Grace Pt. 12: Finish Strong

Though basketball has always been my favorite sport, I loved running track as a kid. My favorite races were the 400 and 4x400 relay.

At a track meet, one of the members of my 4x400 relay team was sick, so we had another kid (who was more of a sprinter) take his place running the first leg. Our coach advised him on how to run this longer race, but he decided to do things his way and try to sprint the entire length of the track. Though he started well, by the 200-meter mark the kid was exhausted.

By the time he handed off the baton, our second leg runner was already half-a-lap behind the first place team. It was a seemingly insurmountable lead to overcome, but steadily the second and third leg runners gained ground. By the time I got the baton for the anchor leg, we were neck and neck, and we ended up winning that 4x400 by about 50 meters.

That race taught me an invaluable life lesson: It’s more important to finish strong than to start strong. 

The Apostle Paul made the same point in his first letter to the Corinthians concerning a Christian’s salvation.

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. – 1 Corinthians 10:24-27

Wait a minute… Paul believed he could be disqualified from the race of salvation? Didn’t Paul preach grace? Yes. He absolutely did. Look at what he wrote at the beginning of the same letter:

I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 1:4-8

So is Paul speaking out of both sides of his mouth? How can Paul first write of Jesus confirming us blameless to the end, and then a few pages later write that he must beat his body into submission so he won’t be disqualified for the prize of heaven? Is our salvation secure or not?

Perhaps what’s going on is that Paul is being like his Teacher.

Look at these words from Jesus:

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. – John 10:27-29

I don’t know about you, but I am comforted by these words of Jesus. No outside force, not a demon or even Satan himself can cause us to lose our salvation. Now look at what Jesus says to His disciples in John 15:

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. … Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. – John 15:5-6, 9-10

What is Jesus trying to do to them? If they are already 100% secure in Him, why would He tell them that unless they bear fruit (by loving Him and obeying His commands) they will be thrown away into the fire and burned? The only way that isn’t some sick mind game is if it’s truly possible.

The truth is, there is a tension within promises of God. All of the passages about the immense security in a relationship with God are true, and so are the ones that show how that security is conditional. Unfortunately, instead of living within the tension, we often tend to get out our spiritual scissors and act like Thomas Jefferson, cutting and pasting together a Bible that is acceptable to our personal tastes.

Some Hyper Grace teachers have cut the red letters of Jesus right out of their Bibles and proclaim Paul as their standard of truth. However, what should we do with the tension Paul creates for Christians with these promises?

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. – 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

First, Paul says that Christians have become the new holy of holies. Then Paul says that God promises to destroy anyone who destroys a Christian. Marinate on that promise for a minute.

What percentage of the people fighting in the Revolutionary War claimed Christianity? What about the Civil War? The Texas Revolution? Are all God’s promises true?

With all the horrific events occurring in our society lately, we need to be reminded that it’s more important to finish strong in the faith than to start strong in the faith. God will give us the grace to run His race well and finish strong. But we need to depend on our King by faith, and not allow worldly governments and media to exploit and destroy us by convincing us that Jesus’ way just won’t cut it.

Don’t let fear and anger turn you into a modern day Judas.

Christians, we need each other now more than ever to hold each other accountable to the commands of Jesus Christ. We need to make sure that none of us develops an evil, unbelieving heart that chooses to forsake the living God. For, as one early Christian teacher wrote in reference to Jesus’ words, “It is neither the faith, nor the love, nor the hope, nor the endurance of one day; rather, “He that endures to the end will be saved.”

If there was ever a Christian who finished strong in the midst of severe persecution it was Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna and a personal disciple of the Apostle John. I encourage you to read the story of his martyrdom. But for now, be encouraged by his exhortation to the Philippians to give your allegiance to Jesus above all and finish strong by the grace of God.

Though you never saw Him for yourselves, yet you believe in Him … knowing that it is by His grace you are saved, not of your own doing but by the will of God through Jesus Christ. So gird up your loins now and serve God in fear and sincerity. … Put your trust in Him who raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. … And He that raised Him from the dead will raise us also, if we do His will and live by His commandments,  and love what He loved, keeping ourselves from all unrighteousness, covetousness, love of money, evil speaking, false witness; “not rendering evil for evil.”  – Polycarp 135CE, Volume 1, p. 57 [CD-ROM]

Grace Pt. 11: Grace for Old & New Sins

Usually, I start these blogs with a little pastoral analogy to ease into the subject matter gracefully. Today’s topic, however, seems too pressing and weighty for that.  

In my last entry, I broached the issue of the great apostasy. Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2 that before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, an unprecedented falling away from the faith will take place in Christianity. For more on the subject of Christians actually being able to fall away from the faith due to unbelief, see Matthew 24:9-13, Luke 8:13, 1 Timothy 4:1 and Hebrews 3:12-19.  

Some of you reading these Scriptures are simply nodding your heads and saying ‘amen’. Others, though, find the truth of these words of God difficult to digest because they personally know people who have turned their backs on Jesus, and they don’t want to believe that these friends or family could have fallen away. I can definitely understand that mindset.

A third group I sometimes run into holds the view that those the biblical writers refer to as ‘falling away’ couldn’t possibly have been Christians, because… well… once saved always saved. I get that too, and I used to be in that camp, but the New Testament clearly teaches that Christians can reject their salvation through unbelief.

Here’s the main point for today, though. If beliers can fall away through unbelief, then all of our future sins have not yet been forgiven by Jesus. I realize that may sound crazy, but please hear me out.

Though Jesus died and paid for all sins, once for all, if a Christian’s future sins were already forgiven when he/she received Christ, then it would be impossible to ultimately fall away from the faith, for that sin would already be forgiven. Holding both positions that Jesus forgives all future sins, and Christians call fall away in unbelief logically negate each other.  

But is that really what the Bible teaches? When we become saved only our past sins are washed away?

For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. – 2 Peter 1:9

Peter, writing to Christians who received a faith just like his by the grace of Jesus, says that when we were saved, it was our former sins from which we were purified. These are our sins from long ago.

Please look at these two passages from 1 John:

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. – 1 John 2:12

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:8-9

In chapter two, John says that our sins have already been forgiven. In chapter one, John says that any of us who say we have no need of God’s forgiveness are liars. Put those together, and you can see that we have been forgiven of past sins, yet, we need to be forgiven of present sins, which Jesus is more than capable of cleansing us of through repentance and His once-for-all atoning work on the cross.

Finally, though there many more passages could be referenced, let’s examine one from James.

The prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. – James 5:15-16

If our future sins have already been forgiven, why would a Christian's unconfessed sins cause him/her to become sick? If our future sins have already been forgiven, why does James say these particular sins in question WILL be forgiven us?

Where did the early Christians stand on the matter?

Those persons who are convinced that what we teach is true, and who promise that they can live accordingly, are instructed to implore God with prayer and fasting for the forgiveness of all past sins. – Justin Martyr 160CE

For to every one who has turned to God in truth, and with his whole heart, the doors are open, and the thrice-glad Father receives His truly repentant son. … “Though your sins be as scarlet wool, I will make them white as snow; though they be blacker than darkness, I will wash and make them like white wool.” … Forgiveness of past sins, then, God gives; but of future, each one gives to himself. … By God’s power and human intercession, and the help of brethren, and sincere repentance, and constant care, they are corrected. – Clement of Alexandria 195CE,

Interesting. It’s the total opposite of everything I was taught growing up. Yet, passages like Ephesians 4:32 tell Christians to forgive one another just like God has forgiven us. Nowhere in Scripture does God call a person to forgive another person for future sins. Similarly, nowhere in Scripture do we see God forgive people for future sins.

Perhaps the entire Hyper Grace movement is based around the belief that all future sins have already been forgiven. One prominent Hyper Grace teacher wrote, “All my sins have been forgiven. … But even after if we sin, don’t start asking God for forgiveness. Don’t try to confess that sin. Don’t repent of that sin. Get your eyes up on Jesus. … Keep walking in the grace covenant. Keep declaring your absolute forgiveness.”

As unbiblical and uplifting as that may sound, here are some astounding implications of the Hyper Grace belief that all past, present and future sins have already been forgiven:

v Christians are always considered perfect in God’s eyes – no matter what abominable activities we’re engaged in.

v Because we are perfect in God’s sight, there’s no need to try to live to please Him.

v Repentance is actually a rejection of Jesus' gracious work on the cross.

v The Holy Spirit will never convict Christians of anything, so any guilt we feel is of the devil.

v Everyone is already redeemed, therefore salvation is just coming to that awareness.

v All things, including wicked angels, the demons and Satan himself, will be reconciled to God in the end.

Why don’t you see that kind of preaching in the Gospels or Acts? Because Hyper Grace is a tradition of men designed to please the ear of the listener and make preachers rich. Things neither Jesus nor the Apostles cared anything about.

What they did care about were people’s souls. So do I. That’s why I’m writing about this vital issue even though I know it will make some folks uncomfortable.

If you are a Christian, this blog is not intended to make you feel uneasy about your salvation. It is designed to cause you to question the presuppositions you carry to the Scriptures, and lead you to a simpler reading of the text. Make sure to come back Saturday for a post on what the early Christians believed about grace and the security of the believer. 

For more reading on the issue of forgiveness of future sins, please go here and here.