Illustration
An old man lay drunk in the street causing a policeman to confront him with: “Get out of the street or I am going to run you in.” A young preacher witnessed this and was moved to interrupt the policeman: “If you will allow me I will aid the old man.” The policemen grumbled something and walked off as the young preacher squatted down beside the old man and asked: “Is there anything I do for you?” The old man looked up through bloodshot glassy eyes and replied: “You got anything to drink on ya?” The preacher spoke gently: “no I do not.” “Ya got a smoke?” questioned the old man. “No,” answered the young preacher. “Well then, I recon you cannot do a damn thing for me,” retorted the old man. The preacher held out his hand and asked: “How about I help you move to where you can lean your back against this building.” “Ok,” the drunk meekly said. The young preacher aided the old man in getting out of the street and positioned where he could sit next to the building wall: then he sat down next to the old man.
They sat there together in silence, leaning against the building, for quite some time. The young preacher finally broke the silence by asking: “You hungry?” “Nope,” replied the old man. Again there was a long period of silence, which was eventually broken by the old man. “You a preacher,” he asked. “Yes I am,” replied the young man, “I graduated from a very prestigious bible college, preached at a very prominent church, was fired and now I am preaching Sunday nights at my father’s church.” The old man looked quizzically at the young preacher and said, “Why in hell did they fire you. You get too friendly with one of the deacon’s wives?” At which point the old man began laughing. He was so taken with his version of humor that his laughing transitioned into fits of coughing, mixed with laughter. Eventually the old man regained his composure and just sat there looking at the young man like a teacher waiting for an explanation from a misbehaving 2nd grader.
The young preacher eventually took a deep breath, slowly let it out and quietly said: “no … they would probably have over looked that.” They sat there for a spell, the old man still staring at the preacher. Eventually he spoke: “Well, why in hell did they fire ya?” The young preacher turned to look directly in the face of the old man, “They fired me because I would not preach health, wealth, and happiness sermons that made the people feel good about themselves.” The old man grinned and asked: “Did they pay ya good?” “Yes they did,” replied the preacher, “very good.” “Then you are a dummy,” snorted the old man, “a real dumb ass. They are the ones that hired you and it was your job to do what they told you to do.” “I do not work for man,” the preacher coldly responded, “I work for God.” “Does God pay ya,” quizzed the old man. The young preacher sat there, staring off into the distance. The old man jostled the preacher while questioning, “Just how much does God pay ya?” “Eternal salvation,” the young man replied, “eternal salvation.” “Bull crap,” the old man snorted, “everyone who asks for salvation gets salvation … salvation is a free gift from God … it ain’t pay … grace is unconditional you big dummy!”
They continued to sit there, in silence, for a long time. Eventually the young preacher turned to the old man and said: “I agree that salvation is not pay. I misspoke when I allude to that … but I do not believe it is right to say that God’s grace is unconditional.” “Like hell it ain’t,” snapped the old man. “I was saved by grace because I believed in the existence of Jesus Christ and I said so in the sinner’s prayer. And … and, once you get saved you are saved for the rest of your life because God’s grace is unconditional.” The young preacher looked directly in the old man’s eyes and quietly stated: “You believe that with all your mind don’t you? There is nothing I could every say or do that would cause you to question this belief?” The old man looked coldly at the young preacher and letting out a sigh he said: “you are a dumb ass … no wonder they fired you.” A warm grin came across the young preacher’s face and he replied: “Yea, maybe I am … at least let me go into the restaurant across the street and get you something to eat.” “Ok,” the old man replied.
Covenant Conditions
In the beginning God declared that a relationship would exist between Him and Adam. The foundation of this ‘Edenic Covenant’ is recorded in Genesis 2:15-17: Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” It is important to note that this covenant relationship between God and man was not a bilateral agreement. God and God alone established the conditions of His covenant relationship with man: Adam had nothing to say about conditions stipulated in the covenant agreement.
The theme of the Edenic Covenant, and all following covenants between God and man, is revealed in Hosea 6:6-7, where God said: For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant; there they have dealt treacherously against Me. Think on this for a moment. In a covenant relationship with God, man receives the covenant relationship but man has nothing to do with establishing the terms of the relationship. The core theme in every covenant with mankind has been that God will attend to mankind; but in return, God demands the loyalty of man. This is not God saying, ‘you do this and in return I will do something for you.’ God’s covenants with mankind are more: ‘I have done this and now I expect you to remain loyal to Me as your Lord and Master.’ Thus, the Edenic Covenant established the theme for all other divine covenants; to include the last covenant or the New Covenant, which we have a tendency to call the New Testament.
The ‘conditions’ of the New Testament covenant are summed up in Jesus’ statement: “… make disciples … teaching them to observe all that I commanded … I am with you always …”
Slightly Off Target
Whoever led the old man in saying the sinner’s prayer was aiming in the right direction, but they were slightly off target. For example, we frequently hear from the pulpit: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” This truly is the target of salvation but it is not the bull’s-eye. The target is an unconditional feel good message; but, the message being conveyed is not complete unless we include the 10th verse: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” When we only focus on the 8th and 9th verses in the 2nd chapter of Ephesians we hit the target but we miss the mark; we miss the heart and soul of the message.
Now think about this for a moment. Why is it that almost all denominations only reference the 8th and 9th verse? What is it that has blinded preachers to the importance of the 10th verse? Is it possible we seldom hear a sermon that includes the 10th verse because Satan does not want people to know there is more to salvation than just acknowledging the existence of Jesus Christ?
Look at it this way, people love Ephesians 2:8-9 because it is exemplifies the truth that God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16) Between these two verses it is obvious that God’s unconditional love brings His mercy to us, and this love extends God’s unmerited grace to us through salvation. Yes, God’s grace is freely offered to us all; but there is a condition: we must believe in Jesus. In this case the target is to believe but the bull’s-eye is conviction. In other words, the bible does not say we must believe in the existence of Jesus … it says we must believe in Jesus. In the original Greek the word translated as ‘believe’ is pisteuōn. In the context of John 3:16 the word is directly connected with God and thus it is ‘God-linked’ and not ‘self-linked.’ In this ‘God-linked’ context, ‘believe’ means we have a conviction and a trust in Jesus because God, or the Spirit of God, is working in us. Please note; this is not simply our mentally believing in the existence of Jesus. Instead, it means we have heard the Word of God and the Word of God has convicted us of our need to embrace Jesus as the ‘Lord and Master’ of our life. Hitting the target means we accept the existence of Jesus; but, hitting the mark means our faith compels us to totally submit to the absolute deity of Jesus.
God’s covenant of grace is all about our accepting Jesus as our superior … as our boss … as the one with absolute authority over our life … as our Lord and Master. This obedience to Jesus is the bull’s-eye of salvation. It is this requirement for us to obey everything Jesus taught that is the mark so many fail to hit in our teaching. This is not to imply that preachers are intentionally beguiling their congregation, but the hard cold truth is that Satan or one of his demons stands alongside almost every servant of Christ. Demons help us distort the word of God to make it more palatable for weak and shallow Christians. Demons also stand between the pulpit and the people, doing their very best to deflect what is spoken by the preacher. All it takes is a gentle nudge to the message and it will miss the intended target.
The Root of The Problem
It would be foolish for us to attempt to deny the fact that the pulpit has a tendency to not teach the rest of the story. It is also rather obvious that the pulpit frequently distorts, water-downs, or embellishes a scriptural teaching. In most of these situations we would like to believe the pulpit is unintentionally off target. This is especially true when the messaging coming from the pulpit is about our eternal ‘relationship’ with Jesus.
When it comes to our salvation and our eternal relationship with Jesus we deserve to know the rest of the story; we deserve to know the complete and unaltered truth. Yes, it is inevitable that the pulpit may slightly miss the mark because of carelessness and slothfulness; especially if it is occupied by a hireling. It is a completely different thing, however, when the pulpit intentionally mishandles scripture just to tickle people’s ears. And, people do love to hear a warm and fuzzy message about God’s love being manifested in unconditional grace; that is to say, God’s grace results in our receiving eternal salvation without requiring anything from us. People just love to chant a prayer, get shoved under the water, and then get handed a ticket to heaven. This is not, however, the true story. To preach this kind of salvation message is to preach the doctrine of demons.
Please understand that we are not implying preachers intentionally mislead the congregation about salvation; at least not all that often. We must admit, however, that there is a preponderance of evidence indicating Satan’s success in distorting scriptural teachings, especially the salvation message. It is one thing for a preacher to poorly handle disputable matters, but it is quite another thing for us to mishandle the message of salvation. Look! We have been saved for the express purpose of doing good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10) Preaching a distorted or half-correct salvation message just because this is what people want to hear is not helping them establish and maintain a relationship with Jesus. The key mission of every preacher should be to put people on, and keep people on, a path where they will grow in the hope of the glory of God. It is every shepherd’s duty to help people work out their salvation through the faith God gives them, which is the faith to repeatedly resist sin, to endure trials, to build their Christian character in the hope of the glory of God, and to finish the race still running. It is high time we all woke up and realized that there is no such thing as getting a salvation ticket for mumbling a prayer or performing some ritual. Every one of us has to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13)
Reality of Salvation
Most assuredly, God loves us and His saving grace is applicable to all of mankind. God’s grace, however, is not a universal blessing automatically applied to all of mankind. It is much like when God saw to it that the widow’s bowl of flour was not exhausted, nor did the jar of oil go empty. Other people were dying because of the drought; yet, because Elijah walked with God, God took care of him. But, God’s grace was conditional upon Elijah’s obedience. It is the same way with God grace. For some odd reason, however, we have swallowed, hook, line and sinker, Satan’s lie that grace is all wrapped up in our performing a onetime event associated with our mentally believing in the existence of Jesus.
People want to believe they hold in their hot little hand a ticket that declares they are now saved because of what they did. People totally ignore the fact that saving grace is really all about the condition of our establishing and maintaining a relationship with Jesus. We are talking about a relationship, which transcends past, present and future. We are saved by responding to the call of the Holy Spirit; we are being saved by obeying everything Jesus taught; and we will be saved when we maintain our relationship with Jesus until we die in faith. In other words, God’s grace transcends time and space: it was, it is, and it will be. Look at it this way, in our past we began our relationship with Jesus when we fulfilled the condition of being truly convinced and convicted that Jesus is the Messiah; today we walk in a relationship with Jesus where we meet the condition of being obedient to Jesus; and in the future we will enjoy an eternal relationship with Jesus because we fulfilled the condition of maintaining a repent heart and bearing spiritual fruit in keeping with our repentance. Thus, God’s grace is a force that flows through our lives in three phases.
1. Past Tense of our relationship with Jesus: in other words we are already saved.
"Thy faith hath saved thee" (Luke 7:50). "By grace have ye been saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8)...who saved us and called us with a holy calling" (2 Timothy 1:9). "...according to his mercy he saved us" (Titus 3:5).
2. Present Tense of our relationship with Jesus: in other words we are in the process of being saved.
"The word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." (Phil. 2:12) “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed … (2 Corinthians 3:18)
3. Future tense of our relationship with Jesus: in other words we will be saved.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved … having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” (Romans 5:9-10) “… for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.” (Romans 13:11) “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. (Hebrews 10:36)
Paul explains it this way. In hope we have been saved. We hope in that which is yet to come for if we already have what is to come then we do not hope for it. We have a promise and thus we hope for what we do not have and it is with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. (Romans 8:24-25) There is no hope associated with the belief in a salvation ticket, for once you have purchased a ticket the granter of that ticket is obligated to honor the ticket. The reality of God’s grace is the fact that it is the offer of a present and future conditional relationship with Jesus … it is not the issuing of a one way ticket to heaven.
The Bull’s-eye of Our Salvation
Every Christian is faced with responding to the commission God has given us, as a condition of salvation … as a condition of His grace. We are saved to be God’s workmen; we are made a new creation so that we will be capable of being ambassadors for Christ. Remember, it was Jesus Christ who said: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” That is why, when Paul wrote to the Philippians (2:12-13) he directly linked our working out our salvation with our obedience to God. It is God’s grace that enables us to will and to work for His good pleasure. Ergo, God’s grace is not without conditions, just as salvation is not an event. God’s grace is a living and active tapestry woven from salvation and from discipleship and from obedience.
God’s grace is like a spiritual force flowing throughout the world, and we all can have access to it. But, we do not have access to this spiritual force unless we have first been born of the spirit, and we cannot be born of the spirit unless we first have been convinced that Jesus is the Lord and Master of our life, and we cannot be convinced about Jesus unless we have first heard the word of God. This line of scriptural facts cannot be denied. More important, within this line of relational facts are a few of the conditions associated with God’s grace. Then, if these conditions are met and the spirit of God is flowing through us we are capable of letting the Spirit of God move us into action: just as the unseen wind forces a ship into action. Our action in response to God’s grace is the condition of our working out our salvation under the constant influence and empowerment of God’s grace.
Conclusion
We have a New Testament or New Covenant with God; and, this covenant contains conditions established and set down by God. The foundation of this covenant is the grace of God through Jesus Christ, and the bull’s-eye condition of this covenant is the command to obey everything Jesus taught. As a Christian we are in a relationship with Christ, which is built on hope and by hope is capable of enduring the trials and tribulations of life. We mature in this relationship because our hope and our endurance refine and improve our spiritual fruit bearing character or capability. If all of these conditions are not met no relationship can exist with Jesus Christ.
The conditions of grace are simple to understand; but, as with all scriptural things, man in his puffed up pride manipulates the word of God with worldly wisdom. Thus, the word of God becomes distorted, cumbersome, and diluted; and, so it is with God’s grace. In fact, among the multiple doctrines of man, which deal with God’s covenant of grace, almost none acknowledge the conditions regarding life-long obedience.
• Universalism claims God's grace will save everyone.
• Catholicism claims God’s grace is dispensed through the Catholic Church, being a member of the church saves you.
• Calvinism claims God's grace is limited to a predestined few, and only these will be saved.
• Evangelicalism claims God’s grace is conjured up with a ritual, like the sinner’s prayer, and from that point forward a person is eternally saved.
• Pentecostalism claims God’s grace is manifested in speaking in tongues and this is what saves you.
• Protestantism claims saving grace is available to all but that it is dependent on our attitude toward God.
• Non- denominationalism is potpourri of beliefs. There are some, however, who believe God’s grace carries with it the condition of obedience to everything Jesus taught.
It would appear that most Christians see God’s grace in the New Covenant; it would also appear that most recognize God has set some conditions associated with this grace, even if it is something as simple as saying the sinner’s prayer. Very few, however, are willing to acknowledge the requirement for enduring obedience to everything Jesus taught.
God’s grace is unconditionally flowing across the world and thus is accessible to everyone; but, not everyone accepts the conditions required to actually avail themselves of this grace. They can say: ‘I believe grace is available.’ They can say: ‘I want this grace.’ But, their believing and wanting means nothing if they do not also meet the condition of being so convinced that they now truly desire to submit to the absolute singular authority of Jesus Christ. Look at it this way, when we see a ship moving we know it has submitted to the force of wind; and, when we see spiritual fruit being produced in the life of a person we know that they have submitted to the force of God’s grace. When we see a ship not yielding to the wind we know that it is still anchored to the earth; and, when we see a person claim to be a Christian, but they do not produce spiritual fruit, we know that their heart is still anchored to earthly things. This is why James said that it was the works of Abraham that justified his faith. Therefore, God’s grace is conditional … it cannot transform an individual who has not totally yielded to the authority of Jesus Christ. The condition exists that the body without the spirit is dead, so also the condition exists that if a Christian’s faith does not produce works then that faith is dead. (James 2:18-26)
The condition exists that only when we are driven into action by the wind of God’s grace will we ever grow and mature … and survive as a Christian. While it is true that the initial leg of our journey may have included experiencing man-manipulated rituals such as: praying to God, getting baptized, confessing in front of the church, the laying on of hands, church membership etc., these things do not fully encompass the complete tapestry of God’s grace. Ergo, salvation is a relationship with Christ: not the performance of some ritual. The entire New Testament is our instructions for availing ourselves of God’s grace … our instructions for building a salvation relationship with Jesus Christ … our instructions for unfurling our sails to catch the force of grace as it blows across the earth. Our working out our salvation with fear and trembling also contains the conditions of grace. The doctrine that an unconditional grace is eternally obtained through some ritual is a lie. Just remember, the grace of God is not the only spiritual wind blowing upon humanity. That is why no human ship can long rest idle upon the sea of reality. We will either unfurl our sales to the wind of God’s grace or we will allow our vessel to be driven along by the powers of evil in heavenly places. Unfurling our sails and tending the lines under the influence of God’s grace is a never ending process: assuming we meet the conditions in our grace covenant with God.
