Understanding the grace of GOD part 6 Grace is sovereign. Since we have no claim on God’s grace and cannot contribute anything to it, then grace must be sovereignly bestowed. As God said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion” (Exodus 33:19; cf. Romans 9:15). The necessary conclusion is that which follows in Romans 9:16: So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs but on God who has mercy.Some are greatly troubled by the fact that grace is bestowed sovereignly, but what other basis is there for its distribution? In Romans 9:14 Paul asks the question: Can God be just when grace is given to some but not to others? He answers his own question by reminding the reader that justice can only condemn all men, for all have sinned. We dare not plead for justice with God, for justice can only be satisfied by our condemnation. Grace operates on a totally different basis. Grace does not give men what they deserve, but what God delights to give, in spite of their sin. God is only unjust if He withholds from men benefits which they rightfully deserve, but He is gracious in bestowing upon men salvation and blessings which they could never merit. C. I. Scofield has been quoted as saying, Grace is not looking for good men whom it may approve, for it is not grace but mere justice to approve goodness. But it is looking for condemned, guilty, speechless and helpless men whom it may save, sanctify and glorify. While the Law is the standard of righteousness, grace is the source of righteousness. While the Law defines righteousness, only grace delivers it. The Law was never intended to be a means of obtaining grace; it was given to demonstrate to men that grace was desperately needed: Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets (Romans 3:19-21). At its heart, legalism is a humanly-devised system whereby a man may strive to produce his own righteousness by rigid adherence to a prescribed code of conduct. It is almost always external in nature, that is, it evaluates actions rather than attitudes and motives (cf. Matthew 6:1ff.). Worse yet, legalism tends to lower the standards God has set. In the Sermon on the Mount our Lord persisted in raising the standards set by the scribes and Pharisees, not lowering them (cf. Matthew 5:17-48). Because of their lowering of God’s standards the rich young ruler could unashamedly say to our Lord, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up” (Mark 10:20). What an incredible thing to be able to say. Only a legalist could do so. While the legalists of Jesus’ day placed burdens on men that they could not bear (Matthew 23:4), they found all sorts of loopholes by which to avoid the demands their traditions made on others (Matthew 23:16-24). Jesus lightened the burden, not by lowering God’s standards, but by providing enablement to meet them (Matthew 11:28-30; Romans 8:1-4). No matter how pious legalism appears on the outside, it dishonors God by revealing a deep-seated distrust of God. Stop and think about it for a minute. Why do men insist upon putting agreements in writing? Why are legal contracts necessary? For only one reason—men are fallible. At best, we tend to forget the things we have committed to do. At worst, we never intended to do them in the first place. A legal contract gives one man a basis for forcing another to do what he has promised. Do you really believe God is so unreliable that we must create a contract which binds Him? All of the biblical covenants are those which were initiated by God, not man. And most of these covenants are unconditional; that is, they are not conditioned by any action on man’s part, but only on the faithfulness of God Himself. Legalism by its very nature implies that God is so untrustworthy that we must be sure to get it down in contractual form. Far better it is to leave blessings in the hand of the One who is gracious. I heard a true story which serves to illustrate this point. Not many years ago most employers discriminated greatly in their hiring practices (as many still do!). As a result it was necessary to attempt to correct this evil by passing Laws which punished discrimination. One afternoon an employer was called upon by a minority labor leader, who demanded that a certain number of minority laborers be hired immediately. The employer thought about it for a moment and then picked up the phone, instructing his secretary, “Miss Jones, I want you to fire the last 25 minority laborers I hired.” The reason, he explained to the demanding leader, was that he had hired 25 more minority laborers than the Law had required. Now I do not wish in any way to condone or condemn what either of those men did. I simply wish to point out that the demands of the Law are only required where evil men are involved (cf. 1 Timothy 1:9-10). Where grace prevails, Law will only restrict gracious activity, not promote it. Legalism cannot co-exist with grace: You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by Law; you have fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4). For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under Law, but under grace (Romans 6:14).
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 15:05:34 +0000