Living by Grace by Steve Harris
When you hear someone say, “I am living by grace”, what does that mean to you? Does it prompt feelings of floating on a cloud of ease, just doing what feels right at the moment? Does it give you a feeling that anyone living by grace can be “loosey goosey” in their approach to spiritual life? Does it mean that now that I am saved by grace, neither God nor I should have any expectations for my behavior?
Some people, by the way they express it, would believe that if you are living by grace, you shouldn’t be expected to actually do anything that would be a strong expression of commitment, because, God forbid, that might cause you to lapse into legalism. Their definition of legalism would be “doing anything that would conform to anyone else’s expectations.” If someone taught a message on tithing, the grace liver would retract in horror that they might be lapsing back into Old Testament law. Someone living by grace would be totally justified in making any kind of expression of commitment to carry out disciplines of responsibility.
This is not what it means to live by grace. Living by grace is fully transferring my trust in becoming acceptable to God from what I have done to what Jesus has done for me. Living by grace is knowing that there is nothing I can do to justify myself before God. It has already been done by Jesus on the cross. Living by grace is about rejecting man made extra biblical rules for living as if by keeping them, I can make myself acceptable to God and those who place those expectations on me.
Living by grace does not mean that God has no expectations as to how I am to live and conduct my life. It does not mean that I can rest in my forgiveness and do what feels right at the moment. God still has great expectations for us. He has given us many principles and standards for how to live our lives under his adoring gaze. Husbands are to love their wives. Wives are to respect their husbands. Children are to obey their parents. Employer are to treat their employees with respect. We are to be people of integrity and honesty.
The disciplines of grace are laid out clearly for us to embrace and exercise with great energy. The private disciplines of Bible meditation and prayer, the corporate disciplines of worship, community, service, giving tithes and offerings, (which Jesus reaffirmed in Matthew 23:23), the kingdom disciplines of evangelism, ministry to the poor, and missions are all expressions of obedience and health.
It is really about motivation. Why am I doing these things? Am I doing them to earn acceptance with God or out of gratefulness for what he has already done for me? The proper motivations of grace are gratefulness for God’s past grace, love for God’s present grace, and hope for God’s future grace. Let’s live in the full grace of God together as we fully commit to give Him every ounce of energy we have every day of our lives, living according to the principles He has laid out for us in His Word.
