Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
There are a lot of books, articles and conversations circulating around the church world about grace these days. There is a term being used, “hyper grace.” Years ago they called it “greasy grace.” There is basically a response to perceived erroneous teachings and applications of grace.
I understand where some of the reaction is coming from. It is to be expected. As Paul wrote in Romans 6:1, “Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?” When the revelation of grace is exalted, people will twist it and pervert it to suit their own desires. Biblically, there is an inherent danger when grace is exalted so let’s rejoice that it is in the headlines.
I believe the greater danger is not “hyper grace,” but rather legalism. In the New Testament the perversion of grace is clearly addressed in several places, but entire books are written to address the dangers of legalism!
There is an old saying, “Grace without truth leads to lawlessness and truth without grace leads to legalism.” In other words, we can’t divide Christ. He is 100% full of grace and 100% full of truth all the time (John 1:14). We are to grow in grace and knowledge (truth) of the Lord (2 Pet. 3:18). Grace and truth are Siamese twins in the New Testament.
Grace is all about Christ being our life (Col. 3:4). It is the enablement to abide in Christ and the power to produce fruit in our lives as a result of our union with Him (John 15:1-5). The New Testament is not a book of rules for godly living rather it is a demonstration of what grace lived out looks like. Grace teaches and empowers us to live what the New Testament reveals (Titus 2:11-12).
I am so thankful for the revelation of empowering grace the Lord gave me many years ago. Apart from it, I would have forsaken my calling and ended up a lukewarm believer on my best days. Many believers have a revelation of salvation grace, but that is as far as they go with grace. Any journey apart from the grace journey will lead us away from Christ (Rev. 2:1-5).
I say revelation of grace on purpose. Apart from a revelation from heaven we can never fully grasp grace (John 3:27). All the erroneous and perversions of grace come from a lack of revelation. The intellect cannot understand grace apart from Divine light, period. So someone seeking to understand and apply grace apart from the Holy Spirit is doomed to error.
Grace is manifold, meaning it has many different expressions (1 Peter 4:10). For most of my grace journey it has been about Christ as my wisdom, righteousness and sanctification and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). There is another expression of grace, it is a ministry grace. Not a grace to be in the ministry, but a grace to actually minister like Jesus did (John 14:12). The church desperately needs this revelation of grace.
The Gospel of Luke brings attention to the ministry grace of Christ. “So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.” (Luke 4:22).
Later, Luke tells how Jesus released this same grace to His disciples when He told them to do something totally impossible. “And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” (Luke 10:9).
Notice He did not say, “pray for the sick,” no, He said, “heal the sick.” How will they do that? They weren’t doctors or nurses. This statement is no different than, “Be holy because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). They are both totally impossible to do. God has to do something for us to heal the sick just like He has to do something for us to be holy. What He does in both cases is grace.
Many Blessings, BW