So far, we have spoken of two main characteristics of those who are ‘People of Grace’: They are those who…
Know there is grace to be had…
Are seeking grace enthusiastically (not afraid to ask)…
And today, we move on to another very important characteristic of those known as a ‘People of Grace.’ Let’s see if we can pick up on it, as we listen to the Apostle Peter and his attitude toward what God and his Son, Jesus, had done in his life (2 Peter 3:1-18, NLT)…
This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory. 2 I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles. 3 Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires.
4 They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.” 5 They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. 6 Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. 7 And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.
8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake [italics mine]. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. 11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, 12 looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. 15 And remember, the Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved [italics mine]. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him—16 speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.
17 I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends. Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. 18 Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ [italics mine]. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen. – 2 Peter 3:1-18 (NLT)
It would be so easy to continue speaking of God’s grace as a gift, just sharing the ‘fluffy’ part of this theology. But, we need to develop a balanced view of grace, if we want our theology to be healthy. So, what we’re going to look at today is extremely important, because an overemphasis on grace to the exclusion of other truths can lead to serious misunderstandings. As it has been stated: “…truth not held in conjunction with other equally important truths can quickly become error.” And so it is if there’s an overemphasis on grace, at the exclusion of God’s holiness or righteousness, for instance…
A counselor once recalled talking to a young married man who was involved in an extramarital affair. When challenged, the young man responded: ‘I know I’m wrong to continue my affair, but you’re wrong to insist I end it. God doesn’t want me to continue it, I know, but He’ll forgive me. I sense only judgment from you. God is a God of grace.’
This attitude seems to have to do with the ‘attitude of entitlement’ that I see so often in this country in particular. But, folks, the truth is that Christians who hold this view—that although God wants us to obey His commands it doesn’t matter too much if we disregard them—will have to face the many and varied consequences of their actions at some point in time.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who was executed by the Nazis just before the end of World War II, coined a phrase for this view of grace – he called it ‘cheap grace.’ He described it as cheap because ‘it does not consider what it cost God to make it available to us.’ And what did it cost? ‘The humiliation, death, and resurrection of His only Son… You might say it cost God everything! So, this is the characteristic of a ‘People of Grace’ that we come to today…
PEOPLE OF GRACE UNDERSTAND THAT THOUGH GRACE IS FREE, IT IS NOT CHEAP!
In Decision magazine some time ago, Karen Morerod wrote about shopping in a store for a sweater. She was looking for one at minimal cost, so she went to the clearance rack. As she flipped through the sweaters, one caught her eye. It was the right color and the right size, and best of all, the price tag was marked $8.00. Without much more thought, Karen made her purchase.
At home she slipped on the sweater. Its texture was like silk. She had made her purchase so quickly that she hadn’t noticed how smooth and elegant the sweater was. Then she saw the original price tag: $124.00!
Karen writes, “I gasped. I had never owned any clothing of that value. I had come home with what I thought was a ‘cheap buy,’ but the original price was quite high. I had been oblivious to its value.”
Then Karen concludes her article with these words: “Just as with my sweater, I have often treated the power of Jesus’ blood like a ‘cheap purchase.’ [God’s] grace, though free to me, carried a high price tag – the life of his very own Son.” My friends, when we realize the price God paid to set us free from a wasted life, we can’t help but want to live lives worthy of such love…
I sure agree. Don’t you? When we come to realize just how huge GRACE really is—how valuable it is, how much it cost God, my prayer is that we won’t be able to help ourselves … in living lives worthy of such love—lives of obedience…
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve kind of ended my meditations on grace in the same way. Today is no exception. So, let me say this again, as we learn that grace is not something that should ever be stagnant in our lives…
PEOPLE OF GRACE ARE THOSE WHO KNOW MANY TRUTHS ABOUT GOD’S GRACE IN ORDER TO GROW… So, here’s another truth to consider, in light of what’s been said today: God’s grace could also be considered cheap … if we don’t take it seriously enough to want to grow in our knowledge of and application of it in our lives…
I’m a pretty technically minded guy, and I like gadgets as much as the next person. But sometimes I get frustrated with the technology that has sprung up around cell phones. They make me feel positively old-fashioned. Maybe it’s just that when I hear the word phone, I assume that the primary purpose of the device is to allow me to make and receive phone calls. Somewhere along the way, however, cell phone manufacturers have reduced the telephone aspect of their product to one feature among many. My smart phone can do just about everything, including making dinner, but sometimes I can’t wait until I retire so that I can get on eBay, find one of those antique flip-phones, and just use that to make or receive phone calls…
I’m a bit of a purist I guess, and in frustration, I’m sometimes just not that motivated to find out how all the bells and whistles work. I’m sure I could get a lot more out of the phone if I’d apply myself to learning and using all of its features.
So, why am I talking about my relationship to my phone? Well, a lot of Christians respond the same way when it comes to God’s grace. They perceive grace as what saved them (what they perceive as the ‘original function’) and that’s pretty much it. And just as I could get more out of my phone if I put any effort forth, the average Christian could have a much more rich experience of God’s grace if they understood it better and availed themselves of it. So, let’s get at it, shall we? Again, God’s grace could be considered cheap … if we don’t take it seriously enough to want to grow in our knowledge of and application of it in our lives…
So, what is our view of God’s grace? Is it God’s idea of grace? Or would it be what Bonhoeffer described as ‘cheap grace’?
One of our greatest weaknesses today—as the Church—is that very few of us recognize God’s incompatibility with sin. The picture many have, nowadays, is of someone who is so kind and considerate that He overlooks our moral indiscretions and encourages us to try harder next time so as not to fail. Instead of starting (as Billy Graham would) with the unpalatable truth that ‘we’ve all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God’ (Rom. 3:23), many preachers today tend to start with news that’s much easier to bear—that God forgives all sin and is willing to receive us into heaven providing we submit to Jesus, His Son. But, that’s not how John Wesley preached! Much like Billy Graham, Wesley preached in this way: ‘First,’ he said, ‘I present the law, then I sprinkle it with grace.’ Notice how Paul addresses the Romans in a similar way, that God and sin are incompatible. And last but not least…
All you have to do is look back to our scripture for today, and Peter’s attitude toward what God and his Son, Jesus, had done in his life to see this: The more clearly we understand God’s holiness and righteousness, and the more we consider how insistent God is in His word that we live as holy and righteous people, the more amazing is the whole concept of grace…
Do you remember the NT story (John 8) where Jesus came upon a prostitute about ready to be stoned to death by some religious leaders and others because of the life she’d led and some things she’d been involved in? They tried to trap Jesus, of course, but he simply knelt down and wrote in the dirt … and one by one the accusers all went away. Now, scripture doesn’t tell us what Jesus wrote, but I can just imagine he may have been listing some of the sins of those who were present and accusing that day. And they left… And do you remember what he said to the prostitute? He said, “Woman, where are your accusers?” They were no long there and no longer accusing her, so Jesus said to her, “And neither do I accuse you. You are forgiven [saving grace]!” But the story does not stop there. Jesus went on to say, “Now, go and sin no more [sustaining grace]!”
Jesus wasn’t just joking with this prostitute on that day. What he was telling here was for real—real grace being offered. He was telling her that she could now go live a righteous life … with his help. He would walk with her (in spirit) and give her the grace she needed to … sin no more! Isn’t that exciting?
Dr. Larry Crabb once said, “The idea of ‘cheap grace’ develops when we talk about grace … before we tremble at God’s holiness.” Folks, never, never, never forget … who it is doing the offering. It’s none other than God’s Grace being offered to us—the holy, righteous, God of the universe. Keep that in mind, as you celebrate God’s grace in your life…
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