God’s Magnificient but Misapplied Grace
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) | Categories: Salvation, Grace, Genesis, Titus
The grace of God is what allows us to have fellowship with, and ultimately salvation in, Him. But as wonderfully magnificent as God’s grace is, we have problems with it- two problems actually.
We sometimes refuse to accept God’s grace where He says that He will apply it. When we meet the conditions of grace, and there are conditions as will be shown below, we should have no problem accepting the application of it to our souls. In other words, if God’s word says that He will forgive us by grace when we meet His terms, and we do so, then we should be able to forgive ourselves because He has forgiven us! That’s the first common problem we have with God’s grace: refusing to accept and apply it where He does.
The second problem we commonly have with God’s grace is on the opposite side of the coin. Some of us want God to apply it where He never promised that He would. Certainly, all who are saved are so by the grace of God, Ephesians 2:1-10. But how is this accomplished? Exactly what must take place in our lives for God’s grace to save us?
Let’s allow the Bible to speak for itself. The biblical record says that the ancient world had become so wicked that God decided to completely destroy mankind, Genesis 6:1-7. Then v.8 records, “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” The Hebrew word (chen), translated as “favor,” is the O.T. equivalent of the N.T. word “grace” (charis). What this means is that Noah was shown “grace” by God. Why? The next verse reveals the answer, “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9) Noah’s faith and dedication to God allowed for grace to be extended to him.
Here’s the BIG question: How did God apply grace to Noah? “He saved him” is the right answer, but HOW God saved Noah is vital to our understanding of the application of grace. Did God just pick up Noah, his family, and all the animals and hold them in His hand while the flood destroyed everyone/thing else? Hardly! Instead, Noah was given instructions on how to build ark, required to gather all the materials and build it, then fill it with animals and provisions, enter it, and stay in it for over a year, cf. Genesis 7-9. Sounds like “work” to me- but Noah found favor/grace by God. Here’s the key: God’s grace never has and never will remove our responsibility to be obedient to what He says we must do in order to receive it. Noah “found grace in the eyes of the Lord,” but only received the benefits of that grace when he did everything that God told him to do, 6:22. What we do in meeting God’s conditions for the reception of His grace in no way compares in value to what we receive- salvation; that’s why it is called “grace” (undeserved merit or favor)!
Now let’s bring all of this forward. How does God’s grace save us? Titus 2:11 says, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men…” In what form does that grace appear? Read the continuation of the sentence in the next verse, “instructing us to deny worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in this present age…” Question: Will all men be saved? Answer: No, Matthew 7:13-14. But why not, if salvation is wholly dependent upon God’s grace with no mixture whatsoever of man’s faithful works? We just read that “The grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all men”. God’s grace brought salvation to all men in the form of “instructions”- just like it did in the days of Noah. If you obey the instructions, God’s grace is applied to you in salvation. If you disobey the instructions, you will be just as lost as all of those who refused the preaching of Noah and were destroyed in the flood, 1Peter 3:20-21; 2Peter 2:5.
Are we “saved by grace”? Absolutely! But that grace is applied through instructions which must be obeyed. It was so for Noah, and it so for us. On Pentecost in Acts 2, those who came to believe in Jesus whom they had crucified asked, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” They were not told what to think, feel, or believe- they were told what todo: “Repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins…” (Acts 2:38) They too were given instructions that had to be followed in order to receive the benefits of God’s grace.
Let’s learn not to refuse to apply God’s grace where He has promised to apply it, and let’s also learn not apply God’s grace where He never promised that He would.