____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ July 4, 1993 ____________________________________________________ "Sovereign Grace" Vs. The Grace of the Bible by Tom Edwards Last November I listened to four recorded sermons by a certain denominational preacher that one of our members wanted me to hear. I carefully listened to what this man had to say and took notes of many of his comments. A central theme throughout his lessons was the idea of ``Sovereign Grace,'' which he seemed to use as a catchword that ex presses his and his people's view toward God's grace and sovereignty. He implies by this term that salvation by the Lord's sovereign grace eliminates the necessity for man to have to do anything to be saved. Let us consider a few of his quotes to better understand his position and compare them to what the Bible teaches: Denominational preacher: ``God Almighty when He redeems a sinner, He redeems him...When He sets out to save you...He's going to land him. When God baits His hook and goes fishing, He catches what He goes after.'' Does God ``reel in'' every sinner that He desires to save? According to the above quote, He does. But according to the Scriptures, He does not. For in God's word it is revealed that the Lord desires to save everyone for He is ''...not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance'' (2 Pet. 3:9). Yes, God ''...desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth'' (1 Tim. 2:4). Tragically, however, the majority of the world will be lost in the Judgment Day (Matt. 7:13,14) because of their own unwillingness!--not because God did not want to save them. Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44) because of their refusal to accept God's way of salvation (Matt. 23:37). The Lord is not a masochistic being who inflicts torment upon Himself by greatly desiring for the salvation of all--while then at the same time intentionally hindering the masses from coming to Him so as to be saved. The Lord would like to ``reel in'' everyone, but the individual must be able to see the bait of salvation and bite into it--which no other can do for him. The denominational preacher went on to say, ``There's nothing that we do ourselves...upon ourselves or in our selves'' (to obtain God's grace and salvation). Is this right? The apostle Peter clearly urged the people to ''...Save yourselves from this untoward generation'' (Acts 2:40). Salvation involves not merely God's part in making a way possible, but also man's responsibility to comply with that way. In this very chapter the people were told to ``know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ--this Jesus whom you crucified'' (v. 36). In other words, Peter is commanding them to believe in Jesus; but even after hearing this, the people still wondered what they must DO. The divine response was not that their ``faith only'' would suffice or that they ``didn't have to do any thing because God had already done it all for them''; but, rather, they were told to ``repent and be baptized'' (v. 38); and by their obedience to this plan of salvation from past sins, they were fulfilling Joel's prophecy that ''...everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved'' (v. 21). They ``called'' not by prayer, but by their faith and obedi ence. Acts 10:34,35 states that ''...God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right, is welcome to Him.'' Without question, if you want to be saved, there are things you must do (Luke 6:46). Let us hear another quote from this denominational preacher: ``Everybody in here [would] do the same thing if God turned them lose...it's only by the grace of God that we're not all in Summit Penitentiary...What you are is by the grace of God; and what you're not is by the grace of God, too...Don't ever look down your nose at someone and say, `I sure wouldn't do that.' The only reason...you didn't beat him to it is God didn't let you.'' Is not this man saying that there are people in Summit Penitentiary because God made them to live unlawful lives that had put them there? Does God arbitrarily ``program'' a person to live a certain life--and regardless of that person's will? How can anyone actually believe that the same God who condemns murder, stealing, rape, etc., and commands people to not be guilty of such, is the same God who causes some people to be murderers, thieves, rapist, etc.? God doesn't cause anyone to sin--He doesn't even tempt them to do so, for ''...He Himself does not tempt anyone'' (James 1:13). God never intrudes against the will of another. Man must, therefore, yield himself to obey by his faith and obedience. As Joshua told the people of his day, ''...choose for yourselves today whom you will serve....'' (Josh. 24:15). Denominational preacher: ``We're kept by the power of God. Somebody says, `I hope I'll hold out.' I won't. I guar antee you I won't. And I promise you if God leaves you on your own, you won't either. We're kept by the power of God. Perseverance is by grace.'' And elsewhere he states, ``We're kept by the power of God; we don't even keep our selves.'' Is this what God's word shows? To the contrary, Jude exhorts the brethren to ``Keep yourselves in the love of God...'' (v. 21) and to ``contend earnestly for the faith'' (v. 3). Man does have a role to perform. Paul warned Timothy of the danger that would accompany those who did not strive to do these things: ``keeping faith and a good con science, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith'' (1 Tim. 1:19). If we want to keep afloat with the grace of God, we must remain faithful and not allow our ship of faith to drift into the deadly reefs of sin (John 15:1-6; 2 John 9). Denominational preacher: ``Everything God required of me and of you is fulfilled--Christ fulfilled it.'' Is this so? Does Jesus believe for you? Does He repent for you? Does He submit to baptism for you? Unques tionably, these are things that each person must do if he wants to be saved. Denominational preacher: ``And then secondly, they profess to know God, and yet they say that salvation is...an act of the human will. Are they not denying God's election of covenant mercy?'' Are we denying God's mercy when we teach of the need for man to respond--by his own will--to the gospel? God's gracious invitation says, ``whosoever WILL'' may come (Rev. 22:17, Emphasis mine). Everyone today who has not yet responded to the gospel has no one to blame but himself for not having done so. It is not that God keeps one from doing this--His desire, as we have seen, is that everyone will. Lastly, this denominational preacher tells us, ``We're not born again because we've made a decision; we're not born again because we believe; we're not born again be cause we love God. We've made a decision, we believe, we chose Christ, we confess Christ, we love Christ because we're born again.'' Do you see what he is saying? He asserts that one receives salvation before one decides to be saved, before one believes in God, and before one loves God. Why would someone of this belief bother teaching others about Jesus? According to this false teaching, one is saved by grace before even hearing the gospel and believing in Christ--yet, see what the Bible declares: ``And without faith it is impos sible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him'' (Heb. 11:6); and also in Roman 10:17: ``So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.'' Before one can be saved, one must believe; and before one can believe, one must hear the word. These are just a couple of the conditions that are necessary before one can become a child of God--repentance and baptism are also necessary (Acts 2:38; 22:16). There are thousands of individuals today who have been mislead or simply have a misunderstanding of what God's grace is all about. Many today, similar to those of long ago (Jude 1:4), are perverting God's grace by expect ing it to cover a person's sins unconditionally. In other words, ``God's grace will cover the backslidden Christian even if he doesn't repent of the sin or sins he has fallen into.'' The Bible, however, shows of a need to live in such a way as to not fall from the grace of God (Gal. 5:4; Heb. 12:14-15) for God's grace demands that we deny ``ungodli ness and worldly lust'' and that we live ``soberly, righteous ly, and godly in the present age...'' (Titus 2:11-13). Another truth this teaches is that though God's grace is sometimes defined as His UNMERITED FAVOR, it does not mean UNCONDITIONAL FAVOR. In order for you to be saved by the grace of God, you must hear His word (Rom. 10:17; Rom. 1:16), believe in Jesus (Jn. 8:24; Mark 16:16), repent of your sins (Acts 2:38), confess your faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36,37), be baptized into Christ to have your sins forgiven (Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Pet. 3:21), and strive to live faithfully unto God to eventually reach heaven (Rev. 2:10; Heb. 10:35-39). Even after doing these things, one is still saved by the grace of God--and not because the person now DESERVES to be saved. Jesus states in Luke 17:10, ``So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, `We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.''' Are you willing to accept God's grace in God's way? Don't be mislead by those who have turned the grace of God into something that it is not. Examine His word. Learn of what God's grace is all about, and submit yourself to the Lord by your faith and obedience so that grace may be abundant in your life. ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 1314 Montgomery Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________