The Fear of Grace, A Poem By Greg Stier

The fear of grace it robs us
Of the joy we once had in Christ.
It turns our eyes from Jesus
To look deeply down inside.

And what we see it scares us.
We see sin and self and lust.
When it comes to being saved
It says we’ve missed the bus.

It points to all the lingering sins
We wrestle with everyday.
It whispers doubts about our salvation.
And shouts we’ve missed The Way.

Those who bow their trembling knees
To this Satanic fear of grace
Replace the joy of their salvation
With a slap to Jesus’ face.

A slap that says “Grace must be earned!”
We must turn and try and cry!
There’s no free lunch in this world
Pick up your cross and die!”

So we try and fail and try and fail.
Then we try and fail again.
But it’s too heavy for us to bear.
We’re forced to live in secret sin.

But our failure brings us to our knees
And helps us know our need.
It drives us to utter helplessness
So we can finally live our creed.

The creed of Sola Gratia,
The creed of faith alone,
Reminds us Jesus carried the cross
That we could never bear alone.

His death it wiped out all our sins.
His resurrection gave us life.
We live in grace through simple faith
And can cease our painful strife.

His love drives out the fear of grace
And makes law run and hide.
For it’s not by works we stand before Him
But by His matchless grace inside.

And in this grace we stand strong.
Not looking at our ugly sins.
We learn to fix our eyes on Jesus
And through this gaze we win.

We gladly carry our heavy cross
Through the power that He provides,
Not to earn or prove salvation
(For that would just feed our pride!)

No! In JOY we die to ourselves
And surrender every single part,
Empowered by His love and grace
Flowing from our grateful hearts.

When we sin we look to Jesus.
When we fall he lifts us up.
For the same grace that saved us
Will always fill our empty cups.

So don’t fear God’s amazing grace.
It’s too good and it’s true!
It was purchased on Calvary’s cross
And given freely to me and you.