Grace Opposers are Jesus Opposers.
Because of the deceptive deception of Satan they have a shrouded understanding regarding the fulfillment of the Law in Christ and that it is no longer invoke to maintain the believer's relational relationship with God or for nonbelievers to gain a relationship with God.
The Grace and Law mixers are unaware that a stand against the Grace Gospel given to Paul by Jesus is a choice not to believe in God's amazing grace. These grace opposers, without realizing it, are condemning themselves because in refusing to believe in Christ's grace message they are refusing to believe in Jesus Himself. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John (3:18)
The grace opposers are still depending on the Law to let them know what sin is so they can do their best to measure up to some standard by not committing sin.
They freely accuse the Grace Gospel as a license to sin when in actual fact it is entirely the opposite.
"For the grace of God has come forward (appeared) for the deliverance from sin and the eternal salvation for ALL mankind."
"It has trained us to reject and renounce all ungodliness (irreligion) and worldly (passionate) desires, to live discreet (temperate, self-controlled), upright, devout (spiritually whole) lives in this present world," (Titus (2:11-12)
Grace does not render one a slave to sin...Law keeping is responsible for that.
Grace opposers maintain that grace lovers fail to BALANCE the Gospel of Grace by excluding the Law as part of the complete gospel, causing grace to have run-a-muck. They feel that grace believers will not know what sin is (if they don't point out the sin in people) and conclude that people will begin to “sin like crazy” and feel justified in being a sin-cop. This argument mixes the covenants. It places new wine (New Covenant) into old wine-skins (Old Covenant) which never balances out either message, it mystifies them both and nullifies the truth of grace. (Luke 5:36-39).
When we trust in our own ability to do what is right to avoid what is wrong we are eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as Adam did in the Garden of Eden. We have been taught that the way to not commit sin is to be aware of evil and run hard and fast away from it, let me tell you, sin has outrun ALL who have tried to out run it. Prior to his eating of the tree Adam knew not what sin was, that was knowledge that God alone held. After the the eating the forbidden fruit Adam then had the ability to determine what was wrong and instead of dependence on God he was now trying to make amends for what he thought was sin by his sense knowledge because it felt like sin. This thinking has made its way into Christendom and believers constantly point out all of the evils of the world and warning saints avoid teh evil and condemn sinners to hell if they do not repent of their evil. That message puts all of the responsibility onto the believer and sinner to change themselves. This causes them to do penance when they fail and to place themselves under stricter discipline to keep from doing it again. This is the “spirit of bondage again to fear” (Romans 8:15).
Most believers believe that the grace of God brings salvation, and no one who preaches Jesus, either by law or by grace would question that; "For the grace of God (His unmerited favor and blessing) has come forward (appeared) for the deliverance from sin and the eternal salvation for all mankind (Titus 2:11). He further states that this grace “hath appeared to ALL men”. The “appearance” of grace is in the man Jesus Christ. John tells us that the law was given by Moses but that grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (John 1:17).
Notice that when grace appears it appears for a purpose, “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:12. This is directly opposite to the charges laid against grace believers by grace opposers. The grace of God teaches us and continues to teach people through the personage of Jesus through His community of the redeemed.
The more sin conscious we are the more we try in and of ourselves to measure up to some expected standard to keep from sinning. The more God conscious we are the more of Jesus is revealed to the believer and the more we are empowered to live above sin. In essence, the more we are aware of Jesus, the more of Jesus' life and character is lived through us.
Contrary to what Grace opposers accuse those who believe the Grace Gospel, no one who teaches the gospel of grace supports believers living in sin. Paul defended his message on more than one occasion, feeling the need to do so because he was being misrepresented. “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” he asks. “God forbid,” (Romans 6:1, 2). But note something...he doesn’t say that we shouldn’t sin because it will send us to hell, but rather he asks how can continue to do those evil things seeing that our old man is dead and Christ is alive in us (Romans 6:2-7). Paul is showing us how to live by reinforcing our position in Christ and allowing grace to do its work in each person’s heart.
The grace of God that saved us is also the grace that keeps us. All of us have the Spirit within showing us the way to live. When we fail and sin, the Spirit doesn’t uppercut us to the face or threaten us with hell, condemning our every thought and deed...the Spirit of God is not a condemner...instead, the Holy Spirit reinforces who we are in Christ, causing us to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (Ephesians 4:1).
Grace opposers...your accusations are without scriptural merit! Listen to the voice of Grace within your life, believe in Gods grace and allow it to work its work in you to live God conscious unto holiness rather than sin conscious unto sinning.
Comments
Post a Comment