What Makes the News of the Gospel Good?

Understanding the system of grace

Mar 07, 2024

The bad news of the gospel is that all are under the penalty of sin: lost and awaiting eternal death or separation from God. So, what makes the news of the gospel good? God has created the pathway for salvation—a way for sinners to enter—by grace. This is what Paul covers in Romans 3:21-5:21. The system of grace is the way of salvation created by God by providing His Son as the satisfactory offering for our sins to be received as a gift by faith.

Defining Grace

A simple definition of grace is “favor bestowed when wrath is owed” [i]. While it is common to see grace usually associated with “unmerited favor” or an “undeserved gift,” grace is the receipt of something opposite of what is deserved or merited. We are not just unworthy of God’s forgiveness; we are worthy of its opposite [ii]. If God were to pay us what we have earned, we would receive its wages: eternal death, Romans 6:23. Grace encompasses God’s infinite willingness and desire to give us the gift of forgiveness, even though we deserve His wrath, Romans 5:8-10, which cost Him His Son on the cross.

Grace is Not an Updated System of Law

Of this, Moser has written:

And if grace is but another name for a legal religion, then man is still under condemnation. The surest way to nullify grace is to make it law. ‘But if it is by grace, it is no more works: otherwise, grace is no more grace,’ Romans 11:6. It was as necessary that man be freed from a law religion as it was that he have a Savior. ‘You were also made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that you should be joined to another, even to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God,’ Romans 7:4” [iii].

Grace is not a law code that has replaced the law of Moses. It is an entirely different system that opposes the law system. Instead of justifying us by getting what we deserve (fairness), God has made it possible for us to escape the penalty we deserve because of our sins. We each deserve hell. We who have broken God’s commandments get to escape the penalty we deserve. This should bring each of us unbridled praise!

It all goes back to Jesus:

He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God, 2 Corinthians 5:21.

This passage reveals the scriptural basis for the concept of grace. Jesus, who was sinless and obedient to the commandments, was made to bear the burden of our sins. Why? His sacrifice enabled "us" – those who have failed to keep the commandments – to be transformed into the embodiment of God's righteousness, thus avoiding the consequences of our transgressions.

Jesus, the divine, perfect, and worthy of all honor, faced crucifixion and bore God's wrath, being treated as a sinner. The experience on the cross was marked by humiliation, shame, and immense suffering. In the greatest of contrasts, we sinners, who rightly deserve the torment of hell, are instead offered the gift of eternal life and heavenly splendor under grace. God regards us as righteous because of Jesus’ death.

The essence of grace is a profound exchange: Jesus endured what we deserve, which allows us to be treated with honor and receive far beyond what we deserve. On the cross, God saw our sins in Jesus and inflicted our deserved punishment on Him. Consequently, when God looks at those embracing His grace, He sees Jesus' righteousness. This divine exchange grants us the assurance of salvation, ensuring we will receive what Jesus is accomplishing, both now and at the final judgment.

Grace Doesn’t Stop at the Cross

This divine exchange didn’t just happen upon our baptism; it continues throughout the Christian life through our continued faith (dependence) upon Him.

… because he remains forever, he holds his priesthood permanently. Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them, Hebrews 7:24-25.

Remember:

You live in a state of justification because you have been justified by faith, Romans 5:1.
you stand in grace, Romans 5:2.
you are protected from stumbling, Jude 24.
you are being sanctified completely, …being kept sound and blameless… he who calls you is faithful; he will do it, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24.

Praise God, and to Him be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen, 1 Timothy 1:17.

[i] Cottrell, Jack. What the Bible Says about God the Creator, Ruler, Redeemer: God Most High. What the Bible Says. Joplin, MO: College Press, 2012, p. 370.

[ii] Cottrell, ibid., p. 370.

[iii] Moser, The Gist of Romans, p. 16.