Diluting the System of Grace

We must not revert to a system based on doing things to avoid punishment.

As a minister, I play a unique role in people's lives. One is the privilege of being with brothers and sisters in their final weeks and hours as they prepare to go home to be with the Lord. Over the years, many of my conversations have focused on a common thread: Have I done enough to make it? I’m not sure I’ve been good enough. And no, these questions were not all asked by so-called nominal Christians who struggled to get to services or live up to some code of external activities whereby others judged their faithfulness. I’ve talked with former elders and leading members who have these same fears.

Why do so many approach death with fear? Paul and the apostles certainly didn’t, and neither should we. After coming to Christ, they knew they stood in grace, Romans 5.2, and were heading to a hope that would never disappoint them, Romans 5.5. What was true for them is true for us.

Placing Salvation Back in our Hands

One of the things that has contributed to our fear of death is the system of salvation taught by many in the restoration movement. It is the teaching of grace or faith plus works [i]. This was the problem of the Galatian churches, which Paul confronts in his letter in the New Testament. In the book of Galatians, we learn how the Judaizers taught that salvation came by Christ only if a person kept specific commands of the Old Testament law. Today, we are told that salvation is initially obtained as a gift of grace, and then that salvation is retained by obedience to the commandments of the law of Christ. So, grace covers a person to the point of the cross—whereby a person receives forgiveness for all his past sins—and from there, a person will be saved because of personal righteousness via his performance and command-keeping [ii].

This belief places our salvation back into our hands, and we can only enjoy a relationship with God if our obedience is good enough. There is no assurance in work because a person can never produce enough work to qualify for eternal life. The one who tries to maintain his salvation by works is placing himself back under a curse, Galatians 3.10. How so? Seeking salvation under a system of law means doing things to avoid punishment.

Law Keeping Does Not Save

Its only function is to identify sin. There is no hope in it. There is no redeeming power in keeping it. Those who seek to be saved by their performance are bound to perfection. Paul writes: But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them, Galatians 3.12.

Therein lies the curse because perfection in our human condition is impossible. This is why law, Galatians 3.11a, justifies no one. Later, Paul writes: For if the law had been granted with the ability to give life, then righteousness would certainly be on the basis of the law, Galatians 3.21b.

In the churches of Christ, the teaching of salvation by faith + works goes back to Alexander Campbell, who wrote:

Sinners are justified by faith, and Christians by works [iii].

There is no security or assurance in this approach, and it completely ignores Jesus’ teaching in Luke 17.7-10:

“Which one of you having a servant tending sheep or plowing will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? Instead, will he not tell him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, get ready, and serve me while I eat and drink; later you can eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did what was commanded? In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we’ve only done our duty.’”

Can you see the principle here? Even perfect adherence to God's commands does not generate extra merit to compensate for past transgressions. Each act of goodness we perform is a debt we already owe to God. Our virtuous deeds cannot offset even the most minor sin, as these deeds are obligations to God. This clarifies why salvation under a law system is unattainable. A single sin incurs a penalty beyond our capacity to repay through actions. Hence, our sole path to heaven relies entirely on the grace of Jesus Christ, independent of our efforts.

Coming to Embrace the Grace Mentality

This may be one of the most significant challenges in the restoration movement. For those raised under the faith + works mentality, embracing the grace mentality can be a paradigm shift of monumental proportions. Those who still relate to God from the viewpoint of law or personal performance will be dominated by dread, doubt, and anxiety — because they are still thinking about all they must do “to be good enough.” (This is why I’ve had so many conversations with people at the end of their lives who question their salvation.) They have reverted to, without realizing it, a system based on doing things to avoid punishment. Living from this perspective is no way to experience the fullness of joy that God intended. We need to come to grasp Paul’s message of Romans 6.14: you are not under (a law system) but under (a grace system).

In contrast, the Christians who live by the system of grace are no longer dominated by hopelessness, fear, and guilt; instead, they are filled with hope, joy, peace, and assurance. Of this, Cottrell has written:

Those under law should be filled with despair and those under grace with ecstatic joy. The paradox here is that probably more Christians are plagued by the law mentality than pagans and hardened unbelievers. Even though they are Christians, they just don’t get it! Though they are in reality under God’s grace, they do not understand what this means and still have the mental attitude of law. Their mentality does not match their reality [iv].

Finally, what Moser wrote a century ago is very appropriate:

Let us not annihilate grace by making it identical to debt and faith by equalizing it to works. This is to make void the blood of Christ. …Grace is grace, not debt; faith is faith, not works; blessings are blessings, not curses; and Christ’s death is not in vain. So, on God’s part, salvation is by grace — that is, God saves man by having mercy upon him; in other words, God saves man by saving him. On man’s part, salvation is by faith. Grace calls for faith. Faith means trust, and trust, too, in the blood of Christ [v].

Wrapping Up

2 Timothy reveals the kind of mentality Christians should have toward death. Ultimately, we are saved by faith in the work of Jesus, not our performance: I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day, 2 Timothy 1.12. Even though later, as Paul looks back over his life and says, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith, 4.7, he knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that his salvation rested on the gracious gift of God.

Who are you trusting? In you and your performance — or in the God who cannot lie, who has guaranteed our salvation with a promise and an oath?

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[i] I believe much of this has come about because of our emphasis on countering Calvinism and other denominational teaching. While these false doctrines must be resisted, we must guard against going to the other extreme and negating salvation by grace through faith by over-emphasizing works.

[ii] This faith + works formula is at the core of Catholicism and Seventh Day Adventism. It is also popular in many circles of the restoration movement.

[iii] Campbell, Alexander. “To Paulinus.” The Christian Baptist, May 7, 1827. As quoted by Cottrell in The Faith Once for All, p. 316. See Campbell’s writing, “The Three Kingdoms,” in The Christian Baptist, June 1, 1829.

[iv] Cottrell, What the Bible Says…, p. 61.

[v] Moser, The Way of Salvation… p. 40-41.