SOME CHRISTIANS MISS 2/3 OF THE DEFINITION OF THIS WORD
Many words have multiple meanings, depending on circumstances or applications. For example, the verb “fight” can mean:
1. To endeavor to accomplish a particular goal
2. To strive to conquer an obstacle
3. To get into a physical altercation
4. To get into a serious argument
Christians have many words that are central to our faith, but we sometimes miss their full significance or misapply some of them. One word in particular that many people only partially grasp is the word “grace.” There are at least three practical, real-world meanings of this word in a Christian context.
Meaning 1
Grace is the basis of your forgiveness of sin and establishing a relationship with God. Ephesians 2:8-9, explains: “By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
This is the heart of the gospel. Because of my sin, I am separated from God, but Jesus died to take on himself the penalty I deserve. I can’t do anything to earn that forgiveness but instead must accept this gift graciously given by God.
Meaning 2
Grace is also the basis of your continued relationship with God after you have come to know Jesus. Understanding this aspect is a bit more dicey. The Bible teaches over and over that behavior matters. For example, Peter reminds us of God’s admonition from Leviticus 11:44: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). And Jesus says, “If you love me, keep my commands” (John 14:15), the summary of which is loving God and loving your neighbor. (Matthew 22:37-40). This includes placing God first in your life, avoiding sinful behavior, acting ethically, caring for others’ needs, and many other things.
Of course, no one ever does this perfectly. If a relationship with God were based on living flawlessly, we’d all be in trouble.
But think of it this way. Jesus obviously died centuries before you were born, so from his perspective, all your sins were future, even the ones you haven’t “gotten to” yet. So, if you’ve asked him to forgive your sins on the basis of his death for you, he forgave them. All of them.
You can over-focus on the Bible’s behavioral requirements to the point that you lose sight of this second aspect of grace. This error can show itself in one of two ways:
1. You begin defining what it means to love God and your neighbors in very, very specific ways, many of which could be culturally defined and, frankly, ludicrous. Just two examples.
a. I know a church that urges that, if you are at a reception or dinner party, you should drink only water instead of Coke. Otherwise, someone might see your glass of brown liquid and assume you have rum mixed in with your Coke. My smart-guy response to that is that, just like water, vodka is clear. So why wouldn’t someone assume my clear liquid is vodka?
b. I recently heard of a family that banished Lucky Charms cereal because buying it would imply they’re appealing to luck instead of trusting God.
This is legalism at its worst. In your zeal to please God, you must be hyper-careful to not create bizarre rules that often reflect personal opinions and preferences more than reasonable applications of what it looks like to honor God.
2. If you forget that your relationship with God is only possible because Jesus died to take the penalty for your sin, you begin believing that for the rest of your life you must constantly be doing something to keep God loving you. Wrong! Paul wrote a letter to the church in Galatia to correct their thinking that they had to keep the law as the basis of their continuing standing before God. “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” (Galatians 3:2-3).
Let me repeat: your behavior is important, but don’t fall into the trap of thinking that God will reject you if you fail to live a perfect life, especially if you’ve developed some whacky ideas of what Christians should or shouldn’t do.
So these are two definitions or applications of “grace.” There’s a third one that I’ll address next time.