Grace,but...

“Oh sure, we have been saved by grace,but…” I’ve heard that line so many times I wondered if I could find an authoritative religious resource that believes grace,but to actually be one word. Some Christians do not seem comfortable simply using the word grace – it has to be immediately qualified by the word “but”, preferably with little pause between the two words. Grace alone, without some religious proviso or humanly imposed limitation, somehow makes some Christians uneasy.

Much religion opposes God’s grace and often turns itself into theological pretzels attempting to suppress it. So grace,but is a widely used term, especially when religious legalism encounters any detailed explanation of God’s amazing grace.

I am a member of a church named “Grace Church – St. Louis”. But I still have friends and relatives in a centuries-old hierarchy dominated church. One of my friends said that he and his church certainly believed that we are saved by grace,but they believed that there are rewards in heaven for those who are more diligent here on earth.

I reminded him that since the Bible clearly teaches us that we are saved by grace, and since the Bible also teaches that all good deeds that we perform and accomplish as Christians are produced in and through us by Jesus Christ who lives in us, then any rewards that we might be given in heaven, rewards that are over and beyond mere salvation, those rewards also must be credited to God’s grace. After all, how would God contradict Himself and save us by His grace, but reward us by our works?

But my friend insisted that heavenly rewards are based on earthly deeds and presented some far-fetched illustrations. He proposed that Christians who are perfectly faithful (I’ll come back to “perfectly faithful”) to their spouses will be given a higher eternal reward than Christians who “might” (his word) be saved, but were less than faithful. If God does not offer such rewards, he reasoned, why on earth (pun intended) would people want to be faithful to their spouses?

I respectfully told him that his theology had gone to the dogs. My friend seemed to be suggesting that God conditions humans somewhat like Pavlov’s dogs. Remember? Ivan Pavlov conducted a hallmark study in the 20th century, a study that is now known as Pavlovian conditioning. The study proved that dogs can become conditioned to have expectations based on previous experiences. An anticipated reward stimulates behavior, and dogs will perform in order to receive favorable consequences.

But, according to my Bible, we humans are not dogs (and this is just one of those pearls of wisdom you will gain from listening to me!). Our relationship with God is not governed by the promise of rewards based on our obedience. We are created for a relationship with God in a way that no other part of His creation is (including man’s best friend).

We are created with a desire to know God, and to be known of Him. God, for His part, as the Bible reveals, relentlessly and unconditionally pursues us with His love. He gives us eternity because of His goodness, not because of deeds we perform or promise to perform. God never gives up on us, He is always there for us, no matter how objectionable our behavior might be. Our relationship with God is not based on our conditioning, it is based on God’s unconditional grace.

Imperfect humans are absolutely unable to perfectly commit, promise and love. Our heavenly Father is able to love without condition. He does not react to us on the basis of our performance. We do not improve our standing nor do we lose standing with God purely on the basis of what we do.

Let’s revisit the term “perfectly faithful” as it relates to marriage. Let’s recall what Jesus taught in Matthew 5:27-28: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Yet in the last verse of the same chapter (vs. 48) Jesus teaches, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Unconditional love like God’s cannot be produced humanly. Instructing us to be perfect, Jesus is not proposing some humanly unattainable standard. He is saying that God demands perfection, but that we are not humanly capable of producing it. The good news of the Gospel is that although we are incapable of producing what God wants – God will pronounce us spiritually perfect through Christ, because of Him and His perfect atoning work on the cross which God credits to us.

My friend fired back, “Oh, you believe we will be saved, regardless – that everyone will be saved, no matter what they do.”

I told him that in order to be saved we must DO something. We must repent, we must surrender any and all notions that anything that we produce or perform can add to what God gives us by His grace. We must believe that Jesus Christ alone is sufficient to save us. His work on the cross is enough – He doesn’t need our help. Once we are saved we cannot lose our salvation. We certainly could, if it were up to us. But that’s why the Gospel is good news – it isn’t up to us! Thank God!

My friend and I don’t see our theology the same, we don’t see God’s grace the same, but we do see together that we want Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to rename my church, “Grace And Nothing But Church – St. Louis”. No ifs, ands or buts. Say the word without any qualification. Ponder it, without the limitations religion attempts to impose. Grace alone. Don’t muddle up what God makes clear. Forget about grace,but. Let’s get our buts out of the way.

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