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There is a persistent debate within the church about the place of grace and works. It is my contention that the reason for this is simply a poor understanding of what grace really is. Many look at God’s grace as a legal transaction that occurred when Jesus died for our sins. Because of this incomplete understanding of grace, some in the church look down on those in the “grace-oriented” churches. They might accuse them of treating their salvation as fire insurance. Now that they have accepted Christ, that’s all that is needed. They are not obligated to do more than that. The legal document has been signed, sealed and delivered. On the one hand, it is obvious that grace through faith in Jesus is enough. If people become Christians moments before Christ’s return, they will go to Heaven. Scripture is very clear on that. But, that is not where it ends. See, grace goes beyond salvation. It is for the Christian life just as much as it is for the event of faith in Christ. The Greek word for grace found in most scriptures used in this debate is “charis”. If you were to do a word study on it, you would find out very quickly that it is multifaceted. The Blue Letter Bible lexicon has a great definition of grace. It took the heart of it and broke it down into points: 1) It is the expression of the merciful kindness of God 2) It is God exerting his holy influence upon souls 3) It is manifested in God’s drawing of people to Christ 4) It is manifested in God’s keeping and strengthening a believer through difficulty 5) It is manifested in God’s increasing faith, knowledge, and love within a believer 6) It is manifested in God kindling a believer to exercise Christian virtues Have you ever looked back on your life in wonder at how you made it through certain seasons? That is the time in our lives when we recognize the grace of God to take us through it all! One of my personal favorite songs is “Through It All”, written by Reuben Morgan. Every time I sing it, whether in my personal worship time or in church, I am reminded of the wonderful grace of God that has been with me through it all! This is God’s “keeping and strengthening of a believer through difficulty”. On another level, God “exerts his holy influence” on us by giving us the desire to reach the unsaved or to serve in some role in the church. Beyond that, he gives us all that we need to accomplish good works for him. This is grace. I can’t help but think that many believers are trying to do things in their own strength. Some are doing things just because they are shamed into it. This has nothing to do with the “merciful kindness of God”. What seems to be missing again and again is a bonafide relationship with God. We might appear to be obeying the letter of the “Word of God”, but failing to obey “God” – the kind of obedience that is generated from the life of the Spirit in us. “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for {His} good pleasure.” (Phil 2:13 NASB) This is grace!
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