Fighting for Grace

"And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness" Rom 4:5

On Wed I ran across a blog post that stirred my heart. For a while I have ached as I have observed more and more churches and more and more Christians "assume" the gospel.  What we discuss, what we teach, what we preach, as true and as Biblical as it may be, is built upon a gospel that is assumed, but rarely stated and even more rarely set forth as the one essential thing in our lives. I read an article last fall by David Gibson that helped put some of these thoughts into perspective. But this raised another question in my mind: if we know the truth of the gospel, why are we so eager to simply assume it? What is going on?

So when I read the blog post Itchy Ears Want Works by Joel Brooks, I found someone who had put his finger on the pulse of the problem. He didn't simply identify the problem, he said, in essence, "I've seen the enemy and it is me". Here is an excerpt from his conclusion:

I confessed earlier that there were times in my past that I preached works while just assuming grace. The results that I saw from this were substantial. People loved it! I first thought that sermons like this would turn people off and drive them away, but how wrong I was. Especially younger Christians cannot get enough of it. It grieves me to look back and think of those times I looked out at the masses, got caught up in the moment, and briefly abandoned the gospel in order to scratch some itchy ears.

The substantial antidote for us is plunging (not wading) into the ocean of grace. Brooks cites Romans 4:5, which I agree is a liberating verse, in a liberating chapter, in a liberating book. He comments:

When pastors plead for their congregations to shake off their apathy and finally take action, this attempt to motivate can lead us to abandon the gospel if only for a moment. I have sought the Lord to repent of my own misplaced emphasis on what we need to do to prove ourselves as real Christians. I need to constantly remind myself of the gospel. Daily I struggle to put to death the desires I have to show myself as wild for Jesus and the impulse to do something great for him in order to win his approval. Romans 4:5 is the medicine I take daily—“And to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness . . .” (italics mine).

What powerful, life-altering words these are! What lavish grace! Paul is saying that the one who does not go on the mission field, does not give to the homeless, does not tithe, does not throw away his TV, does not tutor at an inner-city school but believes in Christ who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. Belief is all that is required for the ungodly. How amazing is that?!

This is the medicine we all need and what I must constantly preach from the pulpit—to Christians and non-Christians alike. Otherwise, no matter how strong my words are, they will only inspire people momentarily, never sustain them. I can guilt people into giving or use inspirational stories to move them, but without the steady drumbeat of the gospel, I am leading people into a works-based righteousness no matter how good my intentions. And sure, good works will follow, but not out of a heart of gratitude and worship to Jesus.

The bottom line? Its always Christ! It always grace! It always the gospel. We dare never leave it. We dare never assume it. We dare never combine it with something else lest we lose it altogether. Heb 2:1 jumps to my mind:

"Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it."

To God Alone be the Glory