Grace
Prepared by Randy Kutz
Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were thus occupied were not benefitted.
Hebrews 13:9
The purpose of the old law was to be a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. The point of the new covenant with Christ is Him writing that covenant upon our hearts (Heb. 8:10). Jesus is the priest forever, through the order and rank of Melchizedek, and has established this new covenant with His church. That priesthood is set up by a principle that is being whitewashed over the centuries. That principle is the power of grace. What Christ initially did for us through salvation on the cross; He continues to do for us every day through "His grace,"(Rom. 3:24).
In Bonhoeffer's "Cost of Discipleship," he presents the idea of cheap grace vs. costly grace. He defines "cheap grace," as the chief enemy of the church.
He surmises that the Church has accepted a form of grace that will cost it nothing and that the Church is only using grace as a free pass to get into heaven, or conversely a get out of jail free card.
We, the Church must realize that Grace costs something. Grace is too often dismissed as a part of a Christian’s walk that he/she can call upon at need. However, grace is more than that, grace is a supernatural empowerment to be able to live free from the bondage of sin. The Church could use a fresh revelation of the power of grace.
Jesus tells us in John 15:19 that the world will hate us (His Church) because we are not of it.
As such, we must realize the reason the world hates us is not because they can't stand us as people, but they do not understand or appreciate that we live under grace. Grace must be something that we use as a weapon to fight against our carnal nature. Grace must become the weapon we use to take back the strongholds that the enemy has built in the lives of the believers throughout our congregations. The grace that we have is a grace to overcome life and all its trappings. The grace that we must live in is the grace by which we can be overcomers in every circumstance.
The Church has lost its main offensive weapon, grace. Further, the mainstream church has ceased preaching the power of grace and replaced it with preaching a gospel of cheap grace. Messages those leaders have mistakenly assumed the hearers want to hear. However, we must have an active voice in declaring that it is only through costly grace that we can "be saved," through our faith in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:8).
1 Peter 5:5 tells us that "God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble." As a Church, we must stop apologizing for the grace that has been afforded to us by the merciful love of Jesus Christ. The Church must begin to declare the purpose of God, which is, that He is here to love the sinner and accept those that are willing to receive His grace. Part of the message the Church should declare to those in bondage is that we may come as we are, but we cannot stay as we are. The important message in the power of grace is that Christ will give us the ability (unmerited favor) to overcome sin and bondage; not that He will only look the other way whenever we commit a sin. 1 Peter 5:10 goes on to say that it is because of the God of all grace
that we can resist the enemy who is a roaring lion trying to destroy our very lives. But it is because of the grace of God that we will be established and strengthened after we have suffered a little while, His grace is sufficient for us.
Martin Luther said the only way to follow Jesus is by living in the world,
the reason he said this was to illustrate the point that we as Christians soon forget the power of grace because we have tried to make grace something of a doctrinal stance instead of a living reality. Martin Luther went on to say that salvation is by grace alone,
but he was not implying that grace was all that is needed for salvation to be realized in the heart of the individual. In fact, it was always implied that discipleship was an obligation to obey the teachings of Jesus Christ. And, to be a disciple the power of grace must continually be used as an offensive weapon in the life of the believer. Grace cannot be disregarded, it must be used as a way to overcome sin and not used as a backdoor way to get out of sin. Bonhoeffer went on to say, "making grace available to all at too low of a cost has weakened the church." If that statement was true in his day-and-age, I believe it to be even more relevant today.
As the disciples walked with Christ, they learned all too quickly that in following Christ there was a challenge to give up the security of the life they once lived in exchange for following Him. Surrendering security is a clear call to all of us to receive this grace as a weapon to overcome. We must realize that the work of God is to believe on Him whom he has sent
and nothing more. This truth leads us to understand grace as the foundation from which we can believe.
God's blessings,