Dr Andrew Corbett's Christian Thinking Resources

TOO MUCH GRACE?

By Andrew Corbett

Has grace gone mad in the Church? In George Barna’s book Generation Next, he cites a report showing that Christian teenagers are just as likely to cheat on an exam as a non-Christian; just as likely to get pregnant before marrying as a non-Christian; just as likely to steal as a non-Christian, and that when asked, non-Christian youth could see no difference between them and Christian youth! In the USA now, divorces among Christians now exceed divorces among non-Christians! I recently heard that the highest demographic of abortionists (that is, those who had had an abortion) were actually young, single, Christian girls. We now live in a strange world where grace has never been more misunderstood, both by the ungracious, and the licentious.

Is it possible to have too much grace? No. But grace is not a licence to live as we please. Grace is unique to Christianity. It is also what makes Christianity so unique. These are two separate and profound statements. The New Testament tells us that grace and truth are fully expressed in one person: Jesus.

(John 1:17 NIV) For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Grace is not forgetting rules or laws. It is overlooking violations of such laws or rules, delaying any retribution, and the giving of something for free. Mercy, a closely associated word to grace, is the cancellation of deserved retribution. But whether someone receives grace or mercy, one thing remains unchanged: consequences.

“How could you God!” screamed the young newly pregnant girl, “How could you let this happen to me!?” The sad fact for this young Christian girl is that when she asked God for forgiveness and mercy for her act of illicit sexual activity, she got it. This, of course is not sad, but her expectation that God would not let her get pregnant was. Sin can be erased. Consequences abide.

In the Hymn Amazing Grace there’s the line: ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear… Grace should not fool us into thinking that we can wilfully sin and demand our right to be forgiven. Rather because grace cost Christ His life and He died so we could free from sin, and the consequences of sin abide, we should fear God even more.

It is not ungracious to uphold the laws of God. Grace is not the absence of Law. Falling from grace is not what happens when a person sins, it is what happens when a person falls into legalism. When we understand that God’s Laws are not His suggestions or even His rules, but His revealed Laws, we appreciate that sin carries consequences. At least the thought of sin’s consequences should cause us to be sincerely appreciative of God’s grace toward us.