As lawlessness increases (Matthew 24:12) and evil progresses from bad to worse (II Timothy 3:13) in these later days of the end times, it has been intriguing to see how words that have traditionally been defined in terms of pure spiritual principle are now twisted and corrupted to accommodate a very sinister objective. “Love” and “grace” are two prime examples. In the chapter defining the Doctrine of Division from volume two of my series,
Dismantling Doctrines of Demons: Defining the Doctrines, I write in detail about the way “love” has been distorted in our modern culture, even among church groups. It is the only way to justify the kind of tolerance & acceptance extended in the progressive movement for diversity, equality & inclusion.
“Grace” is another word precious to our Christian faith. It has often been defined as “unmerited favor.” Paul clarifies that we are saved by grace through faith, and there is nothing within ourselves that can earn or merit God’s forgiveness and the gift of eternal life (Ephesians 2:8-9). God extends to each of us the opportunity for salvation solely from His deep reservoir of love, grace, and mercy. Someone once said, “Grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve, while mercy is God not giving us what we truly do deserve.” That is a true and blessed statement!
Grace is a divine attribute of God extended freely to sinful man to provide a way necessary for restoring mankind’s fallen and cursed fellowship with God that began with the disobedience of Adam & Eve in the Garden (Genesis 3). Jesus finalized the offering of this grace through His completed work of redemption on the cross. The sacrifice of His death was so complete that no sin is beyond the shed blood of Jesus to cover and the grace of God to forgive. That is why grace is such a precious commodity in the Christian faith. Without grace, we would be hopelessly lost and destined for an eternity, separated from God in hell.
In that sense, grace can be seen as a “get out of jail free” card. It is free for the offering and free for the taking. But as we often say, nothing is free. While it may be a free offering to us, it was certainly not free for God to offer it. It cost God something more precious & valuable than you and I could ever pay – the very blood of His only Son, Jesus Christ!
At the same time, grace is not a credit card with an unlimited line of spending, although that is how many people want to use it. An idea permeating today’s culture is that one can live any certain way he desires, and grace has him covered. Grace, then, becomes his permit ticket for lifestyle and behavioral choices that may or may not comply with Biblical righteousness.
The Apostle Paul confronts that distorted idea with this simple question – What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? (Romans 6:1). Don’t miss the very clear and precise answer Paul gives to his own question – MAY IT NEVER BE! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? (6:2). Who are those Paul is speaking about? He defines who they are in the verses that follow as those who have been crucified & buried with Christ (those who are born again), as symbolized through their faith commitment to Him. In that symbolism, Paul declares – our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is free from sin…even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin (6:6-11). As a funeral director, I am around dead people constantly. I have never heard a dead person speak, seen one eat a meal, or walk out of the funeral home. They don’t do those things because they are dead.
When we were kids growing up, we would often play cowboys & Indians, cops & robbers, or play Army. Those pretend games would always include toy guns, shoot ‘em up raids, and various ones of us would always get shot and “play dead.” That is what Paul is telling us to do when he says, consider yourself to be dead to sin. In other words, play dead. When playing Army and getting shot, we kids would grimace & groan, fall down, sprawl out, close our eyes, and lay perfectly still. We would pretend we were dead, but we were actually still alive, of course.
Teaching this same concept to the Galatian church, Paul said – I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live (2:20). Like Paul, every believer exists within the context of both death and life. We are dead to sin but alive in Christ at the same time. Both dynamics still exist within us and come to the surface consistently. Paul described it this way - For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. (Romans 7:19-20). So, Paul acknowledged this principle – evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good (7:21). This evil Paul talks about was inherent in (his) flesh (7:18), another term Paul uses to describe his old man. That old man is still within each of us, warring against the other part within us that wants to do good. Our flesh and our spirit are playing Army!
People playing the grace card today love to deal it out of the Law deck. The common assumption is that whatever the old Law (Old Testament) stipulated no longer applies today because we are under grace and not under the Law. This assertion fails to recognize the three forms of law the Old Testament presents. There is the Sacrificial Law that regulated the Levitical priests & practices of the Temple where animal sacrifices were made for the atonement of the people of Israel. When Jesus died on the cross once for all, His sacrificial death and shedding of blood forever ended the practices of the Sacrificial Law. The Judicial Law regulated the ancient Hebrew cultural ethics and practices. Most of those applied exclusively to Israel and were expanded by later rabbis, Scribes & Pharisees into massive volumes of cumbersome rules and traditions. Some of those laws, however, still influence our legislative and judicial laws today, such as divorcement, property provisions, criminal justice, and others.
The third law is the most contentious in today’s society. It is the Moral Law. One might assert that the Sacrificial Law no longer applies and be correct, except that what Jesus accomplished through His sacrifice on the cross is still solidly intact. One might assert that the Judicial Law applied only to the Jews and be correct, except for those that still influence our laws today. But when you insist that the Moral Law no longer applies, you get into real trouble. The Ten Commandments serve as the foundational principles of God’s Moral Law. Surely no one would claim the Ten Commandments no longer apply today! From the righteous standards presented in the Ten Commandments come multiple commands that further define domestic relations, ethical & religious practices, national & international relations, cultural & societal norms, and sexual conduct.
What some call the “Law Dissenters” claim Jesus came to do away with the old Law, an accusation Jesus vehemently denies - Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 5:17-19). Jesus specifying the commandments indicates a reference to the Moral Law inherent in the Ten Commandments. Better be fearfully careful concerning what you believe and say that no longer applies in the Law!
What is meant by fulfill is to bring to completion or make full circle. Jesus completed the Moral Law as it addressed adultery, for instance, by affirming it was not just an act of sexual misconduct, but if a person lusts in his heart & mind after another, he is equally guilty of adultery. Hating someone to the point of annihilating their character & reputation is equivalent to physical murder. Jesus did not do away with these righteous standards, but He did give them new understanding and application to our day. The Scribes & Pharisees of His day didn’t like that any more than the “Law Dissenters” do in our day.
Paul weaves these Law principles into his writings as well – What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? (Romans 6:15). That’s exactly what the “Law Dissenters” believe and practice today. They think that since the old law no longer applies, it cannot condemn their lifestyle and behavioral choices today. Paul emphatically objects – MAY IT NEVER BE! (6:15). Grace is not an insurance card to live any way you choose, and you’re covered regardless.
Paul says he – concurs with the law of God in the inner man, but sees a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members (Romans 7:22-23). Those two natures co-existed in Paul’s life, and they do in ours as well. But remember, we are dead to one (the flesh) and alive to the other (the spirit). So how do we “play dead?” Paul answers the question - Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:12-14).
Don’t fail to notice the active terms Paul uses: do not let; you obey; do not go on presenting; present yourselves. These are all volitional acts of a person’s will. Obedience or disobedience is a choice. As Paul stipulates, we set our minds on the things of the flesh, or we set our minds on the things of the Spirit (Romans 8:5), but WE do the setting. We allow our body to carry out the deeds of our flesh by focusing our mind on the sins of the flesh, which always operate in opposition to the Moral Law of God, or, we set our minds on the things of the Spirit (God’s Word, will, and ways) and strive to perfect those things in our life.
So, grace undoubtedly operates in cooperation with confession and repentance. It is not just a state in which we exist, it is both static and dynamic. It is a state of being when we belong to Christ Jesus in faith, and it is a practice of obedience in which we engage. John says that as believers, we have an advocate with the Father – if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). The Greek word translated confess is not what we say when we get caught and can’t deny it. It literally means agreement. Genuine confession is agreement with God. It means that when God’s Word (Moral Law) says something is a sin, and that practice is a part of my life, I agree with God that it is sin. I don’t debate it, find excuses for it, blame it on something or someone else, or try and justify it in any way. I agree and concede that it is sin, period! When properly confessed, God's grace provides our forgiveness.
Genuine confession always leads to genuine repentance. Repentance is a choice of the will. I put to death the deeds of the flesh (Romans 8:13). True repentance is pure abandonment. It is an “about face.” It is living in disobedience to God’s Word, will, and ways, ceasing and abandoning those evil ways, and making the willful choice to turn my life around and live according to what God’s Word commands. What allows and empowers us to do that? Grace! Grace is the state of being through which confession and repentance are allowed, and the impetus with which it can be carried out.
How do you know if you’re living under the Law or under grace? Paul said – I would not have come to know sin except through the Law (Romans 7:7). God’s Moral Law clearly establishes what He calls sin, evil, and unrighteousness. If it didn’t, how would we ever know we were living in sinful ways? Therefore, Paul proclaims – the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good (7:12). And that means it still applies! Accordingly, Peter instructs us - but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY." (1 Peter 1:15-16). To be holy in your behavior means you make a choice. Grace is not only the state of the believer; it is a daily, moment-by-moment choice of the believer.
The lack of that desire and determination is a dire warning sign to any person. Those who persist to worship the creature rather than the Creator, giving credence to their own desires & determinations rather than to God’s, may indeed be slaves to their own reprobation (depravity) (Romans 1:18-32). Such persons may still be condemned under the Law because they have never made a real commitment of their life to Jesus Christ. Some may be entangled in demonic strongholds that hold them enslaved to evil perversion and deviation. There is only one way out – confession and repentance, followed by a faith commitment to Christ and obedience to God’s Word, will, and ways. Only by grace does any person have that choice. By the grace of God, I pray you will make that choice today.
Rick M. Smith
Pastor, Author & Speaker
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