Why I Love the Message of Grace

It was John Newton, the former slave trader and the author of “Amazing Grace,” who penned the famous words, “How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.” I can relate to that personally, and that’s one reason I’m so jealous for the unadulterated grace of God, for grace without mixture, grace without leaven, grace without exaggeration.

On Dec. 17, 1971, the revelation of God’s love so flooded my heart that I told the Lord I would never put a needle in my arm again, and I was free from that moment on. No more heroin. No more speed. No more addiction to the needle. No more hallucinogenic drugs. Jesus truly delivered me!

For the previous six weeks there had been a tremendous battle in my soul—beginning Nov. 12, 1971, when I first believed that Jesus died for my sins, which was a major breakthrough for a 16 year-old, rebellious, proud, Jewish rock drummer. Prior to that, I had mocked the message of the gospel and boasted about my sin, but as the believers in a little Italian Pentecostal Church in Queens, N.Y. prayed for me, the Holy Spirit began to convict me (although I had no idea they were praying for me), and I knew something was terribly wrong with my life.

Then, after the light went on in my heart in November, I wrestled with God, shooting heroin one day and going to church the next, until that memorable service on Dec. 17. As the pastor’s wife played the piano and we sang the old hymns—hymns which sounded like little ditties to me compared to the Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix music I listened to day and night—I became overwhelmed by the joy of the Lord and received a dramatic revelation.

I saw myself filthy from head to toe, and then I saw myself washed cleaned with the blood of Jesus and clothed with beautiful white robes, only to go back and play in the mud. I was spurning God’s love, a love that was poured out on me when I was a filthy, godless sinner. I was mocking the blood of Jesus, blood that was shed for me when I was stealing money from my own father and bragging about how deceitful I could be.

At that moment, God’s goodness exposed my badness, and I surrendered my life to the Lord and said goodbye to the life I had been living. And it was not hard to make the radical break. What a Savior!

That was more than 41 years ago, and I can honestly say that I have experienced more of God’s grace as a believer than as a lost sinner. Every day of my life, I am cleansed from the defilement of the world by the blood of Jesus, even as I walk in the light (see 1 John 1:7). And when I have disappointed the Lord and grieved His Spirit (see Eph. 4:30), the moment I turn to him in repentance, he forgives and forgets my sins (see Mic. 7:17-19). What a gracious God!

But there’s still more. Every day of my life, I am empowered to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law by God’s grace (see Rom. 8:1-4; Titus 2:11-15). As Pastor David Wilkerson said, “According to Paul, we are not walking in grace until we have broken from worldly corruptions. Unless we are endeavoring through the power of the Holy Spirit to lead godly and righteous lives ... we do not know God’s grace.”

And that’s why I’m so jealous for the true message of grace. There are heretical “grace” teachers who exaggerate God’s grace, claiming that everyone will be saved in the end. And there are sincere, godly hyper-grace preachers who add mixture to God’s grace, claiming that if you ask God to forgive you when you sin as a believer, you are committing the sin of unbelief (really!).

Some of these teachers will even tell you exactly how you should express yourself to God, suggesting the right words to use to be sure you don’t say, “Father, forgive me,” since hyper-grace teachers believe the moment you get saved, God pronounces your future sins forgiven along with your past and present sins.

To me, when a preacher tells me what words to use in prayer and tells me it’s a sin to ask God to forgive me, he is mixing grace with legalism, forgetting the fact that we have a wonderful, intimate relationship with our heavenly Father who is more concerned with the condition of our hearts than with our religious formulas. And although my hyper-grace colleagues emphasize that God is always happy with us and pleased with us, as a righteous child of the Father, I have no problem saying, “Lord, I’m sorry for displeasing you. Wash me clean with the blood of Jesus, and forgive me.”

And when I say those words to the Lord, the blood that was shed on the cross is applied afresh to my heart, and that’s one reason why I live in 24/7 assurance of the Father’s love for me, condemnation free (always, without exception, for decades), eager to find out what pleases the Lord (see Eph. 5:10).

The hyper-grace message, which tells me that nothing I do will ever displease the Lord, which claims that I’m committing the sin of unbelief if I ask Abba to forgive me, and which is so quick to brand those outside of its camp as “law-keepers” and “Pharisees,” pollutes something very dear to my heart, and that’s why I continue to contend for grace without mixture.

Michael Brown is the author of The Real Kosher Jesus and the host of the nationally syndicated talk radio show The Line of Fire on the Salem Radio Network. He is also president of FIRE School of Ministry and director of the Coalition of Conscience. Follow him at AskDrBrown on Facebook or @drmichaellbrown on Twitter.

Erroneous Teaching Disguised As Grace

A strange teaching has crept into the Church, teaching that you are totally depraved, so much so that even after you have been Born Again, you are totally helpless in obeying God.

This erroneous teaching is disguised as 'Grace' because it departs from the 'Grace' taught in the Bible. It actually nullifies the true Grace of God by stating that you have to perpetually look back at Calvary Cross for your justification. The popular understanding is that since Jesus died for all your sins (past, present and future), you therefore have no need to confess or repent of any sins any more.

Some, who receive such teaching, are glad that they do not need to be accountable for any of their present or future sins and live with gratitude. They still make mistakes and so on, but generally they live a holy life. Chances are these people have been living under such heavy doses of guilt teachings meted out to them in their former churches. Therefore, this type of 'Grace' message is a welcome relief. One lady told me that for the first time, she has been truly liberated.

Others, on the other hand, take the liberty in this doctrine and live carelessly. The logic is that "since I am no longer accountable for my present or future sins, then I can live however I like, as long as I 'believe' that Christ is doing the obeying for me".

The first group lives in gratitude but not a life empowerd by the grace of God. The idea is "I am happy that I need to do nothing to please God because God is never pleased with what I do any way. He is only pleased with the works of Christ. As I am not an ungrateful person and so I live a life of gratitude."

The second group lives in ingratitude, thinking that the grace of God should be large enough to encompass their ingratitude and unfaithfulness. They are considered 'disciples of Christ' because Christ is obeying for them and they never need to obey any more. Any way, even if they were to obey, God will not consider their obedience as anything worthwhile to look at... because it is 'filthy rag'.

This type of belief is called Progressive Justification. It means that you are still depraved and still living under the Law. That is why you need Christ to obey for you all the time. It is not a Grace that sets you free that you can now be able to bear fruits and be responsible for your life living within the powerful Grace of God. It is definitely not the life described by our Lord in John 8:36, "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

The Bible says that you have been justified once and for all. The finished work of Christ at Calvary is effective enough to justify you before God. You do not need to be justified again and again. You are free! He has set you free from the Law. You do not need to go back to the Gospel again and again. The Gospel or Good News is for those who do not know Christ. It is not for you because you have already received the Good News.

The process of sanctification is the result of that one-time justification at Calvary. It is your growing process in the grace of God. You grow daily to become more and more like Christ! This is called 'Discipleship'! It is spiritual growth that relies upon the Holy Spirit. Remember, Jesus gave you the Holy Spirit for a reason. The Holy Spirit is God's grace extended to help you in the process of sanctification. Read Ephesians 4 and it will become clear that after you have been saved, you still need the instruction for Christian living.

God has accepted and saved you as who you were and He is now transforming you to become like His Son, Jesus Christ. Daily, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, help you to grow stronger in faith, holiness and Christian character.

And finally, take heed to the instruction given by the Apostle Peter:
Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
2 Peter 3:17 -18

Article by Albert Kang

What Are The Doctrines of Grace?

John Calvin

The recent raves about "Radical Grace" have produced many adherents. Some of the authors and proponents of this belief claim nothing less than divine provision of this 'new' concept.  The truth is that there is nothing new about the so-called "Radical Grace". It is just the adaptation of Calvinism or what is now known as "Doctrines of Grace". 

Rev Albert Kang

The phrase “doctrines of grace” is used as a replacement for the term “Calvinism,” in order to remove the attention from John Calvin and instead focus on how the specific points are biblically and theologically sound. The phrase “doctrines of grace” describes the soteriological doctrines that are unique to Reformed Theology, which is Calvinistic. These doctrines are summarized with the acronym TULIP. The T in TULIP stands for Total Depravity, U for Unconditional Election, L for Limited Atonement, I for Irresistible Grace, and P for Perseverance of the Saints.

Reformed Christians believe that all five of the doctrines of grace are derived directly from the Scripture and that the acronym TULIP accurately describes the Bible's teaching on soteriology—the doctrine of salvation. The following is a brief description of each of the letters in the acronym TULIP.

Total Depravity - As a result of Adam’s fall, the entire human race is affected; all of Adam’s descendants are spiritually dead in their trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1, 5). Calvinists are quick to point out that this does not mean that all people are as bad as they could be. Rather, this doctrine says that, as a result of man's fall in Adam, all people are radically depraved from the inside and that their depravity affects every area of one’s life.

Unconditional Election - Because man is dead in sin, he is unable (and stubbornly unwilling) to initiate a saving response to God. In light of this, God, from eternity past, mercifully elected a particular people unto salvation (Ephesians 1:4-6). These people are comprised of men and women from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation (Revelation 5:9). Election and predestination are unconditional; they are not contingent on man’s response to God’s grace (Romans 8:29-30, 9:11; Ephesians 1:11-12) because man, in his fallen state, is both unable and unwilling to respond favorably to Christ’s offer of salvation.

Limited Atonement - The purpose of Christ's atoning death was not to merely make men savable and thus leaving the salvation of humanity contingent on man's response to God's grace. Rather, the purpose of the atonement was to secure the redemption of a particular people (Ephesians 1:4-6; John 17:9). All whom God has elected and Christ died for will be saved (John 6:37-40, 44). Many Reformed Christians prefer the term “particular redemption” as they feel that this phrase more accurately captures the essence of this doctrine. It is not so much that Christ's atonement is limited as it is particular, intended for a specific people—God's elect.

Irresistible Grace – God has elected a particular people to be the recipients of Christ’s atoning work. These people are drawn to Christ by a grace that is irresistible. When God calls, man responds (John 6:37, 44; 10:16). This teaching does not mean that God saves men against their will. Rather, God changes the heart of the rebellious unbeliever so that he now desires to repent and be saved. God’s elect will be drawn to Him, and that grace that draws them is, in fact, irresistible. God replaces the unbeliever’s heart of stone with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). In Reformed theology, regeneration precedes faith.

Perseverance of the Saints - The particular people God has elected and drawn to Himself through the Holy Spirit will persevere in faith. None of those whom God has elected will be lost; they are eternally secure in Him (John 10:27-29; Romans 8:29-30; Ephesians 1:3-14). Some Reformed theologians prefer to use the term “Preservation of the Saints” as they believe that this choice of words more accurately describes how God is directly responsible for the preservation of His elect. It is clear in Scripture that Christ continues to intercede for His people (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25). This continues to provide believers with the assurance that those that belong to Christ are eternally His.

These five doctrines together form the doctrines of grace, so called because they summarize the salvation experience as the result of the grace of God, who acts independently of man’s will. No effort or act of man can add to the grace of God to bring about the redemption of the soul. For truly it is “by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Source:http://www.gotquestions.org/doctrines-of-grace.html

Recommended Resource: Chosen But Free, revised edition: A Balanced View of God's Sovereignty and Free Will by Norm Geisler and The Potter's Freedom by James White.