All Christians agree on a few basic facts as stated in the following verses:
Of course not every person agrees with these statements, but surely we can't call anyone a Christian who does not believe them. But there is disagreement between Christians about where to go from there. Do people receive forgiveness by GRACE through FAITH, or by their WORKS according to LAW? A person's answer to this question determines the way he looks at the rest of the Scriptures. A few key verses are found in Ephesians:
Many teach that the Church will be perfect before Jesus returns, but we just read: "that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." When we really examine the Church we see that it often is as stubborn as the Apostles were when they walked with Jesus. Surely it is true that the Church continues to require the riches of God's grace. As Ephesians shows, God's grace is the source of our salvation. It is received through faith, not on account of faith. Faith is not the source of salvation, only the channel through which it comes. This scripture also shows very plainly that salvation is "not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast." Salvation is a precious gift from God and is not the results of works. Works in the scripture are the product or fruit of salvation - not the cause of it. Any works a Christian does are a result of Christ working through him, and the credit is to go to Jesus - not to the Christian. It is impossible for anyone to produce good works before he is a Christian. The walk through life is compared to being a soldier and this comparison is useful in explaining this point. The most basic question for a soldier to answer is where his loyalty lies - or whose side he's on. One of the first things a new recruit does is take an oath of allegiance. Would you count it as good if your enemy is skilled at his work? That would be worse than if he was a fool. The more skill he has - the more damage he will do to you. People who are not Christians, but do many things that are good, do more damage to those who follow them than the drunks in the gutter do. Many people follow these "good" people and as a result never accept the gift of eternal life from God. Jesus doesn't want these people to quit doing "good", but to follow Him and thus lead the people following their example to life - instead of death. I repeat: God does not see any of our works as "good" until we start leading people the right direction.
So we aren't saved by works, but what about the law? What does the word "law" mean? In Bible terms it is simply what defines right and wrong. Anyone who is trying to be saved by their "good works" has a law describing which actions are "sin" and which actions are "good works." The law may be from the Bible, it may be from their church tradition, or it may not even be written. But if you describe an action to them, they will probably be able to say if they see it as a sin or not. Whatever they used to make that decision is their law and the Bible is very plain that we cannot be saved by both law and grace.
The word "grace" in the New Testament comes from the Greek word "charis." It is used to describe something given free as contrasted with "debt", "works", and "law".
We can see from these verses that perhaps the best way to define "grace" is to say it is the opposite of "debt," "works" and "law." Any labor to keep the law in order to earn salvation will fail, because salvation is a free gift of God. We could never be good enough to even approach God, let alone win His approval. It took Jesus to do that. Through faith in Jesus we can now be justified, can boldly approach God, and can receive salvation as a free gift.
Often Christian leaders are not satisfied with the believers being answerable to Jesus. They use laws to demand obedience to human leaders, or organizations.
During the old covenant, or in old testament times, people were saved by their obedience to the law. God had set a choice before the people of Israel. He told them of the blessings He would give them if they obeyed the law and the curses if they would not obey it. They agreed to the covenant, but the scriptures show they were never able to keep the law. Through the life and death of Jesus, God made another covenant with people and it was different than the previous one. He would now judge people individually (not as a nation, organization, or race), look at their heart instead of outward appearances, and put His will (or law) in their hearts and minds. This meant that since no one can read another person's heart, they can not fully know God's will for that person, and judging would be wrong. Each person is answerable to God for his own actions.
LAW MADE THE BAD INCREASE:
God gave the law so the effects of sin might stand out and our need for Him be shown.
DOES GRACE ENCOURAGE SIN?
Many feel that preaching about God's grace encourages people to sin, but the opposite is true. When a law is used to determine whether a person is saved or not, people are so afraid of failure, they often just sit and do nothing. They feel they are better off doing nothing, than failing and being condemned by the people around them. Their attention is not on God, but on their own actions. But when salvation is accepted as a gift from God, they are free to put their attention on Him. He can then help them look for the needs of others and proceed to meet those needs, or in other words - to do "good works." As we read before, we are Christ's workmanship. He is remaking us, and everything good we do as His creation is to His credit and not to our's. He is changing us from selfish creatures that only look out for ourselves into ones who care more about others than themselves. By saving us by His grace, Jesus frees us from the fear of failure.
When we have been freed from the fear of punishment, we can truly be free to work to help others and if one is free from the fear of failure, he is then free to grow. No one ever learns anything new without taking the chance of stumbling in the learning process. Those who have deceived themselves into thinking they never sin, are so busy looking at their own actions that they seldom look for the needs of others. When they do look at others, it is often only to judge and find fault with them. Despite what people might think, the Bible says those who accept God's grace will not continue to live in sin.
THE RESULT OF GRACE IS ACTION
Paul was the chief preacher of grace, yet he showed that grace resulted in action.
PAUL FOUND GRACE IS SUFFICIENT
Many people try to add things to God's grace. They want to add their works, or their ability, or their wealth. Paul did too. He just knew that if he was free from his "thorn in the flesh" he could do so much more for God. God knew better though.
CONFIDENCE COMES BY GRACE
Have you ever heard someone pray with an attitude that God owed them something because of their works? They seek confidence from their works, but the scriptures teach something else.
Real strength and confidence comes from grace, not from our works. Many may seem strong because they argue and fight a lot. But their arguments come from a lack of confidence and self esteem. We argue and fight one another in attempts to win the approval, or agreement, of other people. When we really know we are doing God's will, we do not have to fight for man's approval.
HOPE IN GRACE, NOT WORKS
Our hope is not to be based on our works, but on God's grace. That's why so many are hurt when the people they had their confidence in fall. All men fail at times - that's why our hope is not to be placed in our works or anyone else's.
FREEDOM
Although God will give us the gift of eternal life, it takes good works to help others in this life.
REWARDS
Jesus told us to lay up treasures in heaven. Although salvation is by grace, there are different rewards waiting for us, and those depend on our works. Paul explained the relationship between gifts and rewards.
If you study this scripture, you should see that the man's salvation did not depend upon his works, but his rewards did. In the scripture, the word "fire" is used to describe God's word. Our works will be tested to see if they are according to God's will. If they are not, we will lose our reward.
ATTITUDES USED TO "EARN" GRACE:
This scripture is the parable Jesus used to illustrate the difference between one who is attempting to be saved by his works and one who is receiving his salvation by God's grace. Today's church still has many, many Pharisees.
These are those who believe in what I call a "jump start." The Bible not only teaches that we have sinned, past tense; it also teaches we all still sin as Christians.
When we have become Christians, we have been declared righteous because of the righteousness of Jesus - not our's. We become the sons of God and He does not look at our sin as something to cast us out for, but as something that He will help us correct. He is not blind to our sin and He may chastise us to call our attention to it and then He will help us overcome it.
Many people try to convince themselves they deserve God's help because they are better than others. They usually go on to believe a doctrine of salvation by works and, as a result, are never really free to serve God fully. They are so afraid of failing that they seldom try anything new. If we are not free to stumble in the learning process, we will never try anything new. We will stay with the "safe" old habits and traditions. When we believe a doctrine of salvation by works, our attention is on ourselves and we will compare our works with those of others. Paul described those who practiced this as unwise.
Jesus is not comparing us to others and He wants us to concentrate on what He wants us to do - not on whether we are better or worse than someone else. We are to be dead to the desires to please ourselves, or to compete with others. We are to be alive to the guidance of Christ. When we compete with others, we desire their failure; but we are to work for the edification of others - not their downfall. Paul wrote about those who were still subject to laws instead of to Christ.
As it says, those laws did not eliminate fleshly indulgence. They only served to give our pride a boost and help us feel we have "earned" God's help. In fact, many demand God's help in payment for their works. Far too many Christians have their eyes on their desires and not on God. Paul goes on to address this.
When we look to our works for part of our salvation, we are looking at ourselves and not at Christ. We are told in the scripture to keep our eyes on Him - not on ourselves. This is a result of Grace. When salvation is received as a free gift, our attention is on the Giver. Our desire is to please the Giver, whether or not it feels comfortable to us. When salvation is accepted as a reward our eyes are on ourselves. We will do what we "feel" is right. But when we do anything new it feels uncomfortable for a while. Our feelings are determined by the habits we have formed, not by what is right or wrong. In Old Testament times, people were under a doctrine of salvation by works and law. We can see this resulted in a people who hated everyone who was not with them and who were constantly fighting among themselves. On the other hand, in New Testament times, after Christ brought Grace and Truth, the believers first went into "all the world." This is true today also. Churches that still preach a doctrine of salvation by works and judge one another by some set of laws fight among themselves and seldom help anyone who is not a member of their church. While churches who preach a doctrine of salvation by grace, spend their time, talent, and money helping people in their communities and in other countries. I emphasize - preaching grace results in people sharing that grace with others and doing good works. While preaching salvation by works and law results in judgment of others and almost a complete lack of really doing anything. The result does not depend on what law they preach. Some preach Old Testament laws once required by God. Others preach a set of laws from a church discipline. Others preach a set of unwritten laws made up of their tradition. Much of their arguing is about which law to preach. But the Bible teaches it is not possible for any law to take away sin and that Christ was the end of using law to determine righteousness.
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