The Truth about Grace

The Bible is all about grace – the mercy of God to us sinners. However, it is also about obedience and sanctification. While we are saved by grace through faith alone, without the need for good deeds (Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 3:27), we are saved through a faith that is not alone. While works are not necessary for salvation, we are saved through a faith that works. Consequently, James wrote:

• But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. (James 2:18; all verses are from the NIV)

This statement reflects the fact that faith produces fruit. One that doesn’t produce fruit is not a real faith but a dead one. If we trust in Christ, we will do what He tells us to do! This faith also endures to the end.

In contrast, pastor and dispensational theologian, Charles Stanley, believes that a saving faith need not endure:

·       The Bible clearly teaches that God’s love for His people is of such magnitude that even those who walk away from the faith have not the slightest chance of slipping from His hand. (Eternal Security, 74)

Stanley believes that even the “believer” who becomes an unbeliever remains in Christ:

·       Even if a believer for all practical purposes becomes an unbeliever, his salvation is not in jeopardy. Christ will remain faithful. (93)

Of course, “Christ will remain faithful,” but to whom? Will He remain faithful to someone who had merely a passing “faith?” Or is the real faith – the Biblical gift of faith – one that will endure, however battered it might be?

According to Stanley, saving faith need not endure. Why not? He believes that if we have to do anything to maintain our faith, that means that salvation depends on us and, therefore, isn’t a free gift “lest any should boast.”

However, many verses insist that we must continue in faith in order to be saved:

·       “You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:22)

·       But now he has reconciled you… if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel… (Colossians 1:22-23)

·       …show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. (Hebrews 6:11-12)

In fact, if we fail to believe to the end, we were never saved:

·       We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. (Hebrews 3:14; 6)

A real faith is an enduring faith. If we don't persist to the end, we never had faith to begin with. How can this be? Jesus explained to the Samaritan woman at the well that a true faith is like a fountain that continues to flow:

·       “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14)

Jesus’ words demonstrate that the real gift of faith has legs. It is pregnant with living water and will never quit until we are delivered into our eternal home.

A real faith inevitably produces good fruit, as Jesus preached in His Sermon on the Mount:

·       "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 7:15-19)

A bad tree – the false prophets - does not produce good fruit. Instead, without true faith, they will face the fires. However, regarding the obedience of faith, McDavid, Richardson, and Zahl (MRZ) insist that a good tree need not produce good fruit:

·       "We pontificate about the proper response to the Gift, as if God is subject to our code of manners. At Christmas, for example, what if you forget to send a thank-you immediately? What if, when you do, it is a shabby piece of work? What if you never send one? Will the gift be revoked? Again, any gift premised on the recipient's correct response to it is not much of a gift at all.

According to MRZ, God does not require any response to His gift. Consequently, the gift of life need not produce any fruit.

This represents a mild form of antinomianism (“against law”). This understanding either rejects or minimizes the claims of the law for obedience. MRZ minimize obedience by claiming that faith’s obedience to the gift of God is entirely unnecessary.

According to dispensational theologian, Lewis Sperry Chafer:

·       Scripture is violated and the whole doctrine of grace confused when salvation is made to depend on anything other than believing. The divine message is not “believe and pray”…”believe and repent”…If they were as essential to salvation as believing they would never be omitted from any passage wherein the way to be saved is stated. (Major Bible Themes, 187).

Chafer and many others believe that if any requirement is added to grace, besides faith, then grace is no longer grace. However, the requirement of repentance for salvation is scripturally indisputable (Luke 24:46-47; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 17:30; 2 Cor. 7:10; 2 Tim. 2:24-26).

But is “the whole doctrine of grace confused when salvation is made to depend on anything other than believing?” Although there are confusing elements when we combine obedience to faith alone, the association of the two is undeniable:

·       Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (Romans 6:16-18)

Paul declares that if we are saved by grace through faith, there will be the fruit of obedience “which leads to righteousness”:

·       The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

·       For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:13)

A real faith must be accompanied by obedience! John also argues that the new life in Christ must be characterized by fruit:

·       If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:6-7)

If we do not walk in the light, we are not purified from all sin. John is even more explicit in the next chapter that a changed life must be the product of a changed faith:

·       The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (1 John 2:4)

Jesus also declared that if we do not display the fruits of salvation, we do not have salvation:

·       "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” (Matthew 7:21-23)

Such evildoers never had saving faith. Clearly, “evildoers,” those who do not confess and repent of their sins, cannot enter the kingdom. These very same evildoers will be condemned:

·       "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out--those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.” (John 5:28-29)

But doesn’t this requirement of holiness (Heb. 12:14) minimize grace if not do away with it entirely? Not if this requirement is met by grace! John explains that if we really have that gift of a new life and the indwelling Spirit, we will no longer continue in the practice of sin:

·       No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. (1 John 3:9)

·       We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. (1 John 5:18)

We cannot take credit for this, since it is the work of the Spirit. Paul even confessed that he gave the Spirit credit for all of his labors:

·       But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)

Granted – it is difficult to explain how our efforts are, before all else, the fruit of the Spirit. However, Scripture links God’s grace and sovereignty together with our efforts towards obedience without apology. Paul claims that we have a responsibility in regards to our salvation but then claims that even our obedience is the result of the work of God:

·       --continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Philippians 2:12-13)

We even find this same perplexity in Hebrew prophecy:

·       They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.” (Jeremiah 32:38-40; Ezekiel 36:25-27)

Israel will walk in obedience, not because they are doing something meritorious, but because of the grace of God. In light of this, MRZ and Chafer are not upholding grace but minimizing it and the extent of its work in our lives.

·       I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

It is grace that gives birth to obedience and the new heart that brings it about. Hence, our entire lives, not just salvation, are bathed in the grace of God. It is this grace that not only gives us a new heart but also fruitage. Our entire lives are the fruit of His workmanship:

·       For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

If we do not bear any signs of His workmanship, of good fruit, we are not His. However, often, we do not see it and are stricken because of this. Instead, we are far more conscious of our sins and spiritual failures. However, our Lord has given us assurance, even when we fall into such despair:

·       If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (1 John 1:9-10)

The requirement of obedience doesn’t eliminate grace. It complements grace! How? Without the requirement of obedience along with our constant failures, we would become insensitive to grace. Even worse, we would feel that we are entitled to grace. However, it is the grace of our Lord and his requirement that we live in obedience that silences pride and highlights grace:

·       Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. (Romans 3:19-20)

It is through the law and the obedience that it demands that we become conscious of sin and are humbled, thereby made fit for service. Peter had been humbled. Instead of obedience, he denied the Lord three times, probably remembering that those who deny Jesus, Jesus will deny.

However, it was to Peter that Jesus returned with the command to “feed My sheep.” Peter had been humbled by his disobedience, but now he was made ready to serve.

We too need to be humbled daily by the commands of our Lord. It is only through the tears of brokenness that we can glory in grace.

We Need to Know that We Have Eternal Life

We need to know that nothing can separate us from our Savior Jesus:

• Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,  nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)

Paul argued that if we truly know that we are eternally safe in our Savior, we can be bold, ever “more than conquerors!” Why? Because we know that nothing can separate us from our Savior Jesus.

This is what gave King David confidence:

• I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol [the grave], or let your holy one [the Messiah] see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:7-11)

David proclaimed that “my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.” What had produced such gladness and rejoicing? He confessed that it was “the Lord who gives me counsel.” What instruction did the Lord give him that made the difference? The Lord revealed to him that he would outlive the grave.

However, David’s joy wasn’t simply a matter of knowing that he was guaranteed eternal life. He was guaranteed a glorious eternal life, one where there would be “fullness of joy… pleasures forevermore.”

Even more, these joys and pleasures were to be based on the most incredible love relationship in “your presence.” It will not be impersonal, as if joy and pleasure can be impersonal. This joy cannot be embedded within a relation-less universal consciousness where there is no other. No! These joys will be relational, based in love, in an eternal marriage that far surpasses any earthly marriage.

What is the “presence” of the Lord? Our God is cryptic in this regard. However, elsewhere, God distinguishes Himself from His Presence:

• I will send an angel before you [Israel], and I will drive out the Canaanites… but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people… And he [God] said [to Moses], “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:2-3, 14; also 23:20-21)

Mysteriously, God would be present through His Presence (His Angel, His “Holy One) so that He would “give you [Israel] rest.” This is the very rest we find in His Messiah, the Holy One.

The Book of Hebrews instructs us to “Run with endurance the race [with its struggles] that is set before us.” But from where does this endurance - this confidence in eternal life - come? How can we have endurance if we are not confident that our Savior will never leave us? We can’t! However, Scripture equates the hope and expectation of Jesus with our guaranteed hope:

• Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2) 

Jesus is to be our example. We need to confidently look to Him and know that Jesus’ unshakable hope, which had enabled Him to endure, is also our hope and expectation! Only with this assurance can we look to Him!

We will be with Him forevermore. This was the very hope that the Lord had revealed to David. The Holy One would not remain in the grave. Neither would David!

Eternally Safe & Secure in Christ: Calvinism vs. Dispensationalism

 Both Calvinists and Dispensationalists believe that the Christian is eternally secure in Christ. As Jesus had declared, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28). However, these two groups have different understandings of Biblical faith, and which kind of faith is associated with our security in Christ. Pastor and dispensational theologian Charles Stanley believes that a saving faith might not be one that endures:

• The Bible clearly teaches that God’s love for His people is of such magnitude that even those who walk away from the faith have not the slightest chance of slipping from His hand. (Eternal Security, 74)

Both groups agree that “God’s love for His people is of such magnitude” that He will keep those who are His. However, the Calvinist would deny that “those who walk away from the faith” completely were ever His, that they were ever in “His hand.”

Stanley clearly believes that even the “believer” who becomes an unbeliever remains in Christ:

• Even if a believer for all practical purposes becomes an unbeliever, his salvation is not in jeopardy. Christ will remain faithful. (93)

Of course, “Christ will remain faithful,” but to whom? Will He remain faithful to someone who had merely a passing “faith?” Or is the real faith – the Biblical gift of faith – one that will endure, however battered it might be? According to Stanley, saving faith need not endure.

Stanley compares the human institution of marriage to our marriage with God. He reasons that because we can be married to our wife without acting as if we are married, we can also be married to God in this unfaithful manner:

• Just as there are married people who act as if they are not, so there are Christians who show no evidence of their Christianity as well. But that does not change their eternal status, any more than a lost man can change his eternal destiny by acting saved. (71)

However, does a mere marriage certificate – think church baptism, membership and signing a statement faith – reflect a Biblical marriage to God, a real connection to Him, and the Biblical gift of faith? In contrast to Stanley, Jesus taught that the water (faith) that He gives would cause the recipient to “never thirst” again:

• Jesus answered [the Samaritan woman at the well], "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13-14; 6:50-51)

However, Stanley’s position suggests that the “believer” who rejects the faith will thirst, now lacking any fellowship with Christ.

As a result of believing, we become “children of the light,” according to Jesus:

• Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." (John 12:36)

However, those who have rejected the faith cannot be called “sons of light,” since they no longer walk in the light. Instead, their fruit identify them as sons of the darkness (Mat. 7:15-20).

A true faith bears fruit (James 2:18).  A faith profession alone does not make us a child of God. A life that is characterized by the willful practice of sin cannot possess saving faith. Although our good deeds do not save us, a real faith should give rise to good deeds. If it only gives rise to evil, the evildoer should be warned against having a confidence of salvation:

• Then I [Jesus] will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' (Matthew 7:23)

According to Jesus, these “evildoers” are not His children. Neither should they be affirmed as such, as Stanley might do.  Of course, Christians struggle against sin daily, often succumbing to its allures and deceptiveness. However, we have the assurance that if we honestly confess our sins, God will forgive and fully cleanse us from the effects of the sin (1 John 1:8-9). However, Stanley’s theology would admit that we can live like the devil – and not confess our sins – and be a child of God. However, this contradicts so much of what we read in Scripture. Jesus gave us a picture of what His sheep look like:

• “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:27-28)

• When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him [Jesus] because they know his voice. (John 10:4)

While Jesus claimed that His sheep follow Him, Stanley claims that this isn’t necessary. This insistence simply contradicts so much of what Jesus taught:

• Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)

Self-denial was more than just a suggestion. It was a requirement. Jesus taught us that our “righteousness” must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees (Mat. 5:20) and then provided a picture of what this should look like. Jesus also claimed that if we live like the devil, we should not expect eternal life (Mat. 25:46). He also warned that those whose practice had been evil “will rise to be condemned” (John 5:29). Friendship with Him was characterized by doing “what I command” (John 15:14). Meanwhile, those who bore no fruit would be removed from where they thought they stood (John 15:2).

The Book of Hebrews also insists upon an obedient life:

• Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

Although our personal holiness does not save, it’s something that must accompany faith, if it is a true faith. However, Stanley denies that faith must give rise to some degree of obedience or discipleship.

There are many Scriptural warnings that we cannot live in any manner we wish.

• If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. (Hebrews 10:26-27)

While Stanley claims that we can “deliberately keep on sinning” and expect to go to heaven, this hope is contrary to Scripture. Clearly a real faith will not continue in this manner. Hebrews assures us that if we are His, we will not do so:

• But we are not of those who shrink back [from following Jesus] and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. (Hebrews 10:39)

Likewise, we are warned that if we entirely fall away from the faith, there can be no restoration:

• It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. (Hebrews 6:4-6)

Falling away from Christ means falling away from salvation. However, once again, the writer of Hebrews assures us that this cannot happen:

• Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case--things that accompany salvation. (Hebrews 6:9)

What accompanies salvation? The fact that we will never completely turn away from our Savior! However, Stanley claims that we can do so and still be saved, despite that warning that those falling away cannot be restored.

There are many other such warnings in Scripture, which equate falling away from Christ with losing salvation (1 Cor. 6:9-11; Gal. 5:19-24). However, these same warning-verses give us the assurance that we will not fall away.

In fact, God will not allow us to fall away! First John teaches us that we will not continue practicing sin because we have His seed within us (1 John 3:9; 5:18).  John also provides ways we can reassure ourselves that we have saving faith:

• The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (1 John 2:4)

John provides many tests to reassure the brethren that they have Christ. If those who professed Christ didn’t follow the commands of Christ, they didn’t have Christ, contrary to Stanley’s insistence. Truly, if we trust Christ, we will do what He tells us to do. If our doctor tells us to take the pills he has given us and we refuse them, it probably means that we don’t trust him.

John claims that those who had been part of the church and confessed Christ but then denied Him were really never of Him (1 John 2:19; Mat. 7:23). If they had been of Him, they would have stayed with Him. However, Stanley insists that we can be saved even if we reject Christ entirely.

John also claims that:

• We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us [the Apostles and their writings]; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. (1 John 4:6)

If we reject the Apostolic writings – the New Testament – this is a sign of the “spirit of falsehood,” that the individual is not “from God.” However, Stanley must insist that we can subsequently reject the entire Bible and still be “from God.”

There are many verses that tell us explicitly that a true faith is one which endures. Jesus warned His disciples that they had to continue to have faith:

• All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Matthew 10:22)

In contrast, Stanley claims that we need not endure to the end. Old-line dispensationalists claim that this requirement constitutes a meritorious work and not grace, and it therefore imperils the central Gospel message that we are saved by grace apart from any works of the law. However, this danger is sidestepped once we realize that it is God – and not we - who guarantees that we will continue in faith (1 Peter 1:5; Phil. 1:6). Our Lord doesn’t simply give us the gift of faith and then leaves it untended. Our salvation is not guaranteed by simply a one-time giving of faith, but also by a God who nurtures us throughout our lives. The gift isn’t limited to a single moment in time, but represents a beachhead where our God has secured control.

Paul also wrote that a real faith is one that endures to the end:

• But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-- if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. (Col. 1:22-23)

If we don’t “continue in…faith,” it means that we had never been reconciled. However, there is still hope for those who made a profession and didn’t continue. Any who confess their sins will be forgiven and cleansed (1 John 1:9-10).

The Book of Hebrews issues the same warning as Paul:

• But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast…We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. (Hebrews 3:6, 14)

If we don’t “hold firmly till the end,” it means that we had never trusted and shared in Christ. Because He works all things for good for His children (Rom. 8:28), this would preclude any possibility of disowning the faith. If we deny Christ, it means that He failed to work everything for good. This suggests that we were never His!

We cannot inherit the promise of eternal life if we fail to continue to follow Christ:

• We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience (Hebrews 6:11-12)

We need to persevere in the faith in order to “inherit what has been promised.” However, if our faith is real (and continually nurtured by the Spirit), we will continue to follow Him.

I fear that what I have been writing might be quite chilling. It might raise old fears that we don’t have enough faith or that we aren’t righteous enough. Therefore, I want to allay these fears. Actually, it is our God, who is so incredibly merciful, who wants to allay these fears. Even though Lot was living a highly compromised life in Sodom, He is divinely remembered as “righteous Lot” (2 Peter 2:7-8).

Peter had denied Jesus – and Jesus had warned that those who deny Him, He would also deny – but Jesus returned to him with a special commission to “feed my sheep.”

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had all been spiritual failures for most of their lives. Yet their God never abandoned them. However, these weren’t people who had rejected their God as Stanley claims that we can do without loosing our salvation.

Our faith can be of the smallest size (Luke 17:6) and yet still be divinely regarded as great faith. Israel was a perfect example of this. Moments before passing through the Red Sea by faith, they had been rebelling against Moses and God. And yet they are examples of faith (Hebrews 11:29). We see the same with Moses (11:27) and Sarah (11:11). They had greatly feared and yet our God remembers them as fearless – people of faith.

I appreciate Charles Stanley’s emphasis on the assurance that comes from knowing that faith and salvation are free gifts. However, I think that we need to understand our free gift as one that will continue in faithfulness.