The War on Grace

"...We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified."

- Galatians 2:16 -

The most singular distinctive of Christianity is Grace.

While every other religion, system of belief, philosophy, 12 step program, self-help book tells you what you must do in order to be saved, be cured, succeed, kick the habit, win, etc. the message of the Gospel is totally opposite, and unique.

It's not unsurprising (considering the current state of the world, particularly in relation to Christianity) that this idea of Grace is lost in the ether, the majority of human culture, literature, art, and philosophy exists in opposition to this concept.

The story surrounding the verse in Galatians is one of the earliest attacks (and Paul's defense) on Grace. There was a group of early Christians who said that in addition to faith, obedience to Jewish law was required for justification (being declared "not guilty" by God).

Peter and James, two of the Apostles, were essentially giving in to the influence of this group (known in Scripture as "the circumcision group"), this was hypocritical, since they had both been living a lifestyle that did not strictly follow Jewish law.

Paul intervened, reminding Peter and James that they were saved by Grace. And that justification could not need anything other than grace by faith, because the gift had been bought, and that gift was Grace.

What is Grace?

After consulting my handy theological dictionary (titled Crazy Talk), I found this...

Grace: The free gift in which God gives all-eternal life, forgiveness, purpose, meaning-to human beings, who respond by trying to earn it.

The most important part of this definition is the last line. Not only is the world filled with religions, philosophies, and ideologies that deny Grace-but Christians themselves deny it daily, by trying to earn it.

The problem is that while Christians cognitively understand what Grace is (ask 10 believers to define Grace and 8 will say "God's unmerited favor"), they don't understand it practically. And while there are a lot of reasons for this, the one that interests me the most was revealed by this example:

"If God wanted me to pay for my salvation, it would be like paying my taxes, I would know how much I owed, and I'd pay it. But because I am saved freely, by Grace, there is no limit to what he can ask of me."

The truth is we don't want to comprehend or acknowledge God's grace. We still want to be free of God's authority, and the fact is, our free salvation by grace is a ball and chain. We are slaves to righteousness, by grace.