"God's grace in Jesus Christ is not partitive. It always involves the full and complete expression of God. Never can we speak of a "measure of grace," as if grace could be measured out quantitatively and dispensed or distributed in parcels. The Christian does not receive a "measure of grace" at regeneration, to be followed subsequently by a "second work of grace." When God acts He acts in the completeness of His own Being.
The full grace-expression of God is to be seen in every facet of His activity in Jesus Christ. Grace is evidenced in incarnation, redemption, conversion, justification, sanctification, ministry, eschatology, etc. Christianity is entirely by the grace of God.
"The prophets had prophesied of the grace that would come" (I Peter 1:10). Such grace was "realized in Jesus Christ" (John 1:17), when "grace was freely bestowed on us in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:6). "The grace of God was given to us in Christ Jesus" (I Cor. 1:4), when the "grace of God appeared bringing salvation" (Titus 2:11). This salvation was effected for man when "by the grace of God Christ tasted death for everyone" (Heb. 2:9). By the death of Jesus Christ the price of the death consequences for sin was paid; divine justice was served and executed. Mankind was "bought with a price" (I Cor. 6:20), that they might be invested with the very life of God in Christ.
In regeneration the grace of God enacts His divine life within the spirit of an individual upon the response of faith. In such a conversion Christians commence to be "saved" by the grace of God. "We are saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus" (Acts 15:11). "He saved us and called us with a holy calling according to His purpose and grace which was granted in Christ Jesus" (II Tim. 1:9). "For by grace we have been saved through faith" (Eph. 2:5,8).
Simultaneously the grace activity of God in Jesus Christ effects the justification of the believer. We are "justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ" (Rom. 3:24). We are "justified by His grace" (Titus 3:7). Justification must not be considered as only a legal or forensic declaration of righteousness which God has "put on the heavenly books" to explain our "position" in Christ. A Biblical understanding of justification must always convey the ongoing activity of God's righteousness in the Christian by His grace.
Protestant theology in general has tended to develop an event-centered concept of grace, tying grace either to the objective event of redemptive grace, or to the subjective event of conversion grace, saving grace or justifying grace. Limiting grace to an historical event or to an existential event of decision-making creates a static concept of grace. To tie grace particularly to a space/time event is to miss the continuous dynamic of God's grace activity in the living Lord Jesus. We must avoid this event-centered concept of grace that casts God's action primarily into a past-tense perspective. Joe Carson Smith notes this tendency,
"There is an unfortunate tendency to focus upon grace as a 'threshold factor' in the Christian life, limiting the concept of grace to our doctrine of conversion. ...Most of the New Testament passages about grace do not deal with grace as a threshold factor in salvation. Rather, God's grace is presented as pervasive in the life of a Christian."69
The Christian lives day by day by the grace of God. The entire sanctification process whereby God's holy character is manifested in our behavior is enacted by God's grace. This is why Paul encourages Christians to "continue in the grace of God" (Acts 13:43). "The grace of God has appeared,...instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age" (Titus 2:11,12). We progressively "grow in grace" (II Peter 3:18) as we continue to allow God's grace activity to function in our behavior.
God's grace is the basis of our Christian identity: "I am what I am by the grace of God" (I Cor. 15:10). God's grace is the basis of our standing: "this grace in which we stand" (Rom. 5:2). God's grace is the basis of our behavior: "in the grace of God we have conducted ourselves in the world" (II Cor. 1:12). God's grace is the basis of our living: by the "abundance of grace we reign in life through Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:17) by the "grace of life" (I Peter 3:7). God's grace is the basis of righteousness expressed in our behavior: "grace might reign through righteousness" (Rom. 5:21).
God's grace is the basis of holiness: "He called us with a holy calling...according to His purpose and grace" (II Tim. 1:9). God's grace is the basis of our strength for living: "Be strong in the grace that is in Jesus Christ" (II Tim. 2:1) for "it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace" (Heb. 13:9). God's grace is the basis of our speech: "Let your speech always be with grace" (Col. 4:6).
God's grace is the basis of our sufficiency: "My grace is sufficient for you" ((II Cor. 12:9). "God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed" (II Cor. 9:8). God's grace is the basis of dealing with the trials, tribulations and hardships of life: "grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16). "You have suffered for a little while...the God of all grace...will perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you" (I Peter 5:10).
God's grace is the basis of all Christian ministry: "serve one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God" (I Peter 4:10). God's grace is the basis for everything in the Christian life.
Even unto the future God's grace is the operative, that because God is eternal and His grace continues forever. "Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (I Peter 1:13).
God's grace is as broad as God Himself, His every expression. Grace must not be limited to redemptive grace or regenerative grace or conversion grace or justifying grace. When grace is defined predominantly by the benefits bestowed by God in Christ rather than by the dynamic Being of God in Christ, it degenerates into a "fix-it" commodity, rather than the ever-present and continuous dynamic of God's activity expressing His character.
The grace activity of God always maintains consistency with the character of God. God never acts "out of character." The character of Christ will be evidenced by the "fruit of the Spirit" which is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Gal. 5:22,23).
Christianity is the grace of God. The gospel is the message of the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Paul thus refers to it as "the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24) and the "word of His grace" (Acts 14:3; 20:32). Writing to the Colossians, Paul refers to the "word of truth, the gospel" and their having "understood the grace of God in truth" (Col. 1:5,6). Grace is what distinguishes Christianity from all man-made religions as the activity of God in Christ functions within humanity. It is imperative that we maintain a Christocentric understanding of grace."
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