Grace (1)

	"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ," Paul expresses at the beginning of most of His epistles.
	"The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you," the Apostle offers at the close of most of these letters.
	Few elements of Christianity are as important as grace.  And few are so widely misunderstood and, as a result, abused.  How can we uncover the truth about grace?  Should we, as many people do, refer to theologians for enlightenment?  Or would it be better to skip the theories and go straight to the source?  You know the answer.  Human ideas may sound great to humans, but God's thoughts are all that will matter on judgment day.
	The Greek word for grace is "charis."  It carries the idea of a gift.  A common definition of grace is, "unmerited favor."  While this definition is entirely accurate, it seems to want to shroud the concept in a cloak of mystery.  While the motivation and magnitude of God's grace may be beyond our comprehension, the basic concept is not.  God's grace is simply His gift to mankind.  In a spiritual sense, this involves God's offering of eternal life to all people through the sacrifice of Jesus.  We'll elaborate on this definition as our discussion proceeds, but this will provide us with a starting point.
	A question arises when we start to talk about grace and mercy.  How are the two related?  Are they the same?  Actually, they are two sides of the same coin.  Grace is involved when God gives us what we do not deserve.  He gives eternal life.
	"For while we were still helpless," Paul observes in Romans 5:6-8, "at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
	Mercy, on the other hand, comes into play when God does not give us what we do deserve.  He does not give us eternal condemnation.
	"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," Romans 8:1 promises.
	Grace is when God gives us what we do not deserve.  Mercy is when God does not give us what we do deserve.
	Other questions arise when we consider grace, faith and works.  Many theologians insist that grace and faith are closely intertwined, while grace and works are mutually exclusive.  Is this an accurate portrayal of biblical teaching?
	"But God," we read in Ephesians 2:4-9, "being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly {places}, in Christ Jesus,  in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, {it is} the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast."
	This sums it up as far a many people are concerned.  This is all they want to know.  But are they understanding this passage correctly?
	The first thing we need to understand is that there are different kinds of works, just as there are different kinds of faith.  There are two possible kinds of faith.  One is faith without works.  The other is a working faith.  There are two kinds off works.  There are works of law, and there are works of faith.  One kind of faith saves, while the other does not.  Interestingly enough, one kind of works saves while the other does not.  Works of law can never save us.  We cannot earn our salvation.  At the same time, though, workless faith can never save us.  We'll find these statements to be true when we look at another passage.
	What kind of faith does Paul have in mind in Ephesians chapter two?  It is a working faith.  What kind of works does he say will not save us?  It is works of law.
	We really should read the next verse before leaving this Scripture.
	"For we are His workmanship," Paul claims in verse 10, "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

	There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation.  But there are some things we can do to obtain it.
	We have seen Ephesians 2:4-10.  Another Scripture which deals with faith and works is James 2:14-26.  Before looking at this passage, though, let's decide what we are going to do with it.  Shall we pit Paul against James and listen to the one we prefer?  Or shall we assume that, since both are inspired by the Holy Spirit, they must agree with each other? I'll choose the latter.
	"What use is it, my brethren," James writes, "if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?  If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,' and yet you do not give them what is necessary for {their} body, what use is that?  Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, {being} by itself.  But someone may {well} say, 'You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.'  You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.  But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?  Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?  You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 'And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,' and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works, when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?  For just as the body without {the} spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead."
	Many religious leaders speak of "faith only."  Actually, these two words are used together only in this passage.  Ephesians 2:8 says we are saved by grace through faith, but the word "only" is not there.  When the two are used together, the point is that we are not saved by faith only.
	It is curious that faith and works are pitted against each other when, according to the Bible, faith is a work.  The word which is translated "believe" means "to trust and obey."  Let's consider a few passages.
	"And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?" Hebrews 3:18 asks of the Jews.  According to this verse, some Jews were not allowed to enter the Promise Land because of disobedience.
	"And {so} we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief," the next verse adds.  According to this verse, they could not enter because of unbelief.  Which is it?  What kept these people out of the Promise Land?  Was it their actions or their faith?  Men try to make a big distinction between the two.  But, could it be that God does not make the same distinction?  Could it be that He does not see one without the other? 
	"Therefore, let us fear lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it," the first two verses of the next chapter caution. "For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard."
	"Since therefore it remains for some to enter it," verse six comments, "and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience."
	Once again, the concepts of disbelief and disobedience are used interchangeably.
	A popular thought is that we are all right if we simply believe in Jesus.  Does Jesus agree, or does He associate faith and works?
	"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven;" Jesus states in Matthew 7:21, "but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven."
	"And why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" the Master wonders in Luke 6:46.
	Grace is God's gift.  It is His offering of eternal life to all people through the sacrifice of Jesus.  Grace is when God gives us what we don't deserve.  Mercy is when He does not give us what we do deserve.
	Grace involves both faith and works.  We must believe and obey the truth in order to be set free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.lockman.org)