankful praise can flow unhindered.  Currently, our church is focusing on being thankful for who God is—not just for what He has done.  Who He is, in part, is defined by His glorious grace.

     What is "grace?"  The word appears in the Bible 166 times, 38 of those being in the Old Testament.  So, obviously, grace isn't something new—it goes way back, even to Genesis.  In the Old Testament, it means graciousness, kindness, and favor.  It is derived from a word that means to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior, with the purpose of bestowing favor.  In the New Testament, this kindness is stressed with having only one motivation—love.  It is clearly unearned and unmerited favor, and it causes joy, pleasure, gratification, favor, benefit, thanks, and gratitude.

     G. Campbell Morgan, the great preacher, was approached by a miner who wanted to believe in God's grace and forgiveness, but couldn't believe that all he had to do was surrender—"too cheap!"  So, the pastor asked him, "How did you get out of the pit today?"  "The way I always do," he answered, "I got into the cage and was pulled up."  Morgan then asked, "Weren't you afraid to trust your life to that cage?"  "Oh, no," was his response, "it cost the company a great deal to sink that shaft and rig it with a cage."  Soon the miner saw the light—God sunk a cross into a hole in the ground and pulled us up out of the mire and into His glorious light.  An infinite price was paid by Jesus for our salvation.   Grace is also a "keeping power", as Michael Sattler found out.   Imprisoned for his faith and sentenced to die in the early 16th C, he was tortured first.  In the town square, his tongue was sliced and chunks of flesh were torn out of his body with red-hot tongs.  On the way to the stake, the tongs were applied five more times.   Bound to a ladder and set ablaze, as soon as the ropes were burned, he raised his two forefingers, giving the promised signal that a martyr's death was bearable—by the grace of God.

     So very few understand true grace.  Paul told the Galatians, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ." (1: 6,7)  Elsewhere, this gospel of Christ is also called the gospel of grace—they are one and the same thing, for there is only one Good News, namely Jesus.  There is not one gospel for the Jews and one for the Gentiles—those walls were broken down by Him, and, in reality, that is the essence of the gospel.  Grace was proclaimed in the Old Testament when Isaiah stated that, "the Gentiles shall come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising." (60:3) Whose rising? —The Jews, as they embrace the coming Lord Jesus!   Some even say that Jesus didn't even know what grace was.  Ridiculous!  If anyone knew it, it was Him—He was grace in the flesh—God stooping to bring favor to an inferior.  In this, He purchased a people who would surrender to His Lordship and Rule—this is His Kingdom.  One Lord, one gospel, one way!

     So many misunderstand this today.  Multitudes are intent on throwing off His Kingdom rule and just sitting back in "grace," but it's a cheap grace—which is not grace at all.   Cheap grace says you don't have to be concerned about purity, holiness, and obedience—Jesus already did all that so that you don't have to.  Absolutely not!  He did all that, empowered by the Holy Spirit, so that His life could live again through us.   Let me illustrate—when D.L. Moody was at the height of his fame, he was invited to stay at a huge orchard.  He was told to make himself at home—whatever he wanted, he could take—it was his!  Later, he said, "When I wanted an apple, I didn't pray for the apple to fall into my pocket.  I simply walked to the tree, reached up and took it—it was already mine for the taking."  F.B. Meyer illustrated the same thing as he visited a woman who wanted to know the Lord, but didn't know how.  He asked for a cup of tea, and when it was brought, he ignored it and asked again.  Four or five times he asked for the tea he already had.  Finally, she saw it—the Lord's favor, eternal life, and the power to live that life right now is already ours—it has already been given.  That was God's part; our part is to repent, surrender, and reach out and take it unto ourselves.  Cheap grace declares that getting saved is the easiest thing ever—no death to self, just an adding of Him to your life and living under "grace."    Cheap grace says that we don’t have a part; God did it all.  But cheap grace only brings cheap salvation, and that is not salvation at all.

     A dying judge, the day before his going to be with the Lord, asked his pastor if he knew anything about "joint tenancy."  He went on to explain, "Well, pastor, if you and I were joint tenants on a farm, I could not say to you that that is your hill of corn and this is mine, but we would share everything.  I have just been lying here thinking with unspeakable joy that Jesus Christ has nothing apart from me—everything He has is mine—eternally."  Paul told the Romans, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if it so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together." (8: 16,17)  There is nothing cheap about it.  Free, yes, but not cheap—God has His part and that is what makes us free, BUT we also have our part in response.  He told the Ephesians, "That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel." (3:6) Yes, partakers of one promise, one gospel, one body.  Paul told the Philippians the same thing, right in the midst of an outpouring of his thankful heart.  This "partaking," by definition, refers to taking your assigned part—to be a companion, partner, and sharer.  To top it all off, when Paul tells Timothy that all are invited "to be partakers of the benefit," it calls us to take hold of Him, as well as one another, AND it is mutual.  His hand and your hand—together, all because of His grace—His stooping to favor to an inferior—in love.

     During the building of the Golden Gate Bridge, construction fell way behind schedule.  Several men had fallen to their deaths and the remaining workers became fearful.  Finally, someone suggested a huge net be placed beneath the bridge—a very expensive plan, but they did it anyway.  Afterwards, others fell from the bridge, but not to their deaths—they were saved.  Ultimately, all the time lost to fear was regained by replacing fear with faith and trust in the net.  Some people think that God is just looking for the opportunity to drop the net and them.   Paul told the Romans, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (8:1) Just look down and see His net of grace, put your faith in it, and therefore, Him, and get about what He calls you to.  Imagine—work done while resting!

     If you belong to Him by faith in His Son and His shed blood, His everlasting arms are beneath you.  Soar in His grace, allowing it to be the wind that fills your wings.  The grace is there, it is up to you, if you are not saved, to repent, turn from sin, and let His resurrected life live in you.  Sound cheap?  No—It wasn't and isn’t cheap, for anyone—God gave His life out of love, and now, because of that, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we can do the same—give our lives to Him and to others in love!  This is the gospel truth—the gospel of Christ, the gospel of the Kingdom, the gospel of His Grace—all one in the same!  Don't spend all your time trying to hack it up to make it fit your plan—that is not God's Way.  Be eternally thankful—after all, it wasn't cheap!

Give thanks unto the Lord for He is good.

 

Throughout the year 2000, we are providing you with readings from Genesis to Revelation to help you to see His true grace.

November 1    2 Corinthians 11-12                16                    2 Thessalonians 1-2

2                      2 Corinthians 13                      17                    2 Thessalonians 3

3                      Galatians 1-2                          18                    1 Timothy 1-2

4                      Galatians 3-4                          19                    1 Timothy 3-4

5                      Galatians 5-6                          20                    1 Timothy 5-6

6                      Ephesians 1-2                         21                    2 Timothy 1-2

7                      Ephesians 3-4                         22                    2 Timothy 3-4

8                      Ephesians 5-6                         23                    Titus 1-2

9                      Philippians 1-2                        24                    Titus 3

10                    Philippians 3-4                        25                    Philemon

11                    Colossians 1-2                         26                    Hebrews 1-2

12                    Colossians 3-4                         27                    Hebrews 3-4

13                    1 Thessalonians 1-2                28                    Hebrews 5-6

14                    1 Thessalonians 3-4                29                    Hebrews 7-8

15                    1 Thessalonians 5                   30                    Hebrews 9-10

 

December 1    Hebrews 11-12                       3                      James 1-2

2                      Hebrews 13                            4                      James 3-4