Many people would say that grace is the most important doctrine of the Christian faith, in fact, it even defines the very essence of the faith. Grace is the gift of salvation from God in Christ that we cannot earn ourselves. But is grace a free gift or does it cost something? I believe grace is free in that mankind cannot earn it, but it is not free in at least three other aspects.
Grace is not free in respect to what it cost Jesus to accomplish. As the second Person of the Godhead, Christ had to become a man and come to Earth in humility. He then lived a perfect and holy life in obedience to his Father and died on the cross to pay the price for the sins of mankind. This sin offering was extremely costly and it provided the righteousness for the justification of sinners before God. This grace is free to all who call upon Jesus, yet it cost him his very life.
The grace of Christ is also not free in that we must accept his righteousness and not our own for salvation. This can only happen when we exchange our life for Christ's life. We see this in Mt.16:24, "Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."" This does not mean that we must be physically crucified on a cross, but spiritually we must die to any pursuit of self-righteousness before God. We must accept the righteousness that Christ alone provides, which is our justification before God.
By accepting the grace of Christ we also receive a transformed heart and walk in faith and in newness of life. And as we walk in faith with a changed heart, we must in addition turn from sin and seek to live for Christ as Lord. We are not free therefore to live as we please but in grace we desire to live for Christ and his truth. This is the process of growing in faith and sanctification and this produces good works as we become more Christ-like. There is a distinction then between the meritorious works of Christ for justification and the good works of Christians in grace and growing in sanctification.
The free grace doctrine however teaches that there are no works required for Christian faith, and we are set at liberty in grace. But the Bible teaches that we were created for good works as we live out God's grace. We see in Eph 2:8-10, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." God's grace always produces faith, and faith always produces good works. And Christians will never walk in faith perfectly as we are still sinners in a broken world, but if there are no good works there can be no true faith.
The idea of free grace is a false wind of doctrine that blows against the true Christian faith. For we must give all we have in exchange for Christ, (Mt. 13:45-46), for our justification. And in faith we must seek to deny our sinful natures to grow in sanctification and good works to become Christ-like. This is sometimes called the cost of discipleship, but these are works of faith that come from the grace of Christ.
The grace of God is a precious gift we cannot earn. And grace is not a freedom to live however we please.
Grace is not free in respect to what it cost Jesus to accomplish. As the second Person of the Godhead, Christ had to become a man and come to Earth in humility. He then lived a perfect and holy life in obedience to his Father and died on the cross to pay the price for the sins of mankind. This sin offering was extremely costly and it provided the righteousness for the justification of sinners before God. This grace is free to all who call upon Jesus, yet it cost him his very life.
The grace of Christ is also not free in that we must accept his righteousness and not our own for salvation. This can only happen when we exchange our life for Christ's life. We see this in Mt.16:24, "Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."" This does not mean that we must be physically crucified on a cross, but spiritually we must die to any pursuit of self-righteousness before God. We must accept the righteousness that Christ alone provides, which is our justification before God.
By accepting the grace of Christ we also receive a transformed heart and walk in faith and in newness of life. And as we walk in faith with a changed heart, we must in addition turn from sin and seek to live for Christ as Lord. We are not free therefore to live as we please but in grace we desire to live for Christ and his truth. This is the process of growing in faith and sanctification and this produces good works as we become more Christ-like. There is a distinction then between the meritorious works of Christ for justification and the good works of Christians in grace and growing in sanctification.
The free grace doctrine however teaches that there are no works required for Christian faith, and we are set at liberty in grace. But the Bible teaches that we were created for good works as we live out God's grace. We see in Eph 2:8-10, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." God's grace always produces faith, and faith always produces good works. And Christians will never walk in faith perfectly as we are still sinners in a broken world, but if there are no good works there can be no true faith.
The idea of free grace is a false wind of doctrine that blows against the true Christian faith. For we must give all we have in exchange for Christ, (Mt. 13:45-46), for our justification. And in faith we must seek to deny our sinful natures to grow in sanctification and good works to become Christ-like. This is sometimes called the cost of discipleship, but these are works of faith that come from the grace of Christ.
The grace of God is a precious gift we cannot earn. And grace is not a freedom to live however we please.
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