The Inconvenience of Grace

If there is one great casualty in the war for the hearts of God’s people, it is a proper understanding of Biblical terminology. Satan is a master at exploiting our thoughts and separating us from a proper understanding of such concepts as faith, love, and grace. At some point in the fight we allowed our understanding of grace to be affected by something other than God’s Word. I have seen this demonstrated so vividly in some churches where grace becomes a great inconvenience.

Now before you reach for the tar and feathers, hear me out. Grace as defined in the context of salvation is alive and well in all of but the most liberal of churches (most of whom would write us off based on our core beliefs). The aspect of grace that I see as being omitted or inconvenient in many ministries across this country is that which should play a prominent role in the work of sanctification. The phrase that best typifies this aspect of grace is, “this church really practices an environment of grace.”

If you are unsure of what I am referring to, let me list a few distinguishing characteristics of churches that practice an “environment of grace.”

1.) A recognition of God’s sovereignty – Isaiah 40:10-28

2.) A recognition that every good thing that happens in ministry is a result of His unmerited favor – James 1:16-18

3.) A recognition that the unmerited favor God shows us must be in turn shown to those around us – Col 4:2-6

So then a church that practices an environment of grace doesn’t focus itself on numbers games, gimmicks, high-pressure altar calls, or motivation by guilt. A church that practices an environment of grace seeks to motivate its people with the Word of God, through the Spirit of God, while demonstrating the Love of God. Show me a church like that and I will show you a church that can make the "enemy of our souls tremble".

“Grace binds you with far stronger cords than the cords of duty or obligation can bind you. Grace is free, but when once you take it, you are bound forever to the Giver and bound to catch the spirit of the Giver. Like produces like. Grace makes you gracious, the Giver makes you give.”
-E. Stanley Jones