"But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: the judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification." (Romans 5:15-16)
"For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:17-19)
"The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 5:20-21)
So, what is this grace? What does it mean for us individually? And what does Paul mean when he says that "grace might reign through righteousness"?
Most of us know that grace is "unmerited favor" and that the One from whom we have received this "unmerited favor" is God. He provides it, a gift to us because He loves us and He knows without it we cannot be obedient. It is through Jesus Christ that this grace was delivered to mankind; Jesus provided it through His atoning sacrificial death on the cross.
It is when we recognize individually the greatness of this gift that we turn to God in thanksgiving. In fact, the Hebrew word "charis" can be used to mean "grace", and it can be used to mean "thanks." God gives us "charis" and we turn to Him with hearts full of "charis."
However, somewhere along the way, here in these modern times, many have come to acknowledge God's grace, and yet not respond consistently with thankfulness. They are thankful for a season, but then it becomes lost. The thankfulness dissipates, but their confidence in God's grace towards them continues so strong, in their thinking, that there is nothing to lose, and thus nothing to fear. They have received salvation, and so they determine that they are set for life. But there is no thankfulness, no "charis," that results in righteousness in their lives. And so we see many Christians who do hurtful things to others, who do not display the "charis" of Christ to others, because it is not in them to begin with.
They have misunderstood "grace." And no wonder, for it is what many modern churches today teach. Grace is taught, but repentance is seldom spoken of. It is all about "love" now. It is a message that takes a portion of the truth and exalts it to the exclusion of the rest of the truth. It is a perverted gospel message. It is the same thing that deceived Eve in the garden, and is still deceiving mankind today. It has the appearance of light, for it happens in some of our most beautiful churches (not all, just some), but it is darkness that leads others into darkness.
Repentance is turning away from sin and back towards God. It is turning from our ways of thinking back to God's ways of thinking. It is becoming obedient to His commands, commands that show His heart to us, a heart that has never changed…not from the Garden, not from the Mosaic law, not ever…He is the same. It is only us who think He had modified His thinking, His heart, when we gave us grace through Jesus Christ. It is only us who think that He has given us this grace only because He loves us (which He does) but that He expects nothing from us in return (not in payment of services rendered, not in obligation, but by cherishing with a heart full of "charis" that which He has done for us, and utilizing to the utmost the "charis" that He has provided for us.).
God's divine grace is "power." Our life is transformed and girded by God's grace as it abides in us (2 Cor. 9:14). And Paul spoke out strongly against any perversion of this great truth [the Good News] which failed to recognize that the true experience of God's grace is one that changes one's life in the direction of righteousness (Romans 6). God's provision that "grace might reign through righteousness" that Paul speaks of.
Jesus says "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me….He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." (John 15:4-6)
If 2 Corinthians 9:14 tells us that God's grace abides in us, and if John 15 tells us that Jesus abides in us, then Jesus must be the "grace" of God that "empowers" us to live in righteousness even as Jesus Himself did.
Grace is not a one-time gift and all is well with the world; and we can get on with our lives, feeling secure, even while neglecting the LORD altogether. This "cheap grace," as Bonhoeffer termed it, is the cause of divisions amongst Christians. It is the thing that causes the world around us to want none of what we Christians have. It is what causes them to blaspheme the name of Jesus. We Christians continue to live as the world lives, rather than being transformed in the righteousness of Christ within us and glorifying God in all that we think, say and do. We look just like the world. Sometimes the world looks better than we do! How can that be?
Just as it was with Jesus, grace is the power of God that enables us to live obediently to His every command. We don't throw out the law because grace came in. Because Jesus lives in us, we fulfill the law, we walk in righteousness, not by our own efforts, legally not even our own righteousness, but by the grace of God that supports us, by the resurrection power of God in our lives, by the presence of Jesus Christ abiding in us and guiding our every move, Jesus Himself being righteousness through us, as we die to ourselves and surrender completely to Him.
Grace or charis (according to Srong's Exhaustive Concordance) is the merciful kindness by which God, exerting His holy influence upon us, turns us to Christ, keeps us (from sin), strengthens us (to be obedient), increases in us Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles in us the desire to exercise Christian virtues, otherwise known as doing things God's way, even thinking things God's way, versus our own. Exhibiting charis to each other and to the world.
What is it that this charis enables us to become obedient to? The law of God (His heart); the same Mosaic law, yet not written on tablets of stone, but on our hearts. What provides a means for us to do that? God's grace. When we receive God's gift of grace through Jesus Christ and repent doing an about face to begin to walk in obedience what do we receive? The righteousness of Christ in us that brings us to "eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" – aka justification - the legal release from sin's condemnation and from sin's wages which is death. It was justification that enabled us to now enter into God's holy presence once more.
Does any of this mean that the law is null and void? If it is then why would it need to be written on our hearts? Why not just cease discussion of it altogether?
The truth is that God never intended for us to ignore His law. His law is His way of life, His thinking, His plan for us, His design for us to become a separate and chosen people. Yes, us, not just the Israelites or Jews, but all of us who have been "grafted in" to the branches known as the Jews, known as Israel. His design was intended, and still is intended, to benefit those "called out ones" aka the Jews and the Gentiles BOTH who trust in Him and His Word, Jesus Christ, Yeshua, the Messiah. Paul, himself, we will see continued to observe the law, even after he came to a revelation of Jesus Christ and even after Paul became filled with the Holy Spirit. Why would he do this, if the law was null and void?
The truth is that Jesus didn't come to end the law. He came to cause us to fulfill the law, even as He Himself fulfilled the law; but it is now not to be done by our strength, but by His strength, by His perfect obedience acting in us…by grace received by faith through Jesus Christ…exhibited in us.
But there is a hint of things to come shown to us in Paul's letter to the Romans. Division set in; one of the most deadly divisions ever to happen to the "church" – God's "called out ones." And its effects have lasted to this very day.
That division was the one that separated believers into two groups, Jews and Gentiles, rather than keeping them one group known as "the disciples of Christ" or "Messianic believers" or "followers of The Way" or any other identification that would have brought unity rather than division.
We will see in our next posting, how that division came about; and how the power to be obedient, charis, came to be set aside in the process, only to be replaced by a distortion of the gospel message of Jesus Christ. We will explore the havoc that ensued because of it.
