“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me; I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see.” Most people, including born again believers, do not think of themselves as wretches, but the author of “Amazing Grace” did.

Though I have found some disagreement as to exactly when John Newton wrote the hymn (1748 or 1779), it was written after a close encounter with death on the high seas. Amazing Grace was the story of his life.

Every word was pulled with pain from the dark days and the treacherous times of his early sea-faring youth to the wondrous joy of his discovery of the love of God. His epitaph, written by his own hand, tells more eloquently than any other words the extent of depth and height experienced:

“John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and libertine, was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy.” Every line of his hymn is filled with tears of remorse because of the greatness of his sins, and expressions of joy because of the discovery of God’s grace.

Regarding his previous and wretched spiritual condition, Newton said, “I was capable of anything. I had not the least fear of God before my eyes.… I not only sinned myself, but made it my study to tempt and seduce others.”

Surely, being redeemed out of such a wretched spiritual state, as the hymn described it, helped Newton see and appreciate the matchless grace of God. Later he wrote, “I needed someone to stand between me and a holy God who must punish my sins and blasphemies.

I needed an Almighty Savior who would step in and take my sins away.… I saw that Christ took my punishment so that I might be pardoned.” But most often, those who have never gone to the depths of sin like Newton think they do not need as much of the grace of God as did Newton or some notorious criminal. If we fail to see ourselves as wretched sinners, grace will not be so amazing and awesome.

They see grace as nice, helpful—even necessary—but not really amazing. Here is something you can count on: The better you believe yourself to be, the less grace you think you need. The more self-confident you are, the more convinced you’ll be that you could get by even if God were stingy with grace. Sure, you struggle with sin, but that’s just a part of the human predicament.

All you need is some help from God and a bit of personal determination. You can make yourself good enough for God to accept you. You just need to get desperate enough to clean up your act. If grace can help you—fine.

In the New Testament, grace is the Greek term charis, and like our English word, it may mean “graciousness” “attractiveness” or even “charm.” But when we consider the meaning of this word as it is used in the New Testament theologically, it refers to the free, unmerited favor of God; to the favor or kindness given to those who can never deserve it or earn it by anything they do or refrain from doing.

Every time the thought of grace appears, there is the idea of its being undeserved. In no way is the recipient getting what he or she deserves. Favor is being extended simply out of the goodness of the heart of the giver.

The concept of grace in the New Testament, while including all the Hebraic and classical Greek meanings, is infinitely and uniquely heightened by its association with the Saviour. The lavish gift of God in the person of His Son is the particularly New Testament meaning of grace.

This is why it is quite true to say that charis is a word that has been raised to a higher level and filled with new meaning by our Lord Jesus Christ. His self-sacrifice is grace itself (II Corinthians 8:9). This grace is absolutely free (Romans 6:14; 5:15; Ephesians 2:8), and it is that which conquers sin both in its penalty and its power (Romans 5:12-21; 6:1-23).

When that grace which was revealed in Christ is received by the believer, it then governs spiritual life by compounding favor upon favor. It equips, strengthens, and controls all phases of his life (II Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 4:6; II Thessalonians 2:16; II Timothy 2:1).

Consequently, the Christian gives thanks (charis) to God for the riches of grace in His unspeakable gift (II Corinthians 9:15). Throughout the New Testament, then, the predominant thought is the grace of God in Christ which redeems us, governs us, and gives us everlasting consolation and good hope. So Who Needs Grace?

Is grace primarily for those who fall into the category of what many might think of as the more flagrant sinners? Those who classify people into various categories of sinners qualify “big sinners” as people who steal, are on drugs, abuse their spouses and children, are guilty of murder, are often drunk and disorderly, are fornicators and adulterers, and the like.

In their thinking, “The big sinner needs grace more than I do. I’m a pretty good person. Not perfect, but certainly not evil!”

But are these people accurate about who needs grace? It depends on the standard by which we judge our true condition. Every human being needs God’s grace to the limit no matter how good we may appear to be when compared to others.

Naturally, it is better to be a moral person, a good neighbor and citizen, and a decent husband and father than to be guilty of the things mentioned above, but as will be shown from our study, we all are in desperate spiritual condition and in need of God’s grace.

When compared to a holy God, we are all wretched sinners in desperate need of His grace. All the World Needs Grace Because All Fall Short of God’s Glory.

One of the reasons people fail to realize their true spiritual condition and need of grace is because they make comparisons (themselves or others) with the wrong object or standard. The issue is not how we compare to another or how they compare to us or to someone else, but how we all measure up when compared to God and His incomparable holiness.

Our problem is that we are looking at ourselves through the wrong end of the telescope. We are actually much further from God than we can imagine. The better we understand God, the more convinced we will be that there is no recognizable common moral ground between us and Him.

It turns out that we are like the boy who told his mother that he was eight feet tall, at least according to the yardstick he had made!

In the final analysis, when compared to the absolute holiness of God, we all fall far short of His holiness and stand as wretched sinners who are separated from God, spiritually dead and without life (Ephesians 2:1, 5), and under the condemnation of the moral Law of God.

This moral Law (which we have so foolishly removed from the walls of our schools) reveals all the world guilty as sinners (Romans 3:19), as separated from God, and in need of reconciliation and redemption (Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20; Colossians 1:20-22).

The apostle Paul makes this fact clear in the book of Romans. Having concluded his discussion of three types of people, the immoral (1:18-32), the moralist (2:1-16), and the religious (2:17-3:18), he then gives his conclusion regarding man’s condition—all the world is under condemnation and stands guilty before God (Romans 3:9-20, 23).

In Romans 3:9, Paul first asks a penetrating question and then gives the answer. “What then? Are we (speaking of the religious Jews of which Paul was one) better than they? (do we have some advantage by our religious works)?

No, in no wise; for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all all under sin.” As further proof, he turned to the Old Testament Scripture as his justification for this statement that “all are under sin.”

Thus, in 3:10-18 he demonstrates the whole of man’s being is under the power of sin—heart, mind, feet (ways), and his speech (portrayed in the pictures of the tongue, lips, mouth, and throat).

Mankind has a serious malady. As someone has said, we have been stricken with hoof and mouth disease. Having given clear proof from Scripture of man’s basic sinfulness, the next step is to demonstrate to whom this applies.

The question is simply, is anyone exempt? Is the moral man or the religious man? Absolutely not and verses 19-20 plainly indicts all the world as accountable or liable for judgment.

Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law (i.e., Israel to whom God gave the Law), so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held guilty to God.

3:20 For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:19-20.)

But how does the Old Testament Law show the whole world guilty before God? Though God gave the law to the nation Israel, the nation was merely an example of all mankind, a piece of the pie. In order to sample or test the quality of a pie, do you have to eat the whole pie?

No. You sample just a piece of the pie because one piece is indicative of all the rest. With verse 20 Paul demolishes the stronghold of the Jew or anyone who thinks he might be justified by keeping the Law or any rule of righteous behavior as with the Sermon on the Mount or the laws of the Koran.

Plainly put, keeping any form of law is not a means by which a person can be declared righteous before God. The Law, whether it’s the Old Testament Law or that written within the heart of man (Romans 2:14-15), is simply God’s means of showing man his awful sinfulness and alienation from God.

No flesh can obey God’s Law and be justified, declared righteous, in God’s sight. It is true that “the doers of the Law shall be justified” (Romans 2:13), but nobody can do what the Law demands! This inability is one way that men know they are sinners.

When they try to obey the Law, they fail miserably and need to cry out for God’s mercy. Neither Jew nor Gentile can obey God’s Law; therefore God must save sinners by some other means.

"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others" ~ Ephesians 2:1-3.

But God Has Provided Righteousness by Grace Apart From Human Works.
Then how does one obtain forgiveness of sin, spiritual life, righteousness with God, and a relationship with Him? The righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

God publicly displayed him as a satisfaction for sin by his blood through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed. This was also to demonstrate his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.

This righteousness is given apart from works of law. No amount of works can merit this righteousness. So then, what’s the source of this righteousness from God? It is that righteousness which has been manifested in the gospel.

But we should not be surprised. This is not something new since it is witnessed to by the Law and the prophets. It has been anticipated since the book of Genesis (3:15). Furthermore, this righteousness comes to us through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all those and only those who believe in Christ since God makes no distinction among people like we do.

The reason there is no distinction is because all have sinned and come short of God’s glory or His perfect holiness regardless of their evil or good. In addition, this righteousness is by grace as a free gift and by virtue of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

This redemptive work of Christ not only demonstrates God’s holiness (His perfect righteousness and justice), but perfectly satisfies the holy demands of God’s holy character.

So then, no matter how much better one person may appear to be over another, in comparison to God’s holiness, he falls short of His holiness and stands guilty with all the world.

Apart from grace, we are all on the same road. Some people just slide into the ditch and stay for a while. Others slide in, drag others in with them, and set up house. Think of it this way.

The Sears Tower in Chicago is much taller than the LaSalle National Bank. From our vantage point there is a great contrast between the height of these buildings. But let’s suppose we changed the question and asked which one of them was closer to the constellation Orion, which is a few thousand light years away from the earth.

Sure, the top of the Sears Tower is closer to this stellar constellation than the top of the bank, but does it really matter? In the presence of thousands of trillions of miles, there is no appreciable difference in height between the two.

Don’t misinterpret what I’m saying. Of course it is better to be a decent citizen than to be John Wayne Gacy. Of course it is better to be honest than to be embezzling funds at work. From our point of view these distinctions are very significant, and they are also important to God.

But spiritually speaking, even the best of us is still an infinite distance from God. If we forget this, it is because we have overestimated our goodness and underestimated God’s holiness. Clearly, we all need the grace of God in view of every person’s spiritual state. “Just as it is written: ‘There is none righteous, not one,’”

Grace Is Epitomized in Jesus Christ. The lavish gift of God in the person of His Son is the particularly New Testament meaning of grace. After praising God for the spirit of selfless giving, seen as a consequence of God’s surpassing grace at work in the heart of the Corinthians, Paul breaks out in an outburst of praise for the one who is the epitome and root of all God’s grace that so wonderfully governs our lives—“Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

Paul’s declaration, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11) is a clear reference to the coming of Christ and shows us again that Christ is the grace of God personified; He is the epitome of God’s grace.

In the Greek, “has appeared” stands emphatically at the beginning, stressing the manifestation of grace as a historical reality. The reference is to Christ’s entire earthly life—his birth, life, death, and resurrection.

The verb epephane, from which we derive our word “epiphany,” means “to become visible, make an appearance,” and conveys the image of grace suddenly breaking in on our moral darkness, like the rising sun. (It is used of the sun in Acts 27:20.) Men could never have formed an adequate conception of that grace apart from its personal manifestation in Christ, in his incarnation and atonement.

He is the one who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (II Timothy 1:9-10).

The gospel message is the story of the life, death, resurrection, ascension, and the present session of the Lord Jesus Christ at God’s right hand. As the personification of God’s grace, it is little wonder that in the book of Acts, this message about the Lord Jesus Christ is called “the gospel of grace” and “a message of grace” (see Acts 14:3; 20:24; 32). Grace Is the Means of Salvation.

No truth or teaching in the New Testament is more central than the fact that grace—the free gift of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone—is the means of salvation. Paul wrote, “I do not frustrate (nullify) the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, (i.e., by human or religious works), then Christ is dead in vain!” (Galatians 2:21).

He saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior. And so, since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.”

Sometimes preachers who should know better speak of receiving God’s grace as if we were expected to make a bargain with Him. I have a friend (bless him!) who in his witness for Christ used to tell people to “pledge their allegiance to Jesus Christ.” An evangelist gave an invitation and told the people coming forward that they were making a “promise to follow Christ.” I shake my head in dismay!

The potential convert is thinking, If I have to pledge my allegiance to Jesus Christ or promise to follow Him, what will happen if I make such a decision and then break my promise the next day? Certainly, accepting God’s grace will result in a change of lifestyle. But we cannot expect the dead to walk until they are raised and the blind to see until they are healed.

Sinners who have never been reconciled to God do not have the power to change their lifestyles, even if they were to get “really serious” about it. To the person who says, “I want to do something about my broken relationship with God,” grace says, “if you really understood the issues you wouldn’t talk that way. God did something about your broken relationship with Him, and the only thing you can do is to humble yourself and accept it!”

Let me be clear. When you come to Christ, you do not come to give, you come to receive. You do not come to try your best, you come to trust. You do not come just to be saved, but to be rescued. You do not come to be made better (although that does happen), you come to be made alive! You do not come to Christ to make a promise; you come to depend on His promise.

It is the faithfulness of God and not your own that gives the gift of grace. Grace Is the Opposite of Works. We have seen that grace means the free and unmerited favor of God, but it needs to be stressed that an attitude of legalism by which man seeks to merit God’s favor actually undermines the impact of grace. This is seen in a number of passages which show how grace and human works are opposed to one another.

The first passage is Romans 4:4-5: Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Paul states a basic principle in these verses. A worker’s reward or wage is due to him because of his work. A gift, or that which is given on the basis of grace, is totally separate from any form of obligation on the part of the receiver.

Justification is given to the one who does not work but believes in the one who justifies. The second passage is Romans 11:5-6: 11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

If God’s rescue program had included our efforts, grace would be diminished and salvation would not be wholly the work of God. “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace” (Romans 11:6). Some things can exist together, but human works and the grace that brings salvation cannot.

To clear the field for His own activity, God eliminated every work of man—past, present, and future. His action had to be pure, uncontaminated by our own best efforts. He had to act alone. Our self-effort was put on a shelf labeled “Unsuitable for Use.” Grace Is Absolutely Free. In keeping with the fundamental idea that grace is the free or unmerited favor of God, we regularly find grace used with terms such as gift or given or not of works. This is surely done in order to stress the free, unmerited nature of God’s grace.

But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many! (Ro. 5:15).

Wherefore I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. (Eph. 3:7)

As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. (I Pet. 4:10).

I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ (I Cor. 1:4).

Grace, then, is the free and undeserved provision and love received from another; it especially epitomizes the characteristic attitude of God in providing salvation for a sinful world. For believers in Christ, the term grace is virtually synonymous with the gospel message of God’s gift of unmerited salvation in Jesus Christ and includes everything associated with our life in Christ from beginning to the end.

You sometimes hear the accusation that this kind of free-grace breeds license. Part of the answer to the license issue is that grace does not leave us as we were before salvation, but becomes the very foundation for the Christian life (see Romans 5:1-2). With grace comes the motivation and ability (by God’s grace, of course), to produce good works.

This is part of the aim of God’s salvation by grace as expressed in Ephesians 2:8-9. Which began with an emphasis on our spiritually dead condition and life under the domination of Satan’s world system. This pre-salvation life is a life lived out in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind. But now, by God’s grace, we are not only redeemed from spiritual death and the penalty of sin, but unto a new life of good works by God’s enablement (see also Eph. 4:17-31).

With salvation by the grace of God comes regeneration to new life, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (our enablement for living), and a new position in Christ which forms the basis for deliverance from the power of sin. The very nature of this salvation teaches us that grace means God has called us to a new kind of life, one that is contrary to godless and worldly desires. The good news of God’s grace in Christ is a message that has, as part of its purpose, lives that are in keeping with godliness, never license.

Since works are presented as the basis of God’s blessing in all the other religions of the world, grace distinguishes biblical Christianity as unique from all these other religions. Look carefully at their beliefs and you will find man doing something to get God’s blessing, whatever that is touted to be.

There is no division of doctrine that is not related in some way or another—often vitally—to the concept of grace. Inspiration, sin, salvation, Christian living, even future things are but a few examples of related doctrines. Furthermore, the concept of grace is the watershed that divides Roman Catholicism from Protestantism, Calvinism from Arminianism, modern liberalism from conservatism.

The Roman Catholic Church holds that grace is mediated through its priests and sacraments, while Protestantism generally does not. Modern liberalism gives an exaggerated place to the abilities of man to decide his own fate and to effect his own salvation entirely apart from God’s grace, while conservatism holds that God’s grace is necessary for salvation. Man is evolving, according to liberalism, into a kind of superman who is coming to the place where he needs no outside help, certainly not the grace of God.

Keeping in mind that Jesus Christ is the manifestation and personification of God’s grace, it is the person and work of Jesus Christ and salvation through Him by grace through faith that distinguishes Christianity. People with no ear for music say that it all sounds the same, but lovers of Bach, Handel, Beethoven, and Brahms know better. So, too, people who lack spiritual concern or factual knowledge or both tell us that the world’s religions are really all the same, and one is as good as another, so that it does not matter which is yours. They also are wrong, however, as Christians clearly see.

The figure of Jesus Christ, as portrayed in the gospel history and shown forth in the rest of the New Testament, is unique. A Man who acted, as Jesus did, like God come in the flesh; who spoke of Himself as the Son of God; who identified Himself as future judge of the world and arbiter of everyone’s destiny; who, after being crucified, came alive from the dead, leaving His tomb and grave clothes empty, and met His disciples again; who, having entered the world by a miraculous conception and birth, and fulfilled in it a miraculous ministry,

even to raising the dead, was seen to leave it by a miraculous ascension; and whose disciples for two thousand years have been sure that He actually shares their life, as they share His; why, no other religious leader, and no other religious experience, has ever been remotely like this! As a faith founded on unique supernatural facts, and as a unique, life-changing relationship with its unique divine Founder, Christianity is truly a unique religion. This fact ought to be beyond dispute.

Nearly two out of three adults contend that the choice of one religious faith over another is irrelevant because all religions teach the same basic lessons about life. But such is not the case. When one compares the record of God’s grace to us in Christ with other religious options, investigate His claims, and assess the historical records, biblical Christianity stands out distinct like a huge diamond on a background of black velvet.

What makes Christianity different from all the other religions of the world? Years ago that very question was discussed at a conference. Some of the participants argued that Christianity is unique in teaching that God became man. But someone objected, saying that other religions teach similar doctrines. What about the resurrection? No, it was argued, other faiths believe that the dead rise again. The discussion grew heated. C. S. Lewis, a strong defender of Christianity, came in late, sat down, and asked, “What’s the rumpus about?” When he learned that it was a debate about the uniqueness of Christianity, he immediately commented, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.” How right he was!

The very heart of the gospel is the supreme truth that God accepts us with no conditions whatever when we put our trust in the atoning sacrifice of His incarnate Son. Although we are helplessly sinful, God in grace forgives us completely. It’s by His infinite grace that we are saved, not by moral character, works of righteousness, commandment-keeping, or churchgoing. When we do nothing else but accept God’s total pardon, we receive the guarantee of eternal life. Good news indeed. What a gospel! What a Savior!

In some ways this has already been stressed by the passage referred to previously, “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Rom. 5:20), but it is such an important truth it deserves separate treatment because many possess erroneous notions about the salvation offered in the New Testament through the person of Christ. Some think they have been so bad that God could never forgive them.

Then, there are those who think that if a person’s sins are bad enough (and everyone has their own idea about what constitutes the truly terrible sins), he or she is cast off from God’s grace and will lose their salvation. So there are two issues here: the first deals with the nature of one’s pre-salvation sins and the effect this could have on salvation, and the second deals with post-salvation sins. In other words, can someone be too bad to be saved, and can someone lose their salvation once truly saved through personal trust in Christ?

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that , while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). When did Christ die for the ungodly? When they were helpless. The book of Romans teaches us that this is not the state of a few, but of all mankind. All have sinned— the immoral, moral, and religious alike no matter how hard they may work at being good (Rom. 3:9-10, 23).

All are dead in sin and without any ability to save themselves (Eph. 2:1f). Second, let’s again look at Paul’s argument in Romans 5:12-21. Here Paul contrasts the universality of sin and the reign of death in the human race with the gift of righteousness through the one act of Christ, i.e., His death on the cross (5:12-17). God’s righteousness or salvation is based on the record of one, the Lord Jesus Christ and not our record. But the point that needs to be made here is on the great problem all people face regardless of the depth of their personal sin, namely, the reign of death in all of mankind.

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” (5:12); “For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” (5:17).

Let us suppose that you have two corpses. Is one more dead than another? Does one need a bigger miracle to be restored to life? Fact is, the good person who lives next to you and the criminal you read about in the newspaper are essentially in the same predicament. Both need the life that only God can give.

Paul’s Own Testimony in 1st Timothy as to His Pre-salvation Condition. 1:12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; 1:13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 1:14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 1:16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting 1:17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Tim. 1:12-17).

From a history of great religious pride and self-trust, cruel brutality, and unbelief, Paul was brought to faith in Christ and transformed into a servant and teacher of the gospel of grace. Paul became a wonderful example of the saving grace and power of the gospel of God’s grace in Christ. Perhaps one of the great lessons here is that no matter how bad people may be, God can save them by His grace which is in Christ Jesus.

But why does Paul call himself the foremost or chief of sinners? Remember, Paul was an extremely religious man, yet he calls himself the chief of sinners. Perhaps he wanted to make a point about self-righteous religious people. The point is that being religious does not exempt us from being terribly sinful with the ability to commit horrible crimes. The religious bigotry and murderous purges in history bear testimony to the atrocities carried out in the name of religion.

POST-SALVATION SINS
There are those who view the loss of a believer’s salvation to be a real possibility for those who fail in a consistent walk with Christ. The questions that come to my mind when I hear this are: Just how consistent must one be to lose their salvation? What sin, or how many sins cause the loss of salvation? Sin—any sin—falls short of the perfect holiness of God. Every person, regardless of their maturity or relationship with the Lord, is far from perfect by God’s standard. We all have things in our lives that fall short of God’s glory, i.e., we are never without personal sin, though some may be unknown.

If we say we have not sinned, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. Where, then, do we draw the line?

Those who believe we can lose our salvation tend to classify sin as though God overlooks some sins while He judges others. It becomes a matter of degrees and the question arises, “Just how bad must we become before we lose our salvation?" Furthermore, if, having put our trust in the person and work of Christ, we can lose our salvation by what we do or do not do, then, in the final analysis, are we saved by works or by our record rather than Christ’s record.

No doubt there are millions who have professed the name of Christ and continue to live in such a way which gives no evidence whatsoever that their profession is real. In fact, a widely reported opinion poll survey indicated that over fifty million people in the United States claim to be born again (George Gallup, Jr. and David Poling, The Search For America’s Faith (Nashville: Abingdon, 1980), p. 92). Surely, if that many people were true “partakers of the divine nature,” the impact on our country would be profound.

There is no doubt that many who profess faith in Christ have never truly and personally trusted in Christ as their Savior. But we must understand that the gospel message is offered unconditionally (i.e. freely) to those who will believe or trust in the person and work of Christ and no amount of failure can remove them from the Father's hand (John 10:29). And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17).

Naturally, this does not mean there are no consequences for sinful behavior. There are consequences for this life (loss of fellowship, divine discipline, loss of fruitfulness, etc.) and for eternity (loss of rewards [see 1 Cor. 3:12-15; 1 John 2:28])—but the loss of salvation is not one of them. Grace Is Always Under Attack. You’d think that everyone would be flocking to accept God’s grace. Not so. There are reasons that the way to life is narrow and “few are those who find it".

Intuitively, we think that we have to have some part in our salvation, to do some work, some deed that will make us worthy of the gift. Some do this by working up a sorrow for sin. Such sorrow is proper and to be expected, but it is not the basis for God’s loving favor toward us. Sorrow does not make us more worthy of God’s grace. It might lead us to cast ourselves upon His grace, but it will never make us more “presentable.” Someone said to me, “When I become older, I will come to God because then I will be less prone to failure.” Whenever you meet a person who talks like that, you know that he has not yet understood grace. He is still thinking that he cannot come to God just as he is.

But the belief that we cannot come to God as we are to receive the free gift of salvation apart from human works is not new, and because of this, grace and the liberty it gives us from legalistic demands has always been under attack. Man has always had a problem with grace and this is quickly seen in the early church in the book of Acts. From the very early days of the church, it has faced the problem of those who wanted to add some form of works to the message of grace. In Acts 15:1 we read these words: “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Verse 5 tells us that these were men from the sect of the Pharisees who had believed. They were members of the church and so, from within its own ranks, a controversy broke out concerning the exact nature and content of the message of the gospel.

As mentioned, the gospel is by nature a God-centered, grace-centered message. As such, it offers salvation as a free gift, a gift without cost, through faith in God’s work through His Son rather than by man’s work whether religious or moral. The nature of the message, the condition of man dead in sin and born spiritually blind, and the activity of Satan make this a difficult message for people to accept. People naturally think they must add something to their salvation for it to be bona fide.

As a result, accusations are regularly leveled against faith alone in Christ alone. It is sometimes called “cheap grace” or “easy believism.” But this is nonsense. The claim of “easy believism,” so often aimed at those who preach “faith alone in Christ alone,” is a misnomer. Simple faith—because it is so contrary to the way people think—is not easy for people who think they must add something to the work of God. Furthermore, salvation in Christ is free, but it’s not cheap. It cost God the death of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thus, the message of salvation as a gift of God’s matchless grace (see Acts 4:3, “the message of His grace”) is described as a treasure or something deposited for safe keeping with which we have been entrusted. Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. (II Tim. 1:13-14).

Here Paul reminds us that this message is both a treasure and a trust. And what is this message? It is the message about the Lord Jesus that brings men into a vital relationship with the eternal God of the universe. Obviously, the message that reconciles us to God (John 14:6; Acts 4:12) and gives us eternal life and life more abundantly (John 10:10) is truly a treasure beyond measure; it is a pearl of great value (Matthew 13:44-46).

The message of the gospel—often called a message of grace— is the most valuable thing a person can possess. But as something so intrinsically valuable, it also needs careful guarding. There were those in the early church who sought to nullify the grace of God by adding some form of human works as a means of either salvation or sanctification. The simple fact is there have always been those who peddle a false gospel seeking to pawn off one of Satan’s many counterfeits on a gullible public.

Our message is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the message of salvation through His person and work. That sounds simple enough, but it is not nearly as simple as it sounds. The simple message, “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved,” has been assaulted from early on. Since the message is crucial to salvation and since anathema is pronounced on those who misrepresent it or change it, we need to know the message and guard it carefully. If we are to be true to the Bible and to the grace of our Lord, we need to be able to share the gospel clearly and avoid the distortions.

Outside the doctrines related to the Person and work of Christ, there is no truth more far-reaching in its implications and no fact more to be defended than that salvation in all its limitless magnitude is secured, so far as human responsibility is concerned, by believing on Christ as Savior. To this one requirement no other obligation may be added without violence to the Scriptures and total disruption of the essential doctrine of salvation by grace alone.

Only ignorance or reprehensible inattention to the structure of a right Soteriology will attempt to intrude some form of human works with its supposed merit into that which, if done at all, must, by the very nature of the case, be wrought by God alone and on the principle of sovereign grace.

As mentioned previously, the marvelous liberty we have in Christ has always been under attack. Either our liberty has been attacked by the legalist who wants to inject some form of works for salvation or for sanctification; or, proceeding down a different road, grace has been perverted by those who want to turn liberty into license and this has played nicely into the hands of those who want to add something to grace.

In a number of places, the New Testament speaks about the believer’s freedom or liberty in Christ, but what exactly does this mean biblically speaking for the Christian? Our ideas about liberty may be skewed by our society. For instance, the first definition given in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition is that liberty is “The condition of being free from restriction or control.” The first definition in Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines liberty “as the quality or state of being free,” but then gives the following as the first sub-definition of liberty, “the power to do as one pleases.” But dictionaries do not provide us with an accurate definition of Christian liberty according to the New Testament.

Liberty is not the power to do as we please or the state of being free from all controls. Speaking from a biblical standpoint, liberty is freedom from slavery and bondage, but included in that is freedom from sin’s penalty and its power to dominate one’s life, and freedom from Satan's power and that of his world system. Rather than the freedom to do as we please, Christian liberty means the power to do as we ought by God’s enablement in accordance with the way Christians have been recreated in Christ.

For instance, a train is free to do all it was designed to do only when it stays on the tracks. True liberty means the freedom to be all that we were designed to be, but this is not a freedom that is without restrictions or responsibilities. Plainly speaking, without law, there could be no freedom. The law of the jungle would prevail. Even free men are bound by certain physical laws like the law of gravity.

The governing factor for Christian freedom is the principle or the law of love as those under the law of Christ, but free from the requirements of the Law for either salvation or for holy living (sanctification). For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm—the only thing that matters is faith working through love.

One dictionary defines legalism as “strict, literal adherence to the law or to a particular code, as of religion or morality.” As just stressed, liberty is not the absence of restrictions or of law. Under liberty, Christians are under the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2) or as Paul defines it elsewhere, “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Ro. 8:2). Just so, legalism does not simply mean the presence of law.

Legalism is an attitude, a mentality based on pride. It is an obsessive conformity to an artificial standard for the purpose of exalting oneself. A legalist assumes the place of authority and pushes it to unwarranted extremes. Legalism may be defined as a “fleshly attitude which conforms to a code for the purpose of exalting self.” The code is whatever objective standard is applicable to the time; the motive is to exalt self and gain merit rather than to glorify God because of what He has done; and the power is the flesh, not the Holy Spirit.

Legalism may produce outward results very similar to true sanctification, for a legalist is not a non-conformist to the code under which he is living. However, such outward results are at best only counterfeits and can never even approximate genuine sanctification as long as the attitude is legalistic.

The New Testament is filled with imperatives for which all Christians are responsible. The issue in obedience is the motive and the means: Why are we obeying these commands and by whose enablement? In so many words, legalism says, “I do this or I don’t do that, and therefore I am pleasing God.” Or “If only I could do this or not do that, I would be pleasing to God.” Or perhaps, “These things that I’m doing or not doing are the things I perform to win God’s favor.”

They aren’t spelled out in Scripture, you understand. They’ve been passed down or they have been dictated to the legalist and have become an obsession to him or her. Legalism is rigid, grim, exacting, and law like in nature. Pride, which is at the heart of legalism, works in sync with other motivating factors. Like guilt. And fear. And shame. It leads to an emphasis on what should not be, and what one should not do. It flourishes in a drab context of negativism.

Basically, license simply means “permission to act” or “freedom of action.” When we receive our driver’s license, we have permission to drive an automobile, but only within or in keeping with the laws of the state. If we are caught breaking those laws, we will more than likely be ticketed and fined. But the term license may also be defined as the absence of due restraint, of freedom that is used irresponsibly, or of the disregard for rules and responsibility.

License is freedom gone awry in the pursuit of self-centered goals or, as Paul put it, freedom used as a means to indulge the flesh (see Gal. 5:13). As seen above, biblical liberty does not promote license but provides the motive and enablement for godly living according to the law of Christ and for the glory of God and the love of others.

In view of man’s condition that all are under sin, not just the immoral, but also the moral and the religious, God’s grace is both amazing and awesome. One reason grace is so amazing to people is their natural bent to work for whatever they get. As previously mentioned, most people have trouble with the idea that grace is something they cannot merit or work for, or that no one deserves God’s blessing in the least. Because of our welfare society this has changed to some degree, but most people still think in terms of working for everything they get and they apply the same principle to spiritual matters.

But we have seen that with God’s grace there are no strings attached. What He gives us comes to us free and clear and this is hard for people to accept. The fundamental reason people have difficulty with this concept is that we are born spiritually blind. Indeed, before salvation we face a double blindness. Because we are born spiritually dead and with that there is a natural blindness or darkened understanding. However, we also face the added blindness caused by Satan’s deception and this especially applies to understanding our own condition and our need of the redemptive work of Christ.

Because of this spiritual blindness, people naturally think in terms of meriting God’s blessing. As previously discussed, with the exception of biblical Christianity, if we look deep enough into every other religion of the world we will find that salvation is based on some kind of religious works designed to gain the blessing of God.

This blindness or darkened understanding leads to two common errors. First, people fail to see the depth of their sinfulness and so overestimate their ability. Second, because they do not truly know God, they underestimate the impact of God’s holiness on their spiritual condition and need. As a result, they operate from a skewed perspective of both God and man. We see shades of goodness and badness, and as long as we compare ourselves to others, we can be quite confident that we are worthy of God’s love and forgiveness.

We’ve all had that satisfied feeling that comes from doing our “good deed for the day.” When we go the extra mile by taking care of our neighbor’s children, giving some money to charity, or making an honest deal, we feel smug about our goodness. And when we pick up the newspaper and read about those who kill and steal, we feel pride at how different (and better) we really are. We might even think about how much better the world would be if everyone were just like us.

But such ideas are contrary to the revelation of God in Scripture. According to the Bible, we all fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Thus, in view of God’s perfect holiness and what sinful people deserve from God (His wrath and eternal judgment) and in view of the futility of our works, grace becomes absolutely amazing. The word amazing means “to effect great wonder, to astonish.”

Some synonyms are “mind-boggling, mind-staggering, surprising.” It is no wonder that mankind has trouble with grace because it is simply not something that we expect. It boggles the mind and catches us totally off guard because we naturally think we must do something or have some part in our salvation that will make us worthy. This may take a number of forms—salvation by religious good works, some form of mysticism, some form of religious ritual, or simply by trying to be a good moral person.

The straight gate is the way of grace which is by the gift of salvation through faith in Christ. The wide and spacious gate refers to the variegated paths by which people, rejecting God’s one way through faith in Christ, seek to climb the ladder into God’s blessing.

Again, it should be stressed that man’s difficulty with accepting salvation as a matter of God’s grace, as a free and unmerited favor from God, is one of the reasons that grace has always been under attack since the very early days of the church. Several of the epistles of the New Testament are written, at least in part, to protect the amazing truth of God’s grace to us in Christ (Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Hebrews are illustrations).

A beautiful illustration of the amazing aspect of God’s grace is seen in the experience of Isaiah the prophet. As a religious Jew, Isaiah would undoubtedly have been considered a moral and good man. But Isaiah the prophet recorded a vision he was given in which he saw the Lord high and exalted. The immediate result of this holy scene was the impact on Isaiah’s view of himself and of his nation. He wrote, “Woe is me, for I am undone!

Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:5) Having seen God’s awesome holiness, he could see nothing but his own sinfulness and impossible state—at least from the standpoint of his own worthiness to have fellowship with God.

In the word amazing we have the element of surprise, of seeing that which is mind boggling and beyond our imagination. But in the word awesome we have a different element of response. We have that which inspires awe or reverence because of the awesomeness of what God has done. Psalm 103:8-12 illustrates this in praise to God’s grace.

"The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plentious in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He has not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

God’s grace to us in the merit of Christ will lead us to stand in awe before God because of what He has freely done for us in Christ. This element is seen in Paul’s outburst of praise in 2 Corinthians 9:15, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” This statement, a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, describes Him as God’s “unspeakable gift.” First, He is described as a “gift,” as something man cannot work for, but second, the gift is called “unspeakable.”

The Greek word here is an-ek-di-e„ge„tos. It is used only here in the New Testament and it is a quadruple compound word (ultimately derived from four Greek words, three prepositions and one noun) which shows something of the intensity of the word and of Paul’s expression. An-ek-di-e„ge„tos came from the verb ek-di-e„geomai, “to tell in detail, relate, declare fully.” The prefixed an is an alpha negative and negates the basic meaning of the word as with our terms moral and amoral. The point is clear: words, no matter how hard man may try, simply fail to adequately describe or explain the awesomeness of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.

God’s grace makes the promise of salvation certain because it is not dependent on us or our record but on God’s grace as manifested in the person and work of Jesus Christ. For this reason it is by faith that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain. Whatever Adam’s sin has brought to the human race (spiritual death, domination by sin, and ultimately eternal death or separation from God), God’s grace has brought much more. It has brought the gift of righteousness, a righteousness given by God to believers. This gift of righteousness means also the gift of eternal life both now and in eternity.

It loudly proclaims that no sinner, whether a mystic aspiring to direct contact with God or a legalist counting on his good works to approve him in God’s sight, is able in his own way to find acceptance with God. Because another man, Adam, has intervened between him and the Creator, still another, even Jesus Christ, must be the medium of his return as a sinner to a righteous God. No matter how much sin has impacted the human race and no matter how much we may sin, even as Christians, grace has abounded beyond our sin through the merit of the person and work of the Savior. How absolutely remarkable!! Like a huge mountain range rising up in the distance and towering above the surrounding hills, so God’s grace rises above our sin. Where sin abounds, grace much more abounds!

After the apostle had reviewed his ministry in Asia and given instructions to the elders of Ephesus, whom he had called to meet him at Miletus, he gave them the following words of wisdom that I pray we may all give heed to: "And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." (Acts 20:32)