God dispenses gifts, not wages. None of us gets paid according to merit, for none of us comes close to satisfying God’s requirements for a perfect life. If paid on the basis of fairness, we would all end up in hell… In the bottom line realm of ungrace, some workers deserve more than others; in the realm of grace the word ‘deserve’ does not even apply.
What’s So Amazing About Grace? Zondervan, 1997
I enjoyed your post “The Unfairness of Grace” – Thanks.
Just wondering if you’ve checked out http://www.gci.org – under the Media tab – click on “You’re Included” – there are video interviews from Grace Preachers like: C.Baxter Kruger, Steve McVey, David Torrance, Elmer Colyer, Jeff McSwain and many, many others. I think you’ll like it.
The Bible certainly makes it clear we are saved by grace alone through faith (living faith) in Jesus. However, the Bible also makes it clear we are rewarded according to our works. Many in the church seem to place little or no emphasis on works or obedience as if they are something only a legalist is concern about. I guess Jesus was a legalist because he perfectly kept His Fathers commandments and will. God forbid we should strive to do the same or teach followers of Jesus to do likewis or to teach them what is sinful. I say strive because unlike Jesus we can’t perfectly obey God. We should feel bad about our sins and strive with God’s help to stop doing what caused the death of our savior. Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in adultery but He did tell her to go and sin no more. Jesus said if we love Him we will keep his teachings and commandments. Many teachers of grace ignore or place very little emphasis on these scriptures.The epistle of John makes it clear if we are truly born of God we will be a changed person and though we will sin it will not be our way of life, but we will conform to God’s instruction on living as He wills we live. Again why is it so many of the grace writers omit many of the scriptures that deal with obedience and turning from sin? Just as the Bible cautions us about legalism it also cautions us about turning grace into something that encourages license to sin. The book of Jude is a dire warning to those who do misrepresent grace. We should thank God daily for His grace and for His wonderful teaching and commandment that are the way we all should truly desire to live.
Since I am one of the grace preachers you allude to, Jim, I will attempt to answer your questions. Why do I place little emphasis on turning from sin? For 3 reasons you can read about here. Why was the Lord of Grace also the Keeper of the Law? Read this. Why is it a very bad idea to tell people to do everything Jesus said? Read this. Why do grace preachers rarely mention scriptures about obeying Jesus? Actually, we mention these scriptures a lot. Start here then go here.
Now some questions for you. How can you condemn and preach “feel bad about your sins” to those whom Christ justifies (Rom 8:34)? How can you tell us to strive for this and that when the only thing the NT says we are to strive towards is His rest (Heb 4:11)? How can you preach works when the only work Jesus identified was to believe in him (John 6:29?