What Makes God So "GRACEful"?

You see the name “GRACE” on many churches. There is no biblical concept more important than grace. It is so essential that personal salvation is dependent upon it. On this matter the Bible is plain. Salvation is granted to us through grace.

"For by grace are you saved through faith – and that not of yourselves – it is a gift of God – not of works lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Strangely, the subject is one of the least understood of the Bible. And even stranger yet is the fact that the lack of understanding comes primarily because of its simplicity. Some cannot bring themselves to believe that so profound a teaching could be so simple – but it is! Let us look at the concept of GRACE.

There is nothing more certain in the teachings of Paul than that grace and works are in opposite camps to one another.

"If by grace, then it is no more of works – otherwise grace is no more grace. If by works, then it is no more grace – otherwise work is no more work" (Romans 11:6).

The fact is, grace is non-operational when one receives wages for his work. "To him that works is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt" (Romans 4:4).

Grace is a free bestowal of gifts without the recipient so much as lifting his little finger to work for them. Notice this point carefully! This is where the simplicity of the whole concept lies. The fact is that many people cannot bring themselves to believe that salvation comes without some work being accomplished. They will not believe that so great a salvation is awarded to man without him at least doing a little something to attain it. While this may appear reasonable to us humans, the belief is still not true!

An Erroneous Illustration of Grace

There are many people who respect the Bible, but have not yet obtained the spiritual understanding to see how salvation is awarded to us. Many disagree with Paul and say that man must expend certain efforts on his part to obtain salvation. And, remarkably, the people who accept this belief are aware of the scriptures which tell us that salvation comes solely through grace. What they have done is to invent a way of explaining the meaning of "grace" but still require that man exert some effort of his own.

They commonly give an illustration that goes something like this: A rich man owns an expensive watch. He sees a beggar sitting by the roadside. The rich man feels sorry for the unfortunate man. He takes the watch off his wrist and places it on a box in front of the beggar. Then he says, "I freely give you this watch IF you will reach over and take it."

To some Bible believers, this action of the rich man explains the biblical meaning of grace. They reckon the man as representing God, his watch is salvation, and the beggar is looked on as any human that God is dealing with. Notice that the beggar has to do something. He must reach over and pick up the watch. Once he does that limited effort on his part, then the great gift of salvation becomes his. That small amount of personal effort is often reckoned as the man's repentance from his sins and the expressing of his faith in Christ. Once the man does this, then God will give him His great salvation by grace.

This illustration may seem satisfactory on the surface, but it is an utter perversion of the truth! This is NOT biblical grace. That tiny bit of work required of the beggar messes up the whole concept of grace as shown in the Bible.

A True Illustration

Let's make a slight change in the illustration given. We will maintain the same actors and the same circumstances. The rich man again takes off his watch and places it on the box in front of the beggar. But this time he simply tells the beggar that the expensive watch IS HIS TO KEEP. Nothing more is said to the beggar. The transaction is closed. The watch now becomes the property of the beggar, but this time without contingencies. No matter what the man did, or didn't do, the watch was now his. What we have here is grace in action – it is real grace!

Of course, the beggar would no doubt reach over and pick up the watch – after all, it was his. This is what we all do with salvation. It will just not sit there on the box. We choose to accept it. Still, however, Christ has granted us the salvation whether one grasps it now or not.

Let's go one step further to make this latter illustration even more compatible with the meaning of biblical grace. We must now have the beggar hate the rich man. The beggar must also be a thoroughly ungodly person, a wretched sinner, and an active enemy of the rich man. These factors were mentioned by Paul in Romans 5:6-10 as the common relationship that all humans have had with God. Paul further carried on this theme in Ephesians 2:5: "Even when we were dead in sins, [He] has made us alive with Christ – it is by grace you have been saved."

While we humans were in this state of wretchedness, God took off His expensive watch (salvation) and gave it to us. WHEN He gave it we weren't in a condition of repentance towards God or exercising faith in Him, but we were openly ungodly, an active enemy of His, and completely dead in sins. Salvation has been granted to us in spite of our works – not because of them. And God gives it simply because He LOVES us (John 3:16).

Since works do not procure salvation for us, it follows that works cannot take it away. Some teach that Christians must maintain good works in order to hold on to their salvation. This is not what the Bible says. Salvation has been given to us not because of what we do or not do, but because of what someone else did. Christ was the one who worked out a perfect salvation for us. It is His works that have gained for us a salvation and through His abundant grace He gives it to us without contingencies.

None of us has even shown the necessary works that lead to salvation. Who of us has shown a faultless repentance? An immaculate belief in Christ? A spotless faith? If salvation were given on the basis of our own human repentance and faiths, none of us would ever be saved!
Isn't There Something for Us to Do?

Man has always found it hard to believe that salvation comes without God demanding a small degree of personal effort by man. Take faith as an example. We are told that man must surely show his own faith in Christ to be saved. No matter how reasonable this may appear to some, it is not true.

Though it is a wonderful thing for us to have faith (and great rewards can come to us if we properly exercise it), our own faiths cannot save us. Paul said it is the faith of Jesus Christ that justifies us, not our own (Galatians 2:16). And even the faith that we personally have is a gift to us and comes by grace (Ephesians 2:8).

But not only is faith a gift, even our ability to repent is a gift (Acts 11:18). And also the belief we have in Christ is a gift (Philippians 1:29). Even whatever righteous factors imputed to us by God are called "the gifts of righteousness" (Romans 5:17). And even though we may perform good works that seemingly help us to obtain salvation, we are nevertheless told that "it is God who works in you both to will and to do [to be working] of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). Yes, Paul says that even the exercise of our own wills in practicing righteousness and the good works that we perform in our Christian walk are an expression of the power of God working within us.

Certainly we should repent (when God persuades within us the will to do so). Certainly we should also believe in Christ (When God persuades it within our intellect). Certainly we should have faith (when God extends that faith to us through grace). But we should also understand that none of these efforts (especially as we believe they are done by our own power) can gain us salvation.

And when God actively persuades people's minds (as He has, does, and will do) to understand the glorious salvation by a new birth in a living union with Jesus Christ that Christ has earned for us (John 6:44,65), then He will also persuade us to repent, to believe, and to have faith – and these are done as a result of our having salvation, not in order to gain it.

It is all a matter of PERSUASION. And God, among His many perfect attributes, is the PERFECT PERSUADER.

Even though God forgives us of our sins by granting us salvation in union with Christ, He continually warns Christians not to do bad works. Such works will cause us to lose rewards (1 Corinthians 3:11-15). Though this is true, the salvation and new birth we have in Christ can never be in jeopardy because it has been granted to us by grace without works. Any good works done by a Christian (Ephesians 2:10) will be rewarded, but they are a recognition of the salvation that we already have, not in order to earn that salvation.

"What shall we say then? Shall we sin, that grace may abound?" (Romans 6:1). God's grace in salvation should never be looked on as an excuse to sin. But still, God effectively counters even the sin in a Christian child of God and its effects through the continual extension of His bountiful grace. "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Romans 5:20). We are assured that nothing can ever separate us from the love, mercy, and grace which we have in union with Jesus Christ (Romans 8:34-39).

SO WHAT DOES MAKE GOD SO GRACEFUL? God IS love (1 John 4:8,16). And that love is an unconditional love. We human beings are steeped in conditional stuff. "I'll love you if you love me in return." "I'll do this for you if you do that in return." God doesn't look at His relationship to us that way. He created us weak and truly UNABLE to live a right life without Him. All He truly expects of us weak humans is to find out about our inability and recognize Him as the only power and source of true Life.

God will use His powers of persuasion to bring us to dependent understanding.

What Christians need to do is return to a belief in the biblical teaching of grace as it relates to salvation. It shows us that our salvation comes to us as a pure gift. Salvation doesn't depend upon our works – even on our own repentance, belief, or faith. And while it is true that we will be rewarded for the good works that we do or chastised for our bad works, salvation is dependent on neither. Let us not complicate the matter of grace even by the smallest inclusion of works – no matter how spiritual or physical those works may seem. It is Christ's works that count for our salvation.

Let us give Him the glory
for the free salvation which
He grants to all.
"By grace are you saved."

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